The Front Page

As has been noted before, the past is like a foreign country that you can never visit again. Contemplating that fact is often the root for nostalgia, but in some cases, it conveys a sense of relief. That’s what roughly the first third of this movie is like; it takes about as long as that to figure out just what the hell this thing is all about, and to wade through all of the baffling trappings of olden (1931) days. Eventually, the story coalesces into a coherent vision that mostly represents the reality that “fake news” and media manipulation and political/press corruption are nothing new. Though this is a comedy—really, a satire—laugh-out-loud moments are few and far between, such that the real value of this tale comes from documenting how appropriate is one’s cynicism regarding the press and the powerful (and especially where they intersect). The film’s archaic elements can be a bit of a challenge for modern viewers, but for the most part the effort pays off, if only to learn the lesson that paeans to the prestige of the Fourth Estate are mostly humbug. Remember that when you watch the news these days, oh boy.