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The Front Page (1931) is the first of four film versions of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's famous 1928 Broadway play, set in the pressroom of a Criminal Courts Building hours before the scheduled execution of Earl Williams, an alleged Communist revolutionary convicted of murdering a black policeman.

A vigorous, manic drama, this Lewis Milestone classic about newspapers and newsmen wonderfully preserves a host of Depression-era attitudes and a glorious headline era. O'Brien, in his film debut, is the fast-talking Hildy Johnson, sensation-hunting star of the Chicago press. His shifty editor Walter Burns (Menjou) is trying to prevent his star reporter from quitting the business and moving to a New York advertising job with his wife-to-be Peggy (Brian). She hates everything about the sleazy tabloid world that has made Hildy famous, and she pressures him to finish his last day's work so they can flee to New York. In his farewell visit to the press room, however, Hildy gets caught up in the escape of an anarchist (Stone) scheduled for execution...

Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance

BD25 | 1080p AVC | 01:40:46 | 22.3 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none

Extras:

• Audio commentary by film historian Bret Wood

• "Lux Radio Theater – 1937" (58:45) is a performance of "The Front Page," featuring actors Walter Winchell and James Gleeson, hosted by Cecil B. DeMille.

• "Academy Award – 1946" (31:44) is a second radio adaptation, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien.

• "On Film Preservation: The Library of Congress" (7:16, HD) is a short documentary about the film preservation efforts of the Library of Congress.