It Happened One Night (1934)

Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert with director Frank Capra, this light romance pits a sunk newspaper man with a dissatisfied socialite. Colbert feels stuck in her life with a domineering father who does not approve of her marriage, and so she runs off to get away. While on a bus she meets the recently fired Peter (Gable) and there is immediate friction between them. However, realizing she is inexperienced, Peter watches out for her and they travel together. Finding out who she is, he is even more driven to get a story and stay with her. Along the way Colbert begins to fall in love but he does not immediately react. When he finally realizes his true feelings, the situation becomes complicated when Colbert returns to her father and fiancee. In the midst of the wedding she hears of Peter's true love and runs off to him. By that evening they are married and the "walls of Jericho" come tumbling down. Gable and Colbert both do well in this film and Capra gives us another light classic.

5/5 Stars

You Can't Take it With You (1938)

Starring a cast boasting Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, James Stewart, and Ed Arnold, this is another comical Capra film. Arnold is a wealthy banker bent on acquiring a block of land for business purposes. Stewart is his son who has fallen over heels for his secretary. Things are complicated by her peculiar family household partly because her grandfather will not give up his land to the banker. Fireworks go off literally and figuratively when the two families meet. It leads to prison, and a chaotic court appearance which causes a further rift. Because his grand daughter is sad, Grandpa decides to sell the family home. Arnold seems to have won, but his son leaves him for his love and so Arnold changes his way. Thanks to a harmonica duet and some dancing a friendship is made and everyone is happy in the end. Every Capra films comes with a message and this one preaches the importance of friends and family compared to money because after all "You Can't Take it With You."

4/5 Stars

The More The Merrier (1943)

Directed by George Stevens and starring Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, and Charles Coburn, this comedy makes light of the housing shortage in Washington D.C. during WWII. Retired millionaire Benjamin Dingle comes to D.C. as an adviser for the housing crisis. Unfortunately he cannot find a place to stay right away. By chance he happens upon an ad for a room the only thing is that the other tenant is a young woman. Mr. Dingle will not take no for an answer and despite her misgivings she agrees to let him stay. It soon proves to be a hilarious situation and it gets even more complicated when Dingle rents half of his half to a Sergeant Joe Carter who is about to ship out. Of course he doesn’t tell Connie. There is initial conflict however Dingle tries to play matchmaker. The only problem is that Connie is already engaged to a bureaucrat. Then Dingle oversteps his boundaries reading Ms. Milligan’s diary to Joe. Dingle accepts the responsibility and leaves but Connie allows Joe to stay since he will be gone soon. Through a series of events the newspaper gets a hold of the situation so Mr. Dingle advises them to get married to stop a scandal. As Joe gets ready to leave they realize they really do care for each other and Dingle was right Connie finally gave into her true feelings. All the main players were good and I think Charles Coburn was really the standout because he was the character who kept the whole story together. As is his motto, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”

4.5/5 Stars

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Headlined by Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, The Philadelphia Story  tells a comical tale of a divorced socialite who is about to be remarried. Tracy Lord is an arrogant socialite who divorced her equally fiery husband C.K. Dexter Haven. Now it is the day before her wedding to another man. However, Haven returns and brings a long two magazine reporters to get a scoop they were forced into. After a lavish party and many drinks the reporter (Stewart) and Tracy Lord find themselves spending an inebriated night talking and swimming. Haven manipulates the situation and the future husband Kittridge, who catches the tail end, believes something bad is happening. The next morning the wedding is in jeopardy and Hepburn and Stewart are oblivious. Although nothing happened, Lord agrees to terminate the wedding and Mike (Stewart) tries to save her embarrassment by proposing marriage. However, she realizes it is not meant to be and goes to Haven while Mike returns to the camera woman who loves him. It all ends well but the joke is still on them in the end. This romantic comedy has a lot of star power and it is actually pretty good.

4.5/5 Stars

His Girl Friday (1940)

Starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell with direction by Howard Hawks, this film's rapid and overlapping dialogue helps make it a witty comedy romance. Walter Burns (Grant) is a newspaper editor who was formally married to Hildy Johnson (Russell). However, now they are no longer together and she is on the verge of marrying another man (Ralph Bellamy). Grant still loves her and tries all the tricks he knows in order to get her back. Soon the two of them are deeply involved in a story having to do with a man who is soon to be hung. As they work to get the scoop, the two of them slowly begin to realize they still love each other despite their differences. Finally, Russell rejects a normal life with her new fiancee and she and Grant unite once again. A directing legend, Hawks has another success with the screwball comedy. Grant and Russell play well off each other and they have a good supporting cast behind them.

