The Front page

   A brash, fast-paced cynical, no-holds-barred comedy-melodrama on the excesses of yellow journalism in 1920s Chicago, The Front Page, co-authored by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur,* remains one of the most frequently revived plays of that era. The Front Page, starring Osgood Perkins, Lee Tracy, and Dorothy Stickney, was produced by Jed Harris and directed by George S. Kaufman. It premiered at New York's Times Square Theatre and ran for 276 performances following its 14 August 1928 opening.

   The main storyline follows star reporter Hildy Johnson in his attempt to quit the beat and marry a well-to-do small-town girl. His editor, Walter Burns, organizes a series of subterfuges to prevent the loss of his best reporter. Burns is aided in this by the escape of Earl Williams, a death-row inmate and alleged "Bolshevik," on the eve of his execution. Williams turns up in the press room of the Criminal Courts Building, leading Burns and Johnson to hide him, while contending with rival reporters, con men, and corrupt city officials. The Front Page spawned three major Broadway revivals (1946, 1969, and 1986), several motion picture versions (1931, 1940, 1974), television* productions (including a 1949 series), and stage adaptations including a 2003 London version by John Guare* called His Girl Friday, borrowing its title from the classic 1940 screen adaptation directed by Howard Hawks in which Hildy Johnson is a woman.