🔩 FILMS - SCREWBALL COMEDIES
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1934-1942 (core years); 1931-1956 (extended); post 1956 (debatable)
- [x] Murder, He Says (1945) 7.0 91m *
- [x] The Awful Truth (1937) 7.7 90m *
- [x] Holiday (1938) 7.7 95m *
- [x] Midnight (1938) 7.9 94m *
- [x] Rhubarb (1951) 6.9 94m
- [x] Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938) 7.2 85m
- [x] Love Crazy (1941) 99m 7.4
- [x] Theodora Goes Wild (1936) 7.1 94m *
- [x] I Married a Witch (1942) 7.1 77m *
- [x] Remember the Night (1940) 7.6 94m *
- [x] The Major and the Minor (1942) 7.4 100m *
- [x] Libeled Lady (1936) 98m 7.8 **
- [x] Easy Living (1937) 7.5 88m **
- [x] Destry Rides Again (1939) 7.6 95m *
- [x] Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) * 7.6 90m - buy
- [x] Vivacious Lady (1938) 7.1 90m
- [x] The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) 112m 7.5 hbo
- [x] Unfaithfully Yours (1948) 7.5 105m * - buy
- [x] Christmas in July (1940) 7.4 67m *
- [x] The More the Merrier (1943) 7.7 104m - crit
- [x] Cluny Brown (1946) 100m 7.5 * YouTube
- [x] The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) 7.6 92m - buy amz
- [x] My Favorite Wife (1940) 7.3 88m
- [x] I Love You Again (1940) 99m 7.4 * - buy
- [x] The Good Fairy (1935) 7.5 98m
- [x] Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) 7.8 115m - buy
- [x] Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 118m 7.9 - buy
- [x] Brewster's Millions (1945) 6.6 79m - kan
- [x] What's Up, Doc? (1972) 7.7 94m
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- [ ] Intolerable Cruelty (2003) 6.3 100m
- [ ] Another Thin Man (1939) 7.4 103m
- [x] To Be or Not to Be (1942) 99m 8.2 - grit
- [x] His Girl Friday (1940) 7.8 92m
- [x] My Man Godfrey (1936) 8.0 94m
- [x] It Happened One Night (1934) 105m 8.1
- [x] Brewster's Millions (1985) 6.5 102m
- [ ] It's Love I'm After (1937) 7.4 90m
- [ ] The Rage of Paris (1938) 7.0 78m
- [ ] Adams' Rib (1949) 7.5 101m *
- [ ] Pillow Talk (1959) 7.4 102m
- [ ] Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) 7.6 101m - crit
- [ ] Front Page (1931) 6.7 101m - crit
- [ ] The Egg and I (1947) 7.0 108m
- [ ] It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) 7.6 116m * hbo
- [ ] The Seven Year Itch (1955) 7.1 105m
- [ ] Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) 7.6 94m
- [ ] The Great McGinty (1940) 7.3 82m
- [ ] Going My Way (1944) 7.0 126m
- [ ] Topper (1937) 97m 7.2
- [ ] The Strawberry Blonde (1941) 7.2 99m
- [ ] Love is the News (1937) 7.0 77m - crit
- [ ] It Happens Every Spring (1949) 6.9 87m - crit
- [ ] Me and My Gal (1932) 6.6 79m - crit
- [ ] Whistling in the Dark (1941) 78m 6.7
- [ ] Four's a Crowd (1938)
- [ ] Unfinished Business (1941)
- [ ] Cain and Mabel (1936)
- [ ] Larceny, Inc (1942)
- [ ] Woman of the Year (1942)
- [ ] The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
- [ ] The Talk of the Town (1942)
- [ ] Love before Breakfast (1936) 6.2 70m
- [ ] She’s Funny That Way (2015)
- [ ] Mistress America (2015)
- [ ] Flirting with Disaster (1996)
- [ ] For Pete's Sake (1974)
- [ ] Runaway Bride (1999)
- [ ] Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
- [ ] Night Owls (2015)
- [ ] Our Idiot Brother (2011)
- [ ] While We're Young (2014)
- [ ] Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
