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Ex-reporter Hildy Johnson, recently divorced from
fast-talking newspaper editor Walter Burns, pays him a visit at the office
of the Morning Post to tell him that she is marrying mild-mannered
insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin. When Hildy enters, Walter is
engrossed by the story of the impending execution of Earl Williams, a timid
bookkeeper who has been sentenced to die for killing an African-American
policeman. To lure Hildy back, Walter lies that his star reporter is
preoccupied with the birth of his first child and the paper needs her to
cover the story. Hildy rejects Walter's bait and announces that she is
engaged, tired of being a newspaperman, and now just wants to be a woman.
Walter insists upon meeting Hildy's fiancée and invites them to lunch.
At lunch, Walter learns that the couple are leaving with
Bruce's mother, Mrs. Baldwin, on the four o'clock train to Albany.
Scheming to win Hildy back, Walter convinces Bruce that only a story written
by Hildy can save the wrongly-convicted Williams. Hildy calls Walter's
bluff, but agrees to write the story if Walter will purchase a $100,000 life
insurance policy from Bruce. Walter eagerly consents and, while he
returns to the newspaper office with Bruce for a medical examination, Hildy
goes to the newsroom at the criminal court's building, where she is welcomed
by her cynical fellow reporters, who warn her that she will never be able to
give up the newspaper business.
After interviewing the befuddled Williams, Hildy returns to
the newsroom where she meets Molly Malone, the only person who has shown
compassion toward Williams. Her act of kindness has won her the
contempt of the reporters and, when they begin to taunt her, Hildy takes
pity on Molly.
Soon after, Bruce telephones Hildy to tell her he has been
arrested for stealing a watch. Knowing that Walter has masterminded
Bruce's arrest, Hildy bails Bruce out of jail and then returns to the
newsroom where she telephones Walter with her resignation. Hildy's
farewell speech to her fellow reporters is cut short, however, by the sound
of gunshots and the news that Williams has escaped. Hildy's reporter
instincts supplant her common sense and, after notifying Walter about
Williams' escape, she tackles Warden Cooley for the story.
While Bruce waits in the cab for Hildy to write her story,
Walter sends Evangeline, a moll, to frame Bruce, whom he describes as
"looking like that fellow in the movies, Ralph Bellamy." After bribing
Cooley for his story with $450 of Bruce's money, Hildy calls Walter and
demands repayment. In response, Walter sends his stooge, Louis, to
Hildy with $450 in counterfeit money. Soon after, Hildy receives
another call from Bruce, who has been jailed for "mashing."
Meanwhile, Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell and the Mayor confer
about their political fortunes. The Mayor and sheriff, who head a
graft-ridden administration, need the execution of Earl Williams to deliver
the black vote on election day. Consequently, when Joe Pettibone
arrives with a reprieve for Williams from the Governor's office, the two try
to bribe Pettibone into forgetting the reprieve.
Back at the newsroom, Hildy is waiting for Louis to deliver
her money, when Earl Williams climbs in through the window.
Interrupted by a phone call from Bruce, who is still waiting for her to bail
him out of jail, Hildy impatiently tells him to wait and then calls Walter
to tell him that she has found Earl Williams. Hildy's call is followed
by Molly Malone pounding on the newsroom door. When Molly sees
Williams, she bursts in the room; when the reporters begin to file in, Hildy
and Molly hide Earl in a roll top desk. Mrs. Baldwin then enters the
room and begins to chide Hildy about forsaking Bruce for a murderer.
To divert the reporter's questions, Molly jumps out the window. The
reporters run out of the room to examine the extent of Molly's injuries just
as Walter and Louis arrive.
Walter orders Louis to kidnap Mrs. Baldwin while he makes
plan to transport the desk that Earl Williams is hiding in back to the
Post. Walter then fast-talks Hildy into writing the story and, as
Hildy pounds out the account on her typewriter, Bruce walks in, demands his
money and tells Hildy that he is leaving on the nine o'clock train.
Hildy then hands Bruce the counterfeit bills. Hildy is still writing
her story when a disheveled Louis enters with the news that he was in a car
crash and left Mrs. Baldwin at the scene of the wreck.
Next, the sheriff and reporters return, and the sheriff
begins to question Hildy. They are followed by Mrs. Baldwin who
accuses Walter of kidnapping. Walter, agitated, pounds emphatically on
the desk and, when Williams responds, the sheriff opens the desk and finds
the fugitive. The sheriff then handcuffs Walter and Hildy and
threatens Walter, who responds that the "last man who did that to me was
Archie Leach."
Just then, Pettibone enters with Williams' reprieve, forcing
the sheriff to release Walter and Hildy. As Walter advises Hildy to go
after Bruce, Bruce calls and tells Hildy that he has been arrested for
spending counterfeit money. Realizing that Walter has tricked her once
again, Hildy breaks down and cries and Walter calls his city editor, Duffy,
to announce that he and Hildy are getting married and will spend their
honeymoon in Albany covering a strike story. |
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