ENGLISH 299B:
FILM AS NARRATIVE ART
MR. KELLEY
HIS GIRL FRIDAY
(HOWARD HAWKS, 1940)
According to Joseph McBride, the films of Howard
Hawks
“almost always deal with a tightly knit group of
professionals trying to perform a difficult task
together while upholding their own rigorously
defined code of conduct. Whether they are
gunfighters, aviators, hunters, detectives,
newspapermen, or scientists, Hawks’s people
function in a self-enclosed society in which the
standard of personal conduct are professional
skill, group loyalty, and self-respect.”
POINTS TO CONSIDER:
• What is marriage in this film? What is
divorce? How are they portrayed? What
values are represented by each
“institution”?
• What role does the introduction of typical
Communist rhetoric play in the film?
• What are the major tensions or values in
the film?
More Points to Consider:
• Consider the character of Earl. Bear in
mind that the action of the film takes place
against the background of an impending
death. Why is this?
• The images of jail and imprisonment are
central to the film’s themes. Where do we
see this imagery, and how, and why?
More Points to Consider:
• How is journalism portrayed here? What
are “facts”? What are these journalists
interested in?
• What is the verbal style of the film? Why is
it appropriate for the themes of the film?
SELECTED HAWKS
FILMOGRAPHY
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Scarface (1932)
Bringing up Baby (1938)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Red River (1948)
Rio Bravo (1959)