Spéciale première

Titre original : The Front Page

NOTE IMDb

MA NOTE

Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, and Adolphe Menjou in Spéciale première (1931)

Dark Comedy Satire Screwball Comedy Comedy Crime Drama Mystery Romance

Un journaliste s'apprête à se marier, lorsqu'il est envoyé de toute urgence sur un scoop : l'exécution d'un homme accusé d'avoir tué un policier. Mais ce dernier s'évade..Un journaliste s'apprête à se marier, lorsqu'il est envoyé de toute urgence sur un scoop : l'exécution d'un homme accusé d'avoir tué un policier. Mais ce dernier s'évade..Un journaliste s'apprête à se marier, lorsqu'il est envoyé de toute urgence sur un scoop : l'exécution d'un homme accusé d'avoir tué un policier. Mais ce dernier s'évade..

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

NOTE IMDb

6,7/10

3,6 k

MA NOTE

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

Nommé pour 3 Oscars
- 2 victoires et 3 nominations au total

Anecdotes
The last line of the stage play had to be partly obliterated in the film version by the sound of a typewriter being accidentally struck because the censors --even of that day--wouldn't allow the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" to be used in a movie.

Gaffes
(at around 1h 9 mins) Hildy types furiously at a typewriter; however, with his right hand he only uses his index finger and pushes the same key over and over again.

Citations
Irving Pincus: Can we help it if the people rise to support this administration's stand against the Red menace!
Sheriff Hartman: Personified by Mr. Earl Williams. The guy who loses his job he's held for 14 years, joins a parade of unemployed, and, because he's goofy from lack of food, waves a red handkerchief.
Irving Pincus: Williams is a dangerous radical! And he killed a policeman.
Jimmy Murphy: Williams is a poor bird who had the tough luck to kill a colored policeman in a town where the colored vote counts!

Crédits fous
The end credits consist of Walter and Hildy above a big 'THE END,' covering a large question mark, while the sound of the train is heard and music plays. There is also laughter, presumably coming from Walter Burns.

Connexions
Featured in Sprockets: Ready When You Are... (1991)

Bandes originales
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
(1909) (uncredited)
Music by Gus Edwards
Played on banjo early in the film

Avis des utilisateurs53

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8/10

Very good

Newspaperman Hildy Johnson (Pat O'Brien) is quitting the business and getting married to Peggy (Mary Brian). But his unscrupulous boss Walter Burns(Adolphe Menjou) doesn't want him to quit. Also an innocent man is about to be hanged and Burns will do anything to make sure Johnson works on that story.

Fast and funny--the first cinematic version of this story. It shows its age at times and some of it is wildly overacted but O'Brien and Menjou are both just great in their roles. Also director Lewis Milestone uses some very unusual camera tricks to keep the story moving and there's lots of action and running around which is unusual for an early talkie.

This was remade in 1940 with a sex change making Johnson a woman. That was "His Girl Friday" with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. That one is better than this but this is better than the 1974 version (that had Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) and 1988 remake called "Switching Channels" (with Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds). They're all good to varying degrees but this one came first. Worth seeing.