Author: Doris Milberg
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786467819
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Part One of this entertaining exploration of screwball comedies and their later offspring begins in the mid-1930s discussing the careers of popular stars such as Cary Grant and Carole Lombard and well-known supporting players like Walter Connally and Ralph Bellamy (also Asta the dog, top animal star of the 1930s!). Writers and directors are given their due: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, just to name a few. Part Two, the meat of the book, takes an in depth look at the films, from the genre's inception (1934's It Happened One Night) to the recent 2003 Down with Love, and the stars that appear in them--Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere--ending with some thoughts about the future.
The Art of the Screwball Comedy
Author: Doris Milberg
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786467819
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Part One of this entertaining exploration of screwball comedies and their later offspring begins in the mid-1930s discussing the careers of popular stars such as Cary Grant and Carole Lombard and well-known supporting players like Walter Connally and Ralph Bellamy (also Asta the dog, top animal star of the 1930s!). Writers and directors are given their due: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, just to name a few. Part Two, the meat of the book, takes an in depth look at the films, from the genre's inception (1934's It Happened One Night) to the recent 2003 Down with Love, and the stars that appear in them--Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere--ending with some thoughts about the future.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786467819
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Part One of this entertaining exploration of screwball comedies and their later offspring begins in the mid-1930s discussing the careers of popular stars such as Cary Grant and Carole Lombard and well-known supporting players like Walter Connally and Ralph Bellamy (also Asta the dog, top animal star of the 1930s!). Writers and directors are given their due: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, just to name a few. Part Two, the meat of the book, takes an in depth look at the films, from the genre's inception (1934's It Happened One Night) to the recent 2003 Down with Love, and the stars that appear in them--Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere--ending with some thoughts about the future.
Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945
Author: Grégoire Halbout
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1501347624
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
A 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Love at first sight, whirlwind marriages, break-ups, divorces, remarriage... What accounts for the enduring success of the Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s? Directed by masters of comedy (Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, Ruggles...) and featuring the decade's most iconic stars (Colbert, Dunne, Grant, Hepburn...), these films set romantic comedy standards for decades to come. Screwball comedy embarked on two challenging missions: to poke fun at established social norms and to undermine stereotypical depictions of gender roles, putting forward a discourse that postulated the possibility of equality between men and women. Grégoire Halbout's reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including “minor” works never before analyzed through the screwball lens. His book explains how these screwball stories met the expectations of a booming American middle class eager for the liberalization of morals, with daring plots, verbal humor and slapstick techniques. Building on the work of Cavell, Altman and Gehring, as well as international and French scholarship, Halbout's investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context. An exclusive study of archival material explains the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genre's placement of romantic intimacy at the center of the public sphere and the democratic debate, confirming that screwball eccentricity upholds America's founding values: freedom of speech, free consent, and contractual engagement.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1501347624
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
A 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Love at first sight, whirlwind marriages, break-ups, divorces, remarriage... What accounts for the enduring success of the Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s? Directed by masters of comedy (Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, Ruggles...) and featuring the decade's most iconic stars (Colbert, Dunne, Grant, Hepburn...), these films set romantic comedy standards for decades to come. Screwball comedy embarked on two challenging missions: to poke fun at established social norms and to undermine stereotypical depictions of gender roles, putting forward a discourse that postulated the possibility of equality between men and women. Grégoire Halbout's reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including “minor” works never before analyzed through the screwball lens. His book explains how these screwball stories met the expectations of a booming American middle class eager for the liberalization of morals, with daring plots, verbal humor and slapstick techniques. Building on the work of Cavell, Altman and Gehring, as well as international and French scholarship, Halbout's investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context. An exclusive study of archival material explains the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genre's placement of romantic intimacy at the center of the public sphere and the democratic debate, confirming that screwball eccentricity upholds America's founding values: freedom of speech, free consent, and contractual engagement.
Screwball Comedy and Film Noir
Author: Thomas C. Renzi
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786488603
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
This is a comprehensive comparative analysis of the screwball comedy and film noir genres--two popular Hollywood staples that emerged around the same time. Despite their contrast in tone and theme, "Screwball" and "Noir" have many narrative elements in common. The author defines the two genres, discusses their historical development and inter-related conventions, and offers detailed comparative analyses of a number of films, among them The Lady Eve and His Girl Friday (screwballs), and Gilda and Sunset Blvd. (noirs).
