OSHER 908 - Laughing All the Way? Screwball Comedy Films: 1934-1945

A subgenre of romantic comedies, screwball comedies are marked by plots as unpredictable as its namesake, the screwball pitch in baseball. Shaped by the Depression of the 1930s, these films explore the confusions of life in America through gender and class role reversals, rapid-fire dialogue, and sheer breakneck speed. While the films offer romance, the focus is on comedy as conflict between a man and a woman sublimates sexual tension. The very wackiness of the plot and characters served as escapism--a social valve for inescapable economic disparities. With Hollywood stars like Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Katharine Hepburn, and Cary Grant, these films display social satire and biting wit. Films we will consider include "It Happened One Night" (1934), "My Man Godfrey" (1936), "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "His Girl Friday" (1939) or "My Favorite Wife" (1940), and "The Lady Eve" (1941).