Which Wilder film is based on a 1928 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur?

Which Wilder film is based on a 1928 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur? The Front Page. Wilder’s 1974 film adapts the newspaper comedy first written for the stage by the two former Chicago reporters.

The original play is set in the press room of Chicago’s Criminal Courts Building, where reporters wait for the execution of Earl Williams. Its fast-moving story centers on editor Walter Burns and reporter Hildebrand “Hildy” Johnson, whose professional rivalry and personal history drive the action. Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond retained the basic premise while presenting their film as a period newspaper comedy.

The play opened in New York in August 1928 and ran for 278 performances. It became one of Hollywood’s most frequently revisited newsroom stories. Lewis Milestone directed the first major film version in 1931, while Howard Hawks transformed the material into the 1940 screwball classic His Girl Friday by changing Hildy into a woman.

Wilder’s 1974 version reunited Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, emphasizing the original male newsroom relationship rather than the romantic structure of His Girl Friday. Other later adaptations include Switching Channels, released in 1988.