His Girl Friday – The Front Page
His Girl Friday is a rare remake that transcends its original through the employment of an almost accidental gimmick: it changes the gender of one character.
The Front Page was originally a play and then a film about newspaper editor Walter and his star (male) reporter Hildy Johnson who plans to leave the newspaper business to get married. Cue multiple shenanigans as Walter tries to keep Hildy on the hook by ruining his relationship.
His Girl Friday kept most of the script, but switched Hildy’s character from male to female, giving her a romantic backstory with Walter. Thanks to some crackling dialogue, a whip-fast plot, and the chemistry between leads Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday became the best kind of remake: one that actually feels necessary.
The film would be made for the third time in the 1970s, with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the leads, but nothing quite equals His Girl Friday.