Howard Hawks (1896-1977), a straightforward storyteller who eschewed showy technique, excelled in almost every film genre and was at his best directing action-filmed melodramas or comedies. "His emphasis was always on speed," notes film historian Richard Schickel.

In The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks (1973), the director provides comments and insights on his style of filmmaking along with telling excerpts from his best movies. Among them is The Big Sleep (1946), based on the Raymond Chandler novel, and one of the most influential detective movies, with its convoluted plot and supercharged sexual chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Hawks set the pace for fast-talking farce with His Girl Friday (1940), a variation of the newspaper comedy The Front Page in which Hawks' inspiration was to turn star reporter Hildy Johnson into a female (Rosalind Russell), lending crackling sexual tension to her relationship with her editor (Cary Grant). Other clips include Bringing Up Baby (1938), and Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Monkey Business (1952).

Directed by Richard Schickel
C-55m. Closed captioning.

by Roger Fristoe