Sixième édition

With Bette Davis doing a role that Glenda Farrell or Joan Blondell was used to doing and George Brent standing in for James Cagney or Pat O'Brien, Front Page Woman is about a sob sister columnist wanting to prove she's as good at investigative reporting as the man she loves. Brent's a good guy all right, but he certainly believes that woman's place is in the home or writing a woman's column about same.

The chance comes when both are sent by their rival papers to cover a fire. The fire it turns out was only a ruse to cover the stabbing of a bigshot played by Huntley Gordon. As the investigation, arrest, and trial proceed, Davis and Brent go on scooping spree to show the other up who is the better reporter.

That kind of fun can certainly put a strain on a relationship and the two of them, Brent more so, play fast and loose with the criminal justice system to get that scoop over the other. In the end the crime revolves around a love triangle with Gordon, mystery lady Wini Shaw, and polo player Gordon Westcott.

Contrary to rumor Bette Davis could play comedy though it was not her strong suit. Her material is slight, but she does her best to rise above a role she's miscast in. Her devoted fans will certainly not turn away from Front Page Woman.

Bette Davis plays a plucky female reporter who just got the chance to do lead stories--those traditionally done exclusively by men. A rival reporter, George Brent, is in love with her but also has little respect for her "trying to make it in a man's world"--so naturally she refuses to marry a man who doesn't respect her. In the midst of their arguments, Brent proposes a contest to see which can get the biggest scoop during a murder investigation and the subsequent trial. Now this all could have been very predictable or sexist, but somehow both pitfalls were avoided.

Sure, this isn't the deepest or best film that Bette Davis made in her long and distinguished career, but for the mid-1930s it's pretty good stuff. Although Warner Brothers employed one of the finest actresses of all time in the form of Miss Davis, up until the late 30s, they bounced her around from bad to mediocre to top of the line films and back again! So inconsistent were these roles that even after being Oscar nominated (OF HUMAN BONDAGE) and receiving the Oscar (DANGEROUS), Miss Davis STILL bounced around the studio in predictable programmers, B-movies AND A-films as well. As a result, she walked out of her contract (briefly).

Despite all this, FRONT PAGE WOMAN was a good film for her career--as it was quite enjoyable, gave her a chance to appear with her favorite leading man (George Brent) and gave her a decent (though not always believable) leading role. The film is a typical battle of the sexes film which weren't especially uncommon during Hollywood's Golden Age and like many of these films (such as PAT AND MIKE and WOMAN OF THE YEAR), it was a lot of fun. Plus, the chemistry between Davis and Brent was wonderful and I wish their films together got more attention--they are always enjoyable even when the writing isn't up to snuff (as in a few of their films together).

Rival reporters Garfield and Devlin are also a couple who delight in scooping each other often to the detriment of their respective papers. Brent and Davis are charming together and have an easy rapport. Curtiz's workmanlike direction and the rapid fire dialogue still hold up well, helped by the story's hesitation to endorse traditional male/female roles. If this proto-screwball comedy has a flaw it's that Garfield never seems a savvy enough rival for Devlin despite topping him to keep their endless competition going. Reminiscent of `The Front Page' and `His Girl Friday.' Recommended.

Ellen Garfield (Bette Davis) and Curt Devlin (George Brent) are combative reporters at rival newspapers who are in a relationship. She faints during an execution and he tries to cover for her. She gets into trouble after he files the same story to both papers. They continue their back and forth banter while she refuses to marry him. They start following the same story of a Broadway murder mystery.

The first notable aspect is that she's not a good reporter for the first part of the movie. I'm surprised that a woman wouldn't be fired or at least demoted to wedding announcements after fainting. Nevertheless, the dialogue is snappy. The leads especially with Davis are fun. It's light except for the murder. My only complaint is that this movie needs more time with the leads together. They should be investigating as a team but trying to scoop each other in print.

Bette Davis seems miscast as a hard-working dynamic reporter in a rivalry with star reporter, George Brent, who works for a different newspaper. The role is more suited to wise-cracking, fast-talking stars such as Glenda Farrell (who made a similar film, Blondes at Work (1938)), or Joan Blondell (who also made a similar film, Back in Circulation (1937)). Her make-up, too, belied her profession. With perfectly tweezed eyebrows and immaculately applied lipstick, she looked like, as well as sounded like, a Hollywood star rather than a reporter. Still, Bette Davis is always a pleasure to watch even if not perfect. She and Brent are supposedly in love, but she won't marry him until he admits she is just as good a reporter as he is. You would think he wouldn't place any obstacles in her path towards reporting equality, but his vanity won't allow that conclusion, so he does. After a jury comes to a "guilty" verdict in the trial both are covering, and the jurors leave the jury room, Brent sneaks in to examine the ballots so he can get an extra on the street as quickly as possible. But sensing Davis is following him, he replaces the ballots with ones that read "not guilty." With friends like that, who needs enemies? Davis does report the wrong verdict to her editor, leading to the two rival newspapers coming out at the same time with opposite verdicts. Davis gets fired because of this hostile and vicious act, but, of course, it's not the end of the story, and she does get the last laugh in the matter.