Film
The Front Page
Other titles called The Front Page: the 1931 film.
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
A 1974 screwball comedy about a Chicago newspaper editor who'll do anything to keep his star reporter from quitting. Sharp dialogue, frantic pacing, and two masters of timing—Lemmon and Matthau—playing off each other like they've been doing it for decades. It's newspaper chaos as comedy, and it moves like a greyhound.
If you liked this
His Girl Friday1940
The original *Front Page* adaptation, with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Russell's reporter is crackling and alive, and the dialogue overlaps so densely it feels like listening to jazz. Essential if you want to see where Lemmon and Matthau's energy came from.
But Black and white, pre-war pacing, and the film assumes you know newspaper culture. Some of the gender politics have dated in ways that are uncomfortable.
The Sting1973
Another 1970s con-game comedy with impeccable ensemble work, period detail, and rhythm that never lets you catch your breath. Newman and Redford have the same easy chemistry Lemmon and Matthau share, and the script knows exactly when to fake you out.
But Two hours of plotting can feel mechanical if you're not invested in the scheme. The twists matter more than character depth.
Tootsie1982
Dustin Hoffman as a desperate actor destroying his own life for one more role. It has the same manic energy, the same collision between ambition and ethics, and it's genuinely funny—not just clever, but laugh-out-loud funny.
But The gender politics are complicated. It's a long film that asks you to watch a man sabotage everyone around him for two hours.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Lou Grant1977
*Front Page* plays newspapers as a game where brilliant people con each other. *Lou Grant* plays them as a job where decent people fight for truth against institutional rot. Same profession, opposite register. One film teaches you why Asner's character needed to grow up.
Edward Asner, who played a comic anchorman on *Mary Tyler Moore*, becomes the editor of a real newspaper fighting real corruption. It's smart, serious journalism drama—*All the President's Men* as a weekly series. The writing is pristine.
But It's a drama, not a comedy. If you wanted the speed and zaniness of *Front Page*, this is slow, methodical, and often grim. It asks you to care about ethics instead of laughs.
More like this (7)
The Apartment1960
Lemmon again, this time as a meek office worker caught between his boss's affairs and his own decency. It has that same screwball DNA—comedy that carries real weight. When it decides to be serious, you believe it.
But The tone whips between slapstick and genuine sadness. If you want consistency, this will feel tonal.
Glengarry Glen Ross1992
Mamet's savage comedy about salesmen in crisis. It's got the same cutthroat workplace mania and the same respect for sharp talk as a weapon. Arlie, Harris, and Lemmon himself, in a role that shows what he could do with poison.
But It's mostly men yelling at each other in an office. The misogyny is the point, but that doesn't make it easy to watch. Also: profanity like a avalanche.
Singin' in the Rain1952
Pure joy. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and a script that knows comedy timing better than almost anything made since. The energy is infectious, the dancing is revelatory, and every scene lands exactly where it means to.
But It's a musical from the 1950s. If that combination makes you wince, this isn't going to change your mind.
Some Like It Hot1959
Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag, running from the mob, falling in love with Marilyn Monroe. It's essentially a three-act romp built on one absurd premise that somehow contains actual tenderness. Comedy architecture at its best.
But Gender comedy doesn't always age well, and parts of this feel like the culture it was made in. Also: if you need a substantial plot, you're going to be disappointed.
Network1976
A black-comic fever dream about television, ambition, and moral collapse. Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and a script that's furious and hilarious. It's got the workplace chaos of *Front Page* but weaponized into something almost prophetic.
But It's mean. Genuinely, viciously mean. There's no one to like, and the satire can feel hectoring. Also very 1970s in its politics.
Broadcast News1987
James L. Brooks's love letter to journalism, built as a romantic triangle between a producer, an anchorman, and a correspondent. It's smart, funny, and genuinely moving. The dialogue crackles and the characters feel real in ways that matter.
But The second half depends heavily on whether you care about who ends up with whom. If romantic plotting bores you, momentum dies.
Page One: Inside the New York Times2011
Where *Front Page* romanticizes newspapers as a game of wit, *Page One* shows the same people confronting the actual end of the world they were playing in. It's the sequel nobody asked for, and it's unsparing about what the game was always built on.
A documentary about the crisis in print journalism, filmed inside the *Times* during the WikiLeaks story. It has the DNA of *Front Page*—the obsession, the rivalries, the way journalists are addicted to the hunt—but it's real. It's also darkly funny about its own irrelevance.
But It's a documentary about institutional journalism in collapse. No plot, no heroes, just smart people trying to stay relevant. Very much a film for the already-interested.
People
Cast
Jack LemmonHildebrand Johnson
Walter MatthauWalter Burns
Susan SarandonPeggy Grant
Vincent GardeniaSheriff
David WayneRoy Bensinger
Allen GarfieldKruger
Austin PendletonEarl Williams
Charles DurningMurphy
Herb EdelmanSchwartz
Martin GabelDr. Max J. Eggelhofer
Harold GouldMayor
Cliff OsmondOfficer Jacobi
Directing
- Billy WilderDirector
Writing
- Billy WilderScreenplay
- I. A. L. DiamondScreenplay
- Ben HechtTheatre Play
- Charles MacArthurTheatre Play
Production
- Jennings LangExecutive Producer
- Paul MonashProducer