This Howard Hawks directed 1940 screwball comedy is considered one of the greatest American comedies of all times. It tells the story of Walter Burns (Cary Grant), a hot headed newspapers editor, and his former wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell). Hildy was once a star reporter for Walter’s journal, but now plans to remarry and move on to a quiet life of a housewife in Albany, New York. Jealous Walter is determined to undermine her plans, and he will go to extreme lengths to do so. He tries to entice Hildy to return to the papers so she could cover a major story for one last time, hoping that she will choose her profession instead of the tranquil marriage. The story in question is that of a convicted murderer awaiting his death sentence. After Hildy refuses the offer, Walter comes up with a whole bunch of crazy schemes to prevent her from marrying, like having her future husband arrested on a whole bunch of bogus charges, and even kidnapping Hildy’s future mother in law. Ultimately, after a series of bizarre events Hildy returns to her reporting job, so caught up in her work that she is unaware of her fiancé giving up on his plans and leaving. In the end, after a great deal of cooky shenanigans including a corrupted mayor and a delayed letter of pardon, Walter and Hildy manage to sort out the messy situation to (almost) everyone’s benefit. Walter asks Hildy to remarry him and proposes the Niagara Falls honeymoon they never had. As they are making their plans for departure, Walter learns of a newsworthy story unfolding along the way to the Niagara Falls.
Joan Rivers still in coma
