Critic’s Choice: Howard Hawks’ ‘His Girl Friday’ and ‘Ball of Fire’ bring screwball bliss to the Aero

If “The Post” has whetted your appetite for breathless Hollywood portraits of old-school print journalism in action, you could hardly find a better, livelier or funnier specimen than “His Girl Friday.” Much prized for its razor-sharp, mile-a-millisecond dialogue, Howard Hawks’ gender-bending 1940 remake of “The Front Page” stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell as two newshounds and ex-spouses thrown into the madcap story of their lives.

A 4K digital restoration of “His Girl Friday” screens Dec. 29 at the Aero Theatre, followed by a 35-millimeter print of another sublime Hawks comedy, 1941’s “Ball of Fire.” A cheeky screwball spin on “Snow White” that pairs Barbara Stanwyck’s slang-tossing moll with Gary Cooper’s hopelessly smitten lexicographer, it’s the sort of verbally dexterous farce you’d have to be a total Crabapple Annie not to enjoy.

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Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

When: Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m.

Price: $12 ($8 with membership)

Info: www.americancinemathequecalendar.com

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