- [ ] Role Models (2008)
- [ ] Arthur (1981)
- [ ] Working Girl (1988)
- [ ] Seems Like Old Times (1980)
- [ ] Carefree (1938)
- [ ] Summer Rental (198
- [ ] My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
- [ ] Heavyweights (1995)
- [ ] Mumford (1999)
- [ ] The Big Store (1941)
- [ ] I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
- [ ] Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
- [ ] The Horse's Mouth (1958)
- [ ] Double Wedding (1937)
- [ ] The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
- [ ] The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
- [ ] Bean (1997)
- [ ] The Butcher Boy (1917)
- [ ] The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
- [ ] Housesitter (1992)
- [ ] Runaway Bride (1999)
- [ ] The Impostors (1998)
- [ ] Good Burger (1997)
- [ ] The Couch Trip (1988)
- [ ] Modern Problems (1981)
- [ ] Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
- [ ] Rumor Has It... (2005)
- [ ] It's Love I'm After (1937)
- [ ] Stroker Ace (1983)
- [ ] Mr. Jealousy (1997)
- [ ] The Fortune (1975)
- [ ] Laws of Attraction (2004)
- [ ] Opportunity Knocks (1990)
- [ ] Ladybugs (1992)
- [ ] Who Was That Lady? (1960)
- [ ] Comfort and Joy (1984)
- [ ] Boeing Boeing (1965)
- [ ] Blondie (1938)
- [ ] Casanova Brown (1944)
- [ ] True Confession (1937)
- [ ] You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
- [ ] Too Many Husbands (1940)
- [ ] Stand-In (1937)
- [ ] You're Telling Me! (1934)
- [ ] The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
- [ ] We're Not Married! (1952)
- [ ] Love Is News (1937)
- [ ] Breakfast for Two (1937)
- [ ] The Young in Heart (1938)
- [ ] If I Had a Million (1932)
- [ ] The Gay Bride (1934)
- [ ] Any Wednesday (1966)
- [ ] Moscow Laughs (1934)
- [ ] The Gilded Lily (1935)
- [ ] Lost and Found (1999)
- [ ] My Sister Eileen (1942)
- [ ] Boy Meets Girl (1938)
- [ ] All in a Night's Work (1961)
- [ ] The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939)
- [ ] Alibi Ike (1935)
- [ ] I Met Him in Paris (1937)
- [ ] The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
- [ ] Some Girls (1988)
- [ ] Love on the Run (1936)
- [ ] Having Wonderful Crime (1945)
- [ ] The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939)
- [ ] Danger - Love at Work (1937)
- [ ] You Never Can Tell (1951)
- [ ] Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)
- [ ] The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)
- [ ] Sour Grapes (1998)
- [ ] There Goes My Girl (1937)
- [ ] Who's That Girl (1987)
- [ ] Beer and Pretzels (1933)
- [ ] The Moon's Our Home (1936)
- [ ] Bedtime Story (1941)
- [ ] Blondie's Holiday (1947)
- [ ] Office Christmas Party (2016)
- [ ] Fatty and Mabel's Simple Life (1915)
- [ ] Rhythm in the Clouds (1937)
- [ ] A Millionaire for Christy (1951)
- [ ] Hired Wife (1940)
- [ ] Beautiful (2000)
- [ ] 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
- [ ] Blondie for Victory (1942)
- [ ] Made in America (1993)
- [ ] Man of the Century (1999)
- [ ] A Bride for Henry (1937)
- [ ] The Bobo (1967)
- [ ] There Goes the Groom (1937)
- [ ] Wise Girl (1937)
- [ ] Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948)
- [ ] Guest Wife (1945)
- [ ] Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957)
- [ ] The Big Hangover (1950)
- [ ] Betsy's Wedding (1990)
