The Girl on the Front Page

Harry Beaumont does his usual fine job of directing and gets a sterling performance out of Edmund Lowe (an entertaining fellow, but one occasionally given to offering ham as the main course, instead of as a side) for this movie. Despite some problems with the script, it remains highly watchable throughout.

Gloria Stuart's father, a newspaper publisher, dies at his desk, and Gloria and mother Spring Byington return from Europe to find Lowe the managing editor with right of first refusal for purchase of the paper; neither can he be fired, and he doesn't like society dames interfering with his paper. So Miss Stuart puts on a pair of glasses, gets a job on the paper and gets hazed.

That's the first forty minutes, and it proceeds like a rocket, not quite at the screwball level, but offering us some glimpses of the horrors that reporters really see. Then, at the halfway mark, the second plot, about chiseling and blackmailing servants comes into play, and suddenly the actors begin doing things that are totally out of character -- usually because it seems very funny for them to do so. Unfortunately, the script doesn't really cover these shifts, or perhaps editor Philip Cahn nodded, or perhaps the copy I saw was incomplete; there were a couple of jump cuts that led into plot changes.

Even these problems, it's a fine cast and I had a good time sitting through it.

When the film begins, the old and beloved owner of a newspaper dies at his desk. The timing sure isn't ideal, as his daughter, Joan (Gloria Stuart), is scheduled to arrive the next day to see him! However, instead of selling the paper like folks assume she's going to do, she plans on working there! But when she meets the managing editor, Hank Gilman (Edmund Lowe), she decides to pretend to be a regular person seeking employment instead of divulging who she really is. Why? Well, I'm not exactly sure! However, he soon realizes who she is and keeps this to himself....again, I am not exactly sure why! Eventually the truth becomes apparent to everyone and Joan is not sure of what she wants. Does she want to let Gilman do his job without interference or does she want to run the paper herself? And, in the process can the pair manage to not drive each other batty?

This is a cute little film--not one that will change your life but makes an excellent time-passer. Lowe, as usual, is smooth and entertaining and Stuart manages to be annoying but NOT stupid-- something that makes the film more workable. Overall, worth your time and fun.