PAGE  1
000 B000000 03/31/2003
000 C000000 0000790202
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 6.1
000 J000000 U
001 A000000 FIRST FINANCIAL FUND, INC.
001 B000000 811-4605
001 C000000 9733671495
002 A000000 100 MULBERRY STREET, 4TH FLOOR
002 B000000 NEWARK
002 C000000 NJ
002 D010000 07102
002 D020000 4077
003  000000 N
004  000000 N
005  000000 N
006  000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000  0
007 C010100  1
007 C010200  2
007 C010300  3
007 C010400  4
007 C010500  5
007 C010600  6
007 C010700  7
007 C010800  8
007 C010900  9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLP
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-15908
008 D010001 BOSTON
008 D020001 MA
008 D030001 02109
010 A000001 PRUDENTIAL INVESTMENTS LLC
010 B000001 811-31104
010 C010001 NEWARK
010 C020001 NJ
010 C030001 07102
010 C040001 4077
012 A000001 EQUISERVE TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
012 B000001 84-5601
012 C010001 PROVIDENCE
012 C020001 RI
012 C030001 02941
013 A000001 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
      PAGE  2
013 B010001 NEW YORK
013 B020001 NY
013 B030001 10036
015 A000001 STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 NORTH QUINCY
015 C020001 MA
015 C030001 02171
015 E010001 X
015 A000002 NEDCOR BANK LIMITED
015 B000002 S
015 C010002 JOHANNESBURG
015 D010002 SOUTH AFRICA
015 E040002 X
015 A000003 STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED
015 B000003 S
015 C010003 JOHANNESBURG
015 D010003 SOUTH AFRICA
015 E040003 X
018  000000 Y
019 A000000 N
019 B000000    0
020 A000001 FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, RAMSEY & CO.
020 B000001 52-1630477
020 C000001    107
020 A000002 LEHMAN BROTHERS INC.
020 B000002 13-2518466
020 C000002     64
020 A000003 GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
020 B000003 13-5108880
020 C000003     62
020 A000004 SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.
020 B000004 22-1660260
020 C000004     46
020 A000005 SANDLER O'NEIL & PARTNERS, LP
020 B000005 13-3481277
020 C000005     46
020 A000006 SUSQUEHANA INVESTMENT GROUP
020 B000006 N/A
020 C000006     44
020 A000007 KEEFE BRUYETTE & WOODS, INC.
020 B000007 N/A
020 C000007     37
020 A000008 CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON CORP.
020 B000008 13-5659485
020 C000008     36
020 A000009 NATIONSBANC MONTGOMERY SECURITIES, LLC
020 B000009 N/A
020 C000009     28
020 A000010 B-TRADE SERVICES LLC
020 B000010 N/A
      PAGE  3
020 C000010     24
021  000000      738
022 A000001 UBS WARBURG
022 B000001 13-3154635
022 C000001  10055208
022 D000001         0
022 A000002 PARIBAS
022 B000002 13-3235334
022 C000002   2455063
022 D000002         0
022 A000003 LEHMAN BROTHERS INC.
022 B000003 13-2518466
022 C000003    344788
022 D000003         0
022 A000004 CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON CORP.
022 B000004 13-5659485
022 C000004    318759
022 D000004         0
022 A000005 JPMORGAN
022 B000005 13-3224016
022 C000005    244214
022 D000005         0
022 A000006 ABN AMRO INCORPORATED
022 B000006 N/A
022 C000006    228200
022 D000006         0
022 A000007 STATE STREET BANK & TRUST
022 B000007 N/A
022 C000007     55561
022 D000007         0
022 A000008 GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
022 B000008 13-5108880
022 C000008     27848
022 D000008      1723
022 A000009 FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, RAMSEY & CO.
022 B000009 52-1630477
022 C000009     17561
022 D000009      3036
022 A000010 KEEFE BRUYETTE & WOODS INC.
022 B000010 N/A
022 C000010     11667
022 D000010         0
023 C000000   13790031
023 D000000      14183
024  000000 Y
025 A000001 FRIEDMAN BILLINGS & RAMSEY
025 B000001 52-1630477
025 C000001 E
025 D000001    2849
025 A000002 UBS WARBURG
025 B000002 13-3154635
      PAGE  4
025 C000002 D
025 D000002   32800
025 A000003 DELETE
025 D000003       0
025 A000004 DELETE
025 D000004       0
025 D000005       0
025 D000006       0
025 D000007       0
025 D000008       0
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 Y
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027  000000 N
028 A010000         0
028 A020000         0
028 A030000         0
028 A040000         0
028 B010000         0
028 B020000         0
028 B030000         0
028 B040000         0
028 C010000         0
028 C020000         0
028 C030000         0
028 C040000         0
028 D010000         0
028 D020000         0
028 D030000         0
028 D040000         0
028 E010000         0
028 E020000         0
028 E030000         0
028 E040000         0
028 F010000         0
028 F020000         0
028 F030000         0
028 F040000         0
028 G010000         0
028 G020000         0
028 G030000         0
028 G040000         0
028 H000000         0
030 A000000      0
030 B000000  0.00
      PAGE  5
030 C000000  0.00
031 A000000      0
031 B000000      0
032  000000      0
033  000000      0
035  000000      0
036 B000000      0
038  000000      0
042 A000000   0
042 B000000   0
042 C000000   0
042 D000000   0
042 E000000   0
042 F000000   0
042 G000000   0
042 H000000   0
043  000000      0
044  000000      0
