The Front Page would spawn two direct remakes, with Howard Hawks’s 1940 version, His Girl Friday, being easily the best – a true classic.  In 1974 Billy Wilder directed Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in an adaptation which rivals that of 1931.  Switching Channels, with Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner, played out the same story – quite forgettably – at a TV station.

Halliwell gives Ben Hecht this dedication in the Filmgoer’s Companion, (although citing Nothing Sacred as being his most typical work):

‘For being connected in some way with most of the enjoyable hard-boiled comedies and melodramas with which one associates Hollywood in the 30s and 40s.’

Adolph Menjou is also commended…

‘For his omnipresent sartorial elegance, and for a surprising number of highly enjoyable performances.’

Year: 1931