Front Page Woman

Front Page Woman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Curtiz
Screenplay by	Laird Doyle Lillie Hayward Roy Chanslor
Based on	Women Are Bum Newspapermen 1934 The Saturday Evening Post by Richard Macauley
Produced by	Samuel Bischoff
Starring	Bette Davis George Brent
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio
Edited by	Terry Morse
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	July 20, 1935 (1935-07-20)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Front Page Woman is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay by Laird Doyle, Lillie Hayward and Roy Chanslor based on the novel Women Are Bum Newspapermen by Richard Macauley.

Plot

Ellen Garfield refuses to marry fellow reporter Curt Devlin until he admits she is as good at her craft as any man. The two work for rival newspapers, and their ongoing efforts to better each other eventually leads to Ellen getting fired when Curt tricks her into misreporting the verdict of a murder trial. The tables are turned when she scoops him by getting the real perpetrator, Inez Cordoza, to confess to the crime. Forced to admit Ellen is a good reporter, he finally wins her hand.

Cast

• Bette Davis as Ellen Garfield
• George Brent as Curt Devlin
• Roscoe Karns as Toots O'Grady
• Wini Shaw as Inez Cordoza
• Walter Walker as Judge Hugo Rickard
• J. Carrol Naish as Robert Cardoza
• June Martel as Olive Wilson
• J. Farrell MacDonald as Hallohan
• Dorothy Dare as Mae LaRue
• I. Stanford Jolley (uncredited; his first acting role)
• George Chandler as Reporter
• Adrian Morris as Guard

Production

The film's working title was Women Are Born Newspapermen. The plots of the 1937 release Back in Circulation, allegedly based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns, and the 1938 Torchy Blane film Blondes at Work are very similar to Front Page Woman.

The Warner Bros. release was one of three 1935 films co-starring Bette Davis and George Brent. The two were paired on-screen a total of thirteen times.

This was the fourth collaboration for Davis and director Michael Curtiz. The two worked together a total of seven times.

Critical reception

The New York Times said, "The three writers who adapted it . . . did a clever script job and Michael Curtiz directed at a brisk pace. Add to that a cast with a neat sense of comedy and you have an excellent tonic for the mid-July doldrums."

Variety said, "[It] lacks authenticity and is so far fetched it'll hand newsscribes around the country a constant run of ripples. But it's light and has some funny lines and situations."

External links

• Front Page Woman at IMDb
• Front Page Woman at the TCM Movie Database
• Front Page Woman at AllMovie
• Front Page Woman at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films