This film is a sensory overload with words whizzing by so fast that you hardly have time to catch them. But what you do pick up is great and the overlapping, rapid fire dialogue is delivered so effectively by the entire cast, including Grant and Russell. Russell takes on the persona of the independent career woman prevalent in the late 30s and early 40s. As such she knows how to trade blows with the boys in the newsroom and she delivers a spirited performance to counter Grant’s constant conniving and tricks in his sly attempt to win her back. Aside from the main stars, the film has a brilliant set of stock characters and the dialogue is such that it seems like it would be a joy to read the script. There is the self-referential humor to Ralph Bellamy, then to a Mock Turtle as well as Archie Leach. The first is Grant’s role in Alice in Wonderland and the second is his real name. The film even has time to deal a few jabs to Hitler, Communists, and most especially the newspaper industry. All in all His Girl Friday is a comedic whirlwind but it is a pretty good piece of mayhem.

4.5/5 Stars

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

In this mile-a-minute screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks, Cary Grant is forced to deal with Katharine Hepburn's ditsy socialite character. A Paleontologist (Grant) has been trying to assemble a dinosaur but he is missing a bone. On top of that Huxley is about to enter into an unhappy marriage and he also must impress a museum donor. The next day he meets a socialite (Hepburn) by accident and through a mix up he finds himself being taken to her home in order to help take care of a tame leopard named Baby. In the following chaos a dog buries the bone needed for the dinosaur, visitors come, Baby runs away, a wild leopard is on the loose, and the free-spirited girl finds herself falling for "Mr. Bone." To complicate matters, the pair wind up in jail trying to explain their story to a quirky constable. In the end everything works out and despite the craziness, Huxley realizes he cannot live without this girl. This may not be  my favorite screwball comedy, but I would say it definitely is the zaniest and that stands for something.

4/5 Stars

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Starring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea with direction by Preston Sturges, the film opens with the chaotic marriage of a couple. As the story progresses we learn they are essentially broke because the husband is a lowly architect and his wife cannot do much anything. She resolves to divorce him so that he will not have to support her. She makes her way to Palm Beach by train, using her feminine charm on many men. One such millionaire is especially smitten with her. Despite his awkwardness, she continues the relationship as she wants to send money to her husband so his airport can be built. However, things get complicated when her husband comes for her and the millionaire’s chatterbox sister comes to visit as well. In order to save face Colbert’s character introduces him as her brother. Now her husband is being pursued by another woman and she is close to being proposed to. Finally, she explains what is going on leaving the brother and sister disappointed. However, there is still hope thanks to a hilarious coincidence. The film ends with there beautiful simultaneous wedding ceremonies. Preston Sturges definitely has a knack for the quirky dialogue and situations. I have to say I personally enjoyed the Lady Eve and Sullivan’s Travels more but this film was certainly all over the place.

4/5 Stars

The Lady Eve (1941)

Starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck with director Preston Sturges, this screwball comedy is a good one. The supporting cast is rounded out wonderfully by Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallete, and William Demarest. The story begins on a big ocean liner where a beautiful young woman (Stanwyck) tries to pull a con on a naive, rich bachelor (Fonda). Slowly however they begin to fall in love and they plan to get married. He catches wind of her notoriety and becomes cold and that ends their relationship. In an act of revenge she poses as someone's niece, a Lady Eve, so that she can be close to him. Through a series of events he thinks she is a different person who looks similar and over time they decide to get married. When Eve tells him about all her boyfriends he feels he has made a mistake. Back on the ship he is ecstatic to see the first girl and they embrace. Fonda's character feels guilty because he is already married but then again she is too...to him. This film has a great combination of wit and slapstick which makes it an enjoyable classic.

                                                          4.5/5 Stars

Ball of Fire (1941)

Starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, the film revolves around a young man (Cooper) and seven older intellectuals compiling a Encyclopedia who get involved with a burlesque dancer (Stanwyck). They are interested in her constant use of slang and she is happy to use them as a cover to avoid the cops while she waits for her gangster boyfriend. However, things take a turn when the young man falls for her and proposes. Little does he know they are being used until they unknowingly transport her back to the gangster. He feels betrayed and she realizes her love for the corny intellectual. Although they are held by the gangster's thugs, the intellectuals join their wits to overcome their foe. In the nick of time they stop the marriage and the true loves get back together. Howard Hawks directs a nice combination of humor and romance. The story by Billy Wilder, is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with some major twists.

