His Girl Friday Language and Communication Quotes

How we cite our quotes:

Quote #4

WALTER: Wait a minute, wait a minute, aren't you going to mention the Post? Doesn't the paper get any credit?

HILDY: I did that. Right there in the second paragraph.

WALTER: Who's gonna read the second paragraph? Listen honey, for ten years, I've been telling ya how to write a newspaper story and that's all I get?

Walter is claiming that he taught Hildy how to use words. He's her mentor, he says. In a film in which words are so important, that tells you who Hildy's going to end up with.

Quote #5

WALTER: Don't worry about the story. Hildy will write it. She never intended to quit. We're getting married.

Walter here announces his marriage to Hildy—not to Hildy herself, but over the phone to Duffy! This shows just how much Hildy has given herself up to Walter—she agrees to marry him again without him asking directly. But it also shows again Walter's odd reticence. He's more comfortable speaking next to someone than he is speaking to them. Maybe he's not quite as secure as he appears. He may have been afraid, even at this point, that Hildy would say no.