“Suppose we did! That isn't what I got married for!”
Why it's great
It slams a newsroom victory against a failed marriage and lets the anger sit in the question.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
That isn't what I joined the team for.
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Hildy Quits the Post, Explained
His Girl Friday · 1940
Chapter 2 of 18 · 5'02"
Hildy walks into the newsroom to tell her ex-husband and former editor that she's remarrying and leaving the business. Walter smiles through it, then starts bargaining — "Come back to work on the paper" — because to him the marriage was never the problem, the quitting is.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 1:03–1:40
Hildy Cuts Both Ties
37s - 4:21–4:33
❝ Monologue · 4 lines Hildy on reporters
She piles up concrete images of the job until the complaint turns into self-portrait.
12s
Hildy Quits the Post, explained
What happens
In the opening scene, Hildy Johnson visits the office of Walter Burns, her ex-husband and the editor who made her a star reporter. She has an engagement ring and a plan to quit newspapers. Walter listens, jokes, and immediately begins trying to pull her back onto the paper.
What's really going on
The scene is a negotiation wearing the mask of a breakup. Hildy states the terms plainly — "You are no longer my husband and no longer my boss" — but Walter hears a challenge, not a goodbye. His whole strategy is to keep her talking: he revisits their ruined honeymoon, offers her the job back, claims he has no hard feelings, then dangles a raise and an exclusive story when sentiment fails. When he finally sees the engagement ring, he turns it into one more talking point. The comedy comes from the speed and the pleasure Walter takes in the fight; Hildy keeps insisting she's through, but she stays in the room, trading lines. What makes the scene durable is that both arguments are real: she wants an ordinary life, and he believes the newspaper is the only life worth having.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Suppose we did! That isn't what I got married for!”
- The retort to a professional victory: winning the story may be true, but it is no answer to a marriage that was supposed to come first.
- “You are no longer my husband and no longer my boss.”
- Hildy's clean summary of what has ended: she is cutting both ties at once, and the line is meant to be final.
- “I want to go someplace where I can be a woman.”
- Her real reason for leaving: the job makes her one of the boys, and she wants a life where her role is not the newsroom.
- “Walter, you're wonderful in a loathsome sort of way.”
- A compliment and an accusation at once: she still enjoys his nerve even as she names what makes him impossible.
- “We're a team. The paper needs both of us!”
- Walter's pitch in a sentence: not love, not money, but partnership — the thing he knows she misses most.
Theme
- Power — Walter treats the conversation as a contest he refuses to lose, using charm, cash, and a headline to keep control of his star reporter.
- Ambition — Hildy wants a normal life, but the pull of the newsroom and the thrill of the story keep her from walking away cleanly.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level4/5
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“You are no longer my husband and no longer my boss.”
Why it's great
The repeated no longer cuts both ties in one breath, and the flatness is the point.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
You are no longer my manager and no longer my problem.
“I want to go someplace where I can be a woman.”
Why it's great
One plain wish exposes the cost of the job: she has to leave the trade to feel like herself.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I want to go someplace where I can start over.
“Walter, you're wonderful in a loathsome sort of way.”
Why it's great
Praise and disgust in one breath, a whole marriage in a line.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
He's generous in an annoying sort of way.
“We're a team. The paper needs both of us!”
Why it's great
Calling work a team turns a job offer into an emotional plea.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
We're a team. Don't leave me to run this alone.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Hildy on reporters
Peeking through keyholes, chasing fire engines... ...waking people up in the night to ask questions... ...stealing pictures off old ladies? I know all about reporters. Buttinskies running around with no money, and for what?
She piles up concrete images of the job until the complaint turns into self-portrait.
Up next · 03take the wind out of someone's sailThe scene: Walter Meets Bruce BaldwinTakeaways
What you walk away with- The job offer is really a marriage proposal in disguise.
- Hildy's ring is the only argument Walter cannot talk around.
- Their banter hides how much the divorce still stings.
- Leaving the paper means leaving a version of herself.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does Hildy come to see Walter?
To announce that she is quitting the newspaper and marrying Bruce Baldwin. She wants it understood in person, and she wants his calls and telegrams to stop.
Why does Walter keep stalling instead of accepting it?
He isn't ready to lose his best reporter. As long as Hildy keeps talking, he can keep offering — her old job, a raise, an exclusive story — and he knows the work still excites her.
Why does Hildy say she is "through"?
She means she is finished with the newspaper business, not just with Walter. The scene keeps testing whether that decision is as firm as she says it is.
Why does Walter mention the honeymoon?
To turn an old grievance into a joke and keep the conversation going. Bringing up the coal-mine story reminds Hildy of the work they did together, which is exactly what he wants her to remember.
Does Hildy actually want to leave the paper?
She says so repeatedly, but she keeps engaging, defending her reasons, and enjoying the sparring. The film leaves it deliberately open whether the decision or the habit is stronger.