Modern movies have a lot to recommend them, but in one respect they've become much less sophisticated. Dialogue, though presented in a more naturalistic fashion, isn't anywhere near as smart as it was back in the 1930s and 1940s. It also doesn't have the zip and brio of the wordplay from that period, either.
I've never had, and probably never will have, the problem in any modern movie that I've had with His Girl Friday: the dialogue flies so thick and fast, I can't follow all of it. I didn't think human beings could speak that quickly. I doff my hat to Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, who made it sound ... not natural, but realistic within the context of the world of screwball comedy.
It will be a pleasure to puzzle out every high-velocity syllable through repeated viewings.
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