045  000000 Y
046  000000 N
047  000000 Y
048  000000  0.000
048 A010000    50000
048 A020000 0.750
048 B010000        0
048 B020000 0.000
048 C010000        0
048 C020000 0.000
048 D010000        0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000        0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000        0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000        0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000        0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000        0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000        0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000    50000
048 K020000 0.625
049  000000 N
050  000000 N
051  000000 N
052  000000 N
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 Y
      PAGE  6
054 C000000 N
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
054 G000000 Y
054 H000000 N
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 N
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 Y
055 B000000 Y
056  000000 Y
057  000000 N
058 A000000 N
059  000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061  000000        0
062 A000000 N
062 B000000   0.0
062 C000000   0.0
062 D000000   0.0
062 E000000   0.0
062 F000000   0.0
062 G000000   0.0
062 H000000   0.0
062 I000000   0.0
062 J000000   0.0
062 K000000   0.0
062 L000000   0.0
062 M000000   0.0
062 N000000   0.0
062 O000000   0.0
062 P000000   0.0
062 Q000000   0.0
062 R000000   0.0
063 A000000   0
063 B000000  0.0
066 A000000 Y
066 B000000 N
066 C000000 Y
066 D000000 N
066 E000000 N
066 F000000 N
066 G000000 N
067  000000 N
068 A000000 N
      PAGE  7
068 B000000 N
069  000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 Y
070 B010000 Y
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 Y
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 Y
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 Y
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 Y
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 Y
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 Y
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 Y
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 Y
070 K010000 Y
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 Y
070 L020000 N
070 M010000 Y
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 Y
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 Y
070 P010000 Y
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 Y
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 Y
070 R020000 N
071 A000000    238031
071 B000000    293905
071 C000000    322117
071 D000000   74
072 A000000 12
072 B000000      965
072 C000000     7495
072 D000000        0
072 E000000        0
072 F000000     2382
072 G000000      557
072 H000000        0
072 I000000       46
      PAGE  8
072 J000000       80
072 K000000        0
072 L000000      298
072 M000000       48
072 N000000       27
072 O000000        0
072 P000000       80
072 Q000000        0
072 R000000       26
072 S000000     1093
072 T000000        0
072 U000000        0
072 V000000        0
072 W000000      165
072 X000000     4802
072 Y000000        0
072 Z000000     3658
072AA000000    61961
072BB000000     4449
072CC010000        0
072CC020000    16493
072DD010000     3937
072DD020000        0
072EE000000    65919
073 A010000   0.1700
073 A020000   0.0000
073 B000000   2.8000
073 C000000   0.0000
074 A000000       22
074 B000000    32800
074 C000000       48
074 D000000      877
074 E000000     9146
074 F000000   297357
074 G000000        0
074 H000000        0
074 I000000        0
074 J000000        0
074 K000000        0
074 L000000      370
074 M000000      174
074 N000000   340794
074 O000000      477
074 P000000      670
074 Q000000        0
074 R010000        0
074 R020000        0
074 R030000        0
074 R040000      258
074 S000000        0
074 T000000   339389
      PAGE  9
074 U010000    23576
074 U020000        0
074 V010000    14.40
074 V020000     0.00
074 W000000   0.0000
074 X000000     1012
074 Y000000        0
075 A000000        0
075 B000000   371126
076  000000    13.97
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
077 C000000 N
077 D000000 N
077 E000000 Y
077 F000000 N
077 G000000 N
077 H000000 N
077 I000000 N
077 J000000 N
077 K000000 N
077 L000000 N
077 M000000 N
077 N000000 N
077 O000000 N
077 P000000 N
077 Q010000 N
077 Q020000 N
077 Q030000 Y
078  000000 N
080 A000000 ICI MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
080 C000000    70000
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 135
082 A000000 N
082 B000000        0
083 A000000 N
083 B000000        0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000        0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000      0
086 A020000      0
086 B010000     46
086 B020000    638
086 C010000      0
086 C020000      0
086 D010000      0
086 D020000      0
086 E010000      0
      PAGE  10
086 E020000      0
086 F010000      0
086 F020000      0
087 A010000 COMMON STOCK
087 A020000 320228109
087 A030000 FF
088 A000000 N
088 B000000 N
088 C000000 N
088 D000000 N
SIGNATURE   GRACE TORRES
TITLE       TREASURER