- [ ] Trapped by Television (1936)
- [ ] Fathers' Day (1997)
- [ ] The Outlaws Is Coming (1965)
- [ ] You Can't Run Away from It (1956)
- [ ] Married Before Breakfast (1937)
- [ ] The Lady Has Plans (1942)
- [ ] Mr. and Mrs. North (1942)
- [ ] The Jokers (1967)
- [ ] This Thing Called Love (1940)
- [ ] Turnabout (1940)
- [ ] Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
- [ ] O-Kay for Sound (1937)
- [ ] There's That Woman Again (1938)
- [ ] I Love Lucy: The Movie (1953)
- [ ] The Wrong Guys (1988)
- [ ] One Rainy Afternoon (1936)
- [ ] Out of the Blue (1947)
- [ ] Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
- [ ] Potiche (2010)
- [ ] Lend Me Your Wife (1959)
- [ ] Too Many Wives (1937)
- [ ] La vispa Teresa (1943)
- [ ] The Impatient Maiden (1932)
- [ ] By Candlelight (1933)
- [ ] The Town Went Wild (1944)
- [ ] Broadway Limited (1941)
- [ ] Lady in a Jam (1942)
- [ ] Blondie Knows Best (1946)
- [ ] Stjärnsmäll i Frukostklubben (1950)
- [ ] Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (1972)
- [ ] Puccini for Beginners (2006)
- [ ] How to Be a Player (1997)
- [ ] Holy Man (1998)
- [ ] The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991)
- [ ] New Life (1983)
- [ ] Three Men and a Leg (1997)
- [ ] Two Much (1996)
- [ ] Illegally Yours (1988)
- [ ] Dog Days (1970)
- [ ] Reckless Kelly (1993)
- [ ] Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)
- [ ] Deathrow Gameshow (1987)
- [ ] Happy Anniversary and Goodbye (1974)
- [ ] American Pie Presents Beta House (2007)
- [ ] The Love Bug (1997)
- [ ] Hardly Working (1980)
- [ ] Throw Out the Anchor! (1974)
- [ ] Town & Country (2001)
- [ ] Lovers and Liars (1979)
- [ ] À gauche en sortant de l'ascenseur (1988)
- [ ] Plaff! or Too Afraid of Life (1988)
- [ ] Don Juan (1998)
- [ ] Le Pari (1997)
- [ ] Rolling Kansas (2003)
- [ ] Forever Lulu (2000)
- [ ] Screwball Hotel (1988)
- [ ] Heads and Tails (1995)
- [ ] The Calamari Wrestler (2004)
- [ ] Esmeralda Comes by Night (1997)
- [ ] Le nuove comiche (1994)
- [ ] Go Go Tales (2007)
- [ ] Bikini Hotel (1997)
- [ ] Harvey (1996)
- [ ] The Misery Brothers (1995)
- [ ] Butch Camp (1996)
- [ ] Road to Nhill (1997)
- [ ] Beverly Hills Family Robinson (1997)
- [ ] She's Funny That Way (2014)
- [ ] Post Grad (2009)
- [ ] Too Much Sleep (1997)
- [ ] Sprung (1997)
- [ ] Att stjäla en tjuv (1996)
- [ ] Just One Night (2000)
- [ ] Playing Mona Lisa (2000)
- [ ] 3 Strikes (2000)
- [ ] The Naked Man (1998)
- [ ] Things I Left in Havana (1997)
- [ ] Laura Cadieux... la suite (1999)
- [ ] B.A.P.S. (1997)
- [ ] Colin Fitz Lives! (1997)
- [ ] Samba in Mettmann (2004)
- [ ] Fruit & Nut (2009)
- [ ] Slippery Slope (2006)
- [ ] Blonde Ambition (2007)
- [ ] Happy Ever Afters (2009)
- [ ] The Whole Truth (2009)
- [ ] Chongqing Hot Pot (2016)
- [ ] The Layover (2017)
- [ ] Adam Green's Aladdin (2016)
- [ ] How Long Will I Love U (2018)
- [ ] Aquaslash (2019)
- [ ] Women In Revolt (1971)
- [ ] Labyrinth (1963)
- [ ] Castle of Otranto (1977)
- [ ] Manly Games (1988)
- [ ] Portrait of a Young Man in Three Movements (1931)
- [ ] Leviathan (2012)
- [ ] Trash (1970)
- [ ] The Ossuary (1970)
- [ ] The Hart of London (1970)
- [ ] Lunacy (2005)
- [ ] The Tracey Fragments (2007)
- [ ] Tarantella (1940)
- [ ] Patsy (1928)
- [ ] I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
