There has never been such a successful collision of silliness and sophistication in the history of cinema as the Screwball Comedy. Speedy dialogue, couples’ quarrels, and slapstick are inseparable from razor-sharp wit, and some of the most incisive social commentary of the shifting class and gender dynamics of early twentieth-century America.
Predominantly a 1940s form – with brilliant exceptions from the 1950s and a few predecessors in the 1930s – Screwball Comedy was a product of its time. A defiant reaction to the newly imposed Hays Code, it rioted against hypocritical conservatism with an abundance of sexual innuendo, a good dose of adultery, and childless (!) couples surrendering to the hedonistic lifestyle of the metropolis. Whisky for breakfast was pretty standard… Their madcap, farcical plots – ranging from crossdressing to domesticated tigers – offered much needed escapism to a population still affected by the Great Depression and, later, WWII. The rich are presented as a more or less incompetent bunch, channelling the wider population’s frustrations, while couples break free from the ‘honeymoon phase’ that is typically romanticised in Hollywood. Despite their childish bickering, these lovers are engaged in progressive (for the time) relationships and even allowed to divorce – though they almost always end up back together – leading Stanley Cavell to label Screwball films as ‘Comedies of Remarriage’. Women are astonishingly emancipated and never simply onscreen to be looked at. Gloriously imperfect, they scheme, they err, they work, and, crucially, they make their own decisions.
A repertory company emerges. Directors like Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor, and Leo McCarey each fine-tuned the genre’s shape, while writers like Ben Hecht and Billy Wilder supplied the verbal velocity and bite. And then there were the stars – the usual suspects returning again and again: Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Barbara Stanwyck, and Claudette Colbert opposite Cary Grant, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and William Powell.
This May to August, The Garden Cinema dedicates itself to the finest chaos cinema has to offer – 17 films, introductions, special events, and plenty of discussion. From She Done Him Wrong to What’s Up Doc? – the season brings together the genre’s defining titles. Roam through the programme, fix a cocktail, and come argue about your favourites!
