Howard Hawks's Use Of Mise-En-Scene In The Film His Girl Friday

Howard Hawks’s well-known film His Girl Friday (1940) is a screwball comedy that is centred around Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) and her ex-husband Walter Burns (Cary Grant). A remake of the 1931 film The Front Page, Hawks made the decision to change the protagonist of Hildy from a male to a female, and have her be Walter’s ex-wife as well as employee. By doing so, Hawks created a new dynamic within the film – that of a romantic comedy –, which creates an interesting subplot, with some of our questions about their relationship being answered immediately, and others being left unanswered. The sequence I chose to study is from when Earl climbs into the press room where Hildy is, until the two journalists enter. In this essay, I will explore

The mise-en-scene is a particularly notable part of Hawks’ His Girl Friday. Mise-en-scene was first applied to theatre, and then later to film, and includes not only setting, lighting, costume, staging but also performance. I am especially interested in the costume choices that appear in the sequence. It is interesting to notice how Hildy Johnson’s costumes are similar to the men of the film: she wears a business suit with noticeably broad shoulders, giving us as viewers the impression that she is a man, or at least dresses similar to one. This can be seen as a small nod back to how Hawks changed The Front Page’s protagonist of Hildy Johnson from male to female, relating it back to the film Hawks based his own film on. Her hair being pinned back also helps to create the illusion that she has a more masculine rather than feminine personality, because it means there are no flyaway hairs that get in her way whilst working, and mimics as much of a man’s hairstyle as one can with long hair. Hildy is a woman working in a job largely dominated by men, and rather than working as a secretary, she is a proper journalist alongside the men of the company, so therefore it is imperative that she dresses like one. Her costumes seem to match her personality as well, as it suggests that she is headstrong; this is seen in the part of the sequence where she is on the phone: “Get me Walter Burns, quick!” She speaks with the same determination that Walter shows in the film, suggesting that she is somewhat his equal in terms of journalism talents. The costume choices that have been made for her character accentuate Hildy’s mannerisms, and therefore as an audience, we are subtly encouraged to make assumptions about her along the way, as thanks to these creative choices. On the other hand, however,