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786488603
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
This is a comprehensive comparative analysis of the screwball comedy and film noir genres--two popular Hollywood staples that emerged around the same time. Despite their contrast in tone and theme, "Screwball" and "Noir" have many narrative elements in common. The author defines the two genres, discusses their historical development and inter-related conventions, and offers detailed comparative analyses of a number of films, among them The Lady Eve and His Girl Friday (screwballs), and Gilda and Sunset Blvd. (noirs).
Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy
Author: Wes D. Gehring
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810844249
Category : Comedy films
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
It is an informative resource for film students and scholars and a thoroughly engaging read for film buffs."--BOOK JACKET.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810844249
Category : Comedy films
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Book Description
It is an informative resource for film students and scholars and a thoroughly engaging read for film buffs."--BOOK JACKET.
SCREWBALL! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny
Author: Paul C. Tumey
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1684051878
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The story of screwball comics, with new research and rare art from some of the most hilarious cartoonists of all time. Before "screwball" became a movie genre, it was a staple of other forms of American culture, including newspaper comic strips. Emerging from the pressures of a rapidly accelerating technological and information-drenched society, screwball comics offered a healthy dose of laughter and perspective. The disruptive, manic, and surreal verbal-visual comedy of these "funnies" fostered an absurdist sensibility embraced by The Marx Brothers (who took their names from a popular comic strip), W. C. Fields, Tex Avery, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, and Mad magazine. Comics scholar Paul C. Tumey traces the development of screwball as a genre in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics, presenting the work of around fifteen cartoonists, with an art-stuffed chapter on each. The book offers a wealth of previously un-reprinted comics unleashing fresh views of some of America's greatest and most-loved cartoonists, including George Herriman (Krazy Kat), E.C. Segar (creator of Popeye), Rube Goldberg (The Inventions of Professor Lucifer G. Butts, A.K.), Bill Holman (Smokey Stover), and Frederick Opper (Happy Hooligan). In addition, readers will be delighted to discover previously "lost" screwball masters, such as Gene Ahern (The Squirrel Cage), Gus Mager (Sherlocko the Monk), Boody Rogers (Sparky Watts), Milt Gross (Count Screwloose), George Swanson ($alesman $am) and others. Both humorous and educational, this book is aimed at a general audience of all ages and at university comics studies programs.
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1684051878
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The story of screwball comics, with new research and rare art from some of the most hilarious cartoonists of all time. Before "screwball" became a movie genre, it was a staple of other forms of American culture, including newspaper comic strips. Emerging from the pressures of a rapidly accelerating technological and information-drenched society, screwball comics offered a healthy dose of laughter and perspective. The disruptive, manic, and surreal verbal-visual comedy of these "funnies" fostered an absurdist sensibility embraced by The Marx Brothers (who took their names from a popular comic strip), W. C. Fields, Tex Avery, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, and Mad magazine. Comics scholar Paul C. Tumey traces the development of screwball as a genre in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics, presenting the work of around fifteen cartoonists, with an art-stuffed chapter on each. The book offers a wealth of previously un-reprinted comics unleashing fresh views of some of America's greatest and most-loved cartoonists, including George Herriman (Krazy Kat), E.C. Segar (creator of Popeye), Rube Goldberg (The Inventions of Professor Lucifer G. Butts, A.K.), Bill Holman (Smokey Stover), and Frederick Opper (Happy Hooligan). In addition, readers will be delighted to discover previously "lost" screwball masters, such as Gene Ahern (The Squirrel Cage), Gus Mager (Sherlocko the Monk), Boody Rogers (Sparky Watts), Milt Gross (Count Screwloose), George Swanson ($alesman $am) and others. Both humorous and educational, this book is aimed at a general audience of all ages and at university comics studies programs.
Talkies, Road Movies and Chick Flicks
Author: Heidi Wilkins
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474406904
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
The representation of gender in film remains an intensely debated topic, particularly in academic considerations of US mainstream cinema where it is often perceived as perpetuating rigid, binary views of gender, and reinforcing patriarchal, dominant notions of masculinity and femininity. While previous scholarly discussion has focused on visual or narrative portrayals of gender, this book considers the ways that film sound "e; music, voice, sound effects and silence "e; is used to represent gender. Taking a socio-historical approach, Heidi Wilkins investigates a range of popular US genres including screwball comedy, the road movie and chick flicks to explore the ways that film sound can reinforce traditional assumptions about masculinity and femininity, impart ambivalent meanings to them, or even challenge and subvert the notion of gender itself. Case studies include His Girl Friday, Easy Rider and Bridesmaids.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474406904
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
The representation of gender in film remains an intensely debated topic, particularly in academic considerations of US mainstream cinema where it is often perceived as perpetuating rigid, binary views of gender, and reinforcing patriarchal, dominant notions of masculinity and femininity. While previous scholarly discussion has focused on visual or narrative portrayals of gender, this book considers the ways that film sound "e; music, voice, sound effects and silence "e; is used to represent gender. Taking a socio-historical approach, Heidi Wilkins investigates a range of popular US genres including screwball comedy, the road movie and chick flicks to explore the ways that film sound can reinforce traditional assumptions about masculinity and femininity, impart ambivalent meanings to them, or even challenge and subvert the notion of gender itself. Case studies include His Girl Friday, Easy Rider and Bridesmaids.
