Front Page Review

 The Front Page was a film released in 1974, starring Jack Lemmon. It starts in a press room near an area where a man is going to be hanged for murdering a police officer. The man is a suspected communist. Hilde Johnson is going to quit the newspaper business because he is going to be married. His boss,  Mr. Burns is not pleased about this and insists that he works on it. Hilde pretends to go along and then says that he is resigning. 

Mr. Burns goes to the theatre to try to convince Hilde's fiancee, Peggy, to break up with him. He pretends to be a probation officer. He says that he was showing a group of high school girls his genitalia. Hilde realizes that Mr. Burns is trying to sabotage him. Hilde still refuses to cover the hanging, and Mr. Burns still jokes that he is a flasher. 

Hilde's replacement comes into the press room and he is mocked by the other reporters. The reporters seem to be ill-mannered. They smoke, drink, and play cards. They insult Moillie because of her profession and her helping Earl Williams the suspected communist. Mollie took care of Williams after he was beaten up by some pimps because he was telling the prostitutes that they were exploited by capitalism. Peggy told Williams to leave. He refused to saying he could go where he pleased. A cop tried to scare him away and he shot him because he was scared. As Mollie leaves the building, Hilde says goodbye to all the reporters. 

The sheriff comes into the press room handing out press cards. Hilde has written about how the sheriff is corrupt. The execution is going to take place before election day so it is likely it is being done to make the sheriff look tough on crime. 

Williams is being asked questions by an Austrian psychologist. The psychologist gives Williams a gun and asks him to repeat the scene, causing the psychologist to be shot. Williams is thought to have escaped the building, while he is inside in reality. Peggy calls the building telling Hilde that she is coming. There is a letter from the governor that was sent to the sheriff saying that William's execution will be delayed. Peggy arrives and Hilde goes back because he left the wedding rings in the press room. Hilde runs into Williams, who holds him up at gunpoint. Hilde tries to hide Williams from his fiancee and the other newspapermen. 

Hilde writes the story, while his boss arrives. His fiancee tries to get him into the car.  She comes up and takes her ticket while he is writing the story. The sheriff arrives, asking why Mr. Burns is in the building.  Earl Williams is eventually caught and out in jail. Mr. Burns and Hilde are also arrested for aiding a criminal. Mr. Burns apologizes for wrecking Hilde's relationship. The messenger from the governor says he has a reprieve from the governor. They use it to get out of jail and Hilde returns to his fiancee and they leave town. Mr. Burns gives him a watch as a gift which he then reports as stolen causing Hilde to go back to working for him. 

Two big things that I noticed throughout the film were the sensationalism in journalism and the anti-communist sentiment during this time. Yellow Journalism began during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This time period was still influenced by it. They talked about how Earl Williams was an agent of Moscow. The newsreels before the film portrayed the Soviet Union as an expansionist power. During this time, there was a real fear of a communist revolution occurring in different countries.