“Suppose we did! That isn't what I got married for!”
Por qué es buena
It slams a newsroom victory against a failed marriage and lets the anger sit in the question.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
That isn't what I joined the team for.
00:00 / 05:02
00:00 / 05:02
Hildy Quits the Post, Explained
His Girl Friday · 1940
Capítulo 2 de 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
❝ Monólogo · 4 frases 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.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel4/5
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“You are no longer my husband and no longer my boss.”
Por qué es buena
The repeated no longer cuts both ties in one breath, and the flatness is the point.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
You are no longer my manager and no longer my problem.
“I want to go someplace where I can be a woman.”
Por qué es buena
One plain wish exposes the cost of the job: she has to leave the trade to feel like herself.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
I want to go someplace where I can start over.
“Walter, you're wonderful in a loathsome sort of way.”
Por qué es buena
Praise and disgust in one breath, a whole marriage in a line.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
He's generous in an annoying sort of way.
“We're a team. The paper needs both of us!”
Por qué es buena
Calling work a team turns a job offer into an emotional plea.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
We're a team. Don't leave me to run this alone.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ 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.
Siguiente · 03take the wind out of someone's sailLa escena: Walter Meets Bruce BaldwinIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- 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.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy 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.