Great movie, no doubt about it and well worth a watch.
I’ve become fascinated with the female lead in the film, SHE IS AHEAD OF HER TIME.
It turns out that Hawks had such a signature way with his female leads that there is a name for them, “Hawksian Women”, a term that nearly became an Archetype !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksian_woman
But rather than define them, I’ll just share the scene when Tess is introduced into the film. It’s unusually late in the structure; smack in the middle of the second act. But I think it may be my favorite intro scene for any female character ever.
The YouTube clip calls it a “Meet Cute”. And maybe today, on a television show, something like this would be a Meet Cute. But that’s only because Hawks pioneered the style. And when he did, cute wasn’t in the picture.
If you watch the whole picture and I would recommend that you do, that this first encounter predicts exactly how their relationship will evolve and that Tess is nobody to mess with. In fact, it is her action that becomes the key to the film’s unexpected resolution.
Anyway, nuff said. Here’s the clip…