Lubitsch Can't Wait
Author: Ivana Novak
Publisher: Slovenian Cinematheque
ISBN: 9789616417846
Category : Comedy films
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"The contributions collected in this book examine Lubitsch's best Hollywood pictures from the 1930s and '40s--Trouble in paradise, Design for living, Ninotchka, To be or not to be, and Cluny Brown--to demonstrate that comedy, at its best, is not merely a matter of providing comic relief."--Page 4 of cover.
Publisher: Slovenian Cinematheque
ISBN: 9789616417846
Category : Comedy films
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"The contributions collected in this book examine Lubitsch's best Hollywood pictures from the 1930s and '40s--Trouble in paradise, Design for living, Ninotchka, To be or not to be, and Cluny Brown--to demonstrate that comedy, at its best, is not merely a matter of providing comic relief."--Page 4 of cover.
Pursuits of Happiness
Author: Stanley Cavell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674739062
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Looks at seven classic romantic comedies of the thirties and forties, and compares what each film expresses about marriage, interdependence, equality, and sexual roles.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674739062
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Looks at seven classic romantic comedies of the thirties and forties, and compares what each film expresses about marriage, interdependence, equality, and sexual roles.
Romantic Comedy
Author: Tamar Jeffers McDonald
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231503385
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 145
Book Description
Romantic Comedy offers an introduction to the analysis of a popular but overlooked film genre. The book provides an overview of Hollywood's romantic comedy conventions, examining iconography, narrative patterns, and ideology. Chapters discuss important subgroupings within the genre: screwball sex comedy and the radical romantic comedy of the 1970s. A final chapter traces the lasting influence of these earlier forms within current romantic comedies. Films include: Pillow Talk (1959), Annie Hall (1977), and You've Got Mail (1998).
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231503385
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 145
Book Description
Romantic Comedy offers an introduction to the analysis of a popular but overlooked film genre. The book provides an overview of Hollywood's romantic comedy conventions, examining iconography, narrative patterns, and ideology. Chapters discuss important subgroupings within the genre: screwball sex comedy and the radical romantic comedy of the 1970s. A final chapter traces the lasting influence of these earlier forms within current romantic comedies. Films include: Pillow Talk (1959), Annie Hall (1977), and You've Got Mail (1998).
Romantic Comedy in Hollywood
Author: James Harvey
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306808326
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 738
Book Description
In 1934 four movies—It Happened One Night, Twentieth Century, The Thin Man, and The Gay Divorcee—ushered in the golden age of the Hollywood romantic ("screwball") comedy. Slangy, playful, and "powerfully, glamorously in love with love," the films that followed were unique in their combination of swank and slapstick. Here are the directors—Lubitsch (Trouble in Paradise), Capra (It Happened One Night), Hawks (Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday), McCarey (The Awful Truth), La Cava (My Man Godfrey, Stage Door), Sturges (The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle at Morgan's Creek)—and their stars—Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, William Powell, Myrna Loy, among others—all described and analyzed in one comprehensive and delightful volume.
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306808326
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 738
Book Description
In 1934 four movies—It Happened One Night, Twentieth Century, The Thin Man, and The Gay Divorcee—ushered in the golden age of the Hollywood romantic ("screwball") comedy. Slangy, playful, and "powerfully, glamorously in love with love," the films that followed were unique in their combination of swank and slapstick. Here are the directors—Lubitsch (Trouble in Paradise), Capra (It Happened One Night), Hawks (Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday), McCarey (The Awful Truth), La Cava (My Man Godfrey, Stage Door), Sturges (The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle at Morgan's Creek)—and their stars—Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, William Powell, Myrna Loy, among others—all described and analyzed in one comprehensive and delightful volume.