- [ ] Champagne for Caesar (1950)
- [ ] The Mating Season (1951)
- [ ] The Grass Is Greener (1960)
- [ ] Lover Come Back (1961)
- [ ] One, Two, Three (1961),
- [ ] It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
- [ ] Man's Favorite Sport? (1964),
- [ ] Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
- [ ] Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
- [ ] She's Funny That Way (2015)
- [ ] To Be or Not To Be (1983) 6.8 107m
- [x] It Happened One Night (1934)
- [x] To Be or Not to Be (1942)
- [x] Brewster's Millions (1985)
- [x] Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
- [x] The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- [x] His Girl Friday (1940)
- [x] Bringing Up Baby (1938)
- [x] My Man Godfrey (1936)
- [x] Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
- [x] A Night at the Opera (1935)
- [x] Harvey (1950)
- [x] Raising Arizona (1987)
- [x] The Big Lebowski (1998)
- [x] Ball of Fire (1941)
- [x] You Can't Take It With You (1938)
- [x] Clue (1985)
- [x] The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
- [x] Something Wild (1986)
- [x] Blithe Spirit (1945)
- [x] The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
- [x] Nothing Sacred (1937)
- [x] The Palm Beach Story (1942)
- [x] Ninotchka (1939)
- [x] After the Thin Man (1936)
- [x] The Cocoanuts (1929)
- [x] Twentieth Century (1934)
- [x] Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
- [x] Design for Living (1933)
- [x] The Gay Divorcee (1934)
- [x] Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
- [x] Hail, Caesar! (2016)
- [x] The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
- [x] Oscar (1991)
- [x] Overboard (1987)
- [x] Heaven Can Wait (1978)
- [x] It's a Wonderful World (1939)
- [x] Bringing Up Baby (1938) 7.8 102m
The film critic Andrew Sarris has defined the screwball comedy as "a sex comedy without the sex"
elements of the screwball comedy include fast-paced, overlapping repartee, farcical situations, escapist themes, physical battle of the sexes, disguise and masquerade, and plot lines involving courtship and marriage
Typical elements:
* General set-up is within upper class or upper middle-class.
* opposites attract" -theme
* film occur right around Christmas time
* gender-roles reversed/challenged
* authority or age status reversed/challenged
* drag (straight) skits
* divorce/Remarrying
* multiple love interests competing (courting)
* comedy created from "force majeure" -lies/cheats
* elements of screwy slapstick/pantomime/gag routines in situations, where in regular comedy they would be deemed inappropriate or unrealistic.
* mistaken/false identity portrayed in comedic style
* alcohol, drugs or medicine congested has a significant role with comedy/farcical issues
* romantic comedy involves New York or Connecticut as a location
The plot of Corrupting Dr. Nice, a science fiction novel by John Kessel involving time travel, is modeled on films such as The Lady Eve and Bringing Up Baby.
Hawksian woman
Screwball Comedy: 1931-1956 Definitive List of Early Films
https://letterboxd.com/koursaros/list/screwball-comedy-1931-1956-definitive-list/
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls064597659/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_comedy
8-11; 20-26
Screwball comedy and film noir : unexpected connections
Tags:
films