78
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA marvelous black comedy full of wit and journalistic wisdom in the grand and capricious style of Hecht (he and Charles MacArthur co-wrote The Front Page), this film is all the more stunning thanks to the outrageous and hilarious performance of super comedienne Lombard.
- Ben Hecht supplied the cynically amusing script, but the brilliant Lombard makes it fly — wringing laughs from an arsenal of loopy gestures and cacophonous outbursts.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceA delirious send-up of bandwagon piety, the film was scripted by that snappiest of Hollywood crank cases, Ben Hecht, and he never got a better, more committed distaff embodiment of his flair for highlighting hooey than Lombard, who throws herself into the role with daffy, tongue-tripping abandon.
- 80The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelWilliam Wellman's direction is more leisurely than usual; he has such good material here that he takes his time.
- 75Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrOne of the great newspaper comedies. [24 Nov 1989, p.112p]
- 70Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThe definitive Ben Hecht screenplay.
- 60EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasDespite the luminous Lombard and the venomous March, this is perhaps better for its idea than its execution.
- 60Time OutTime OutBen Hecht's sparkling script occasionally loses its way between the satire and the screwball romance, but is even more caustic about newspapermen than The Front Page.