The Art of the Screwball Comedy: Madcap Entertainment from the 1930s to Today

by Doris Milberg

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 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.

200 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2012

Reviews

[Chuck Pickerill · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "The Art of the Screwball Comedy", author Doris Milberg provides an expansive categorization of the popular genre of comedy films that emerged in the 1930's and continued well into the 1940's. Her book takes it a couple of steps further by showing that the Screwball Comedy influenced many other romantic comedy films that came after the genre's heyday.

The book starts by giving the reader an understanding what the Screwball Comedy actually is along with the stars, writers and directors who made these films during the Classic Hollywood period. In Part II of the book, Milberg breaks down the individual films made during this era into sub-genres. Here we explore films that featured wacky heirs and heiresses, average working stiffs, "Cinderellas" and "Cinderfellas" along with other sub-genres that feature films with similar themes or plot points. What emerges is an exhaustive resource of Screwball Comedy films for the reader to seek out. Milberg smartly never lingers too long on each film and covers well and lesser-known films from the genre. Reading through the book I was amazed at how many of these films I have not yet seen! Milberg then concludes her book by touching upon films made after World War II where we can pinpoint elements of the Screwball Comedy.

Overall, I found the book to be an interesting look at the genre that will provoke me to find and watch several of the films discussed in it. It's a breezy summer read that helps you understand the elements of the classic Screwball Comedy, but never hits you with over analysis. The book is a good place to start for classic film fans who want to better understand the essentials of the Screwball Comedy. If they are like me, they'll want to keep a notebook handy to jot down the films that most interest them. Finding these screwballs and watching them are part of the fun!