Screwball Comedy

  • David Lean – Blithe Spirit (1945)

    1941-1950ComedyDavid LeanFantasyScrewball ComedyUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    An English mystery novelist invites a medium to his home, so she may conduct a séance for a small gathering. The writer hopes to gather enough material for the book he’s working on, as well as to expose the medium as a charlatan. However, proceedings take an unexpected turn, resulting in a chain of supernatural events being set into motion that wreak havoc on the man’s present marriage.Read More »

  • Otto Preminger – Danger – Love at Work (1937)

    1931-1940ComedyOtto PremingerRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    A young lawyer is unable to get the Pembertons to sign a land sale contract until their daughter falls in love with him.Read More »

  • Raoul Walsh – The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)

    1941-1950ComedyCultRaoul WalshScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    Though Jack Benny made a cottage industry out of joking about the purported rottenness of his 1945 vehicle Horn Blows at Midnght, the film is in fact a delightful comedy-fantasy-certainly not Benny’s best film, but far from his worst. While dozing off during a radio broadcast, studio musician Athaniel (Benny) dreams he’s a trumpet player in Heaven’s celestial orchestra. At the behest of glamorous angel Elizabeth (Alexis Smith), Athaniel is brought into the lavish chambers of The Chief (Guy Kibbee), who has a job for our hapless hero. Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – The Perfect Specimen (1937)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyMichael CurtizScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis
    Based on a popular novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, this screwball comedy stars Errol Flynn in the title-role, the heir to an industrial fortune kept hidden from the world by his imperious grandmother (May Robson). Intrigued by the secrecy, peppy Joan Blondell literally crashes the estate to liberate the young man and the two embark on a whirlwind trip through Pennsylvania. Falling in love with the intruder along the way, Flynn learns how life is lived by the other half — or at least by the wacky Warner Bros. stock company — and proves himself to be much more capable than “Grandma” Robson ever imagined. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Richard Wallace – Wedding Present (1936)

    1931-1940ComedyRichard WallaceRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Charlie Mason and Rusty Fleming are great reporters on a Chicgo tabloid and romantically involved as well. Despite their skills in obtaining great scoops, they are often irresponsible and immature causing their city editor to resign over their shenanigans. The publisher promotes Charlie to the job based on the premise that only a slacker would be able crack down on other underachievers. His pomposity soon alienates most of his co-workers and causes Rusty to move to New York. Charlie resigns and along with gangster friend Smiles Benson tries to win Rusty back before she marries a stuffy society author.Read More »

  • George Marshall – A Millionaire for Christy (1951)

    1951-1960ComedyGeorge MarshallRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    This hilarious screwball comedy gave Fred MacMurray a chance to show his brilliant comedic chops as Peter, a radio personality who is told he’s just inherited two million dollars by a gold-digging secretary (Eleanor Parker as Christy) who is determined to snag him for herself. Though he never quite believes she’s telling the truth about his inheritance, circumstances continue to bring Peter together with Christy, infuriating both his fiancée, June (Kay Buckley), and his pal, Dr. Cook (Richard Carlson), who secretly loves June himself. It’s not long before Christy and Dr. Cook join forces and cook up some shenanigans to help them win the lovers they want.Read More »

  • H.C. Potter – You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)

    1941-1950ComedyH.C. PotterRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    In this romantic comedy, a wealthy heiress marries hastily and realizes her mistake on her honeymoon in New York. Though it is her wedding night, she decides not to consummate the union and so ends up hiding in the room of a fellow whose airplane cargo company is facing financial ruin. He assumes that the frightened girl is poor and homeless and so takes her in. She then overdoses on sleeping pills and cannot wake up. The fellow is forced to take her back to California. The flight back is tumultuous as she, a fugitive criminal, two enamored newlyweds, a cigar smoking chimp, a corpse, and a shipment of lobsters are aboard the plane. Mayhem really ensues when the plane crashes in a farmer’s field. By this time, the woman and the fellow have fallen in love.Read More »

  • Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast – Topaze (1933)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    An honest and naive schoolteacher gets a lesson in how the world works outside the classroom, when a rich Baron and his mistress use the teacher’s name and outstanding reputation in a crooked business scheme.Read More »

  • John Ford – The Whole Town’s Talking (1935)

    1931-1940ComedyCrimeJohn FordScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He’s never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he’s then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.Read More »

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