4.5/5 Stars

Ninotchka (1939)

Starring a cast including Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas with director Ernst Lubitsch, the film opens in Paris with three quirky Soviet Russians. They are sent to sell some jewels and at the same time to marvel at the capitalist society. Their curt, robotic, and serious comrade arrives to help them. She meets a Parisian playboy and seriously hopes to learn about his society.  However, after he finally makes her laugh the two of them become romantically involved. A jealous duchess manipulates the situation and Ninotchka is back in Moscow. She is reunited with her friends there but still is somber because she is no longer with her love. That changes quickly enough though. Lubitsch gives us another witty comedy that plays off the conflict between ideologies and cultures. Garbo, Douglas, and the three Russians are all likable characters that help make this film fairly good.

4/5 Stars

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur with director Frank Capra, this film follows a man from a small town who is left $2 million by a dead relative. Longfellow Deeds is thrust into a life in New York where everyone wants his attention in order to get money and support. However, this man they took for a stooge has common sense and grows fed up with them all. The only person he talks to is Arthur's character who is actually a reporter. While she writes damaging articles, they slowly begin to fall for each other. He finds out what she did and eventually decides to give his money away. Fortune hunters try to claim he is crazy and they bring their case to court. Initially Deeds does not defend himself, but when his love speaks on his behalf he changes his mind and fights for his cause. Capra was wonderful at making the feel good films about the common man. Here he does it once again in a precursor to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe.

4.5/5 Stars

My Man Godfrey (1936)

Starring William Powell and Carole Lombard with a zany cast of others, the film follows a funny socialite daughter who takes a "Forgotten Man" as her family's butler. Godfrey takes the job and soon learns how to cope with the scatterbrained girl, her stuck up sister, their ditsy mother, their long suffering father, and Carlo who is the man patronized by Mrs. Bullock. On accident Godfrey comes in contact with an old friend and his secret almost comes out. In the cover up Lombard's character believes him to be married with children. Because she loves him, she goes away to Europe to try and forget him. However, upon hearing the truth, she is ecstatic and Godfrey finds himself being married all of the sudden. This is a good example of the screwball comedies of the 1930s and I will admit, it is a pretty good film.

4/5 Stars

Twentieth Century (1934)

Starring John Barrymore and Carol Lombard with direction by Howard Hawks, this archetypal screwball comedy revolves around a frenetic impresario and the emotional girl he made into a household name on Broadway. 

Oscar Jaffe is the undisputed king of Broadway and after he christens the inexperienced Mildred Plotka, Lily Garland, she becomes his box office Queen. He makes her into a great actress and their numerous collaborations turn out success after success. However, as several years pass Lily is fed up and she ends her connection with Jaffe in a volatile falling out after she finds that he has hired a private investigator to keep tabs on her. Without his starlet Jaffe produces flop after flop and he is endangered of being jailed by his backers. He escapes in disguise and boards the Twentieth Century Limited train. He is accompanied by his two quirky assistants and it just so happens that Lily has boarded that same train. Jaffe sees it as a chance to make amends, but Lily will have nothing of it. They have some more frenzied confrontations on the train as Jaffe tries to convince her to star in his next project. In a last ditch effort he pretends to be deathly ill after a scuffle so that she will sign a contract in her distress. In the end she proves to truly care for him and once again they are back on Broadway, Lily Garland star extraordinaire, and Oscar Jaffe the domineering visionary. 

Along with It Happened One Night, this is one of the early examples of the screwball comedies. This was a perfect practice run at it for Howard Hawks who would direct the more well-known Bringing Up Baby in 1938. The leading performers are absolutely chaotic and over the top in their performances, but it’s the way it should be. Furthermore, like most screwball comedies the odd supporting characters are often a great source of laughs. The extended train sequence here reminded me somewhat of The Palm Beach Story another raucous film.

4/5 Stars

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Starring Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, and Miriam Hopkins with director Ernst Lubitsch, this film is a funny pre-code era romantic comedy. A man and a woman crook meet each other in Venice and after wreaking some havoc they fall in love and get married. The two of them move to Paris in order to pull a big heist on the elegant Collete perfume tycoon. Things get complicated when the male crook begins to fall in love with her. Furthermore, her two other suitors get jealous and eventually realize where they have seen him before! Then his wife learns what is going on and she is jealous. He sadly breaks off his relationship with the lady he meant to rob. But once a pick pocket always a pick pocket and he and his wife make up. For being an early 1930s film, I particularly enjoyed this one. Lubitsch did a fine job directing and there is a lot of wit.

4.5/5 Stars

Screwball Comedies

The Screwball Comedy came into existence in the 1930s probably with the release of It Happened One Night (1934). They are a unique type of romantic comedy prevalent in the 30s and early 1940s. Often the plot revolved around bizarre, crazy, or extravagant scenarios having to do with the love interests. Often the male character is challenged or humor can be found in class conflict. They are seen as escapist films that allowed Great Depression and World War II audiences to get away from their difficult lives in order to have some laughs and enjoy some fantastical situation. A number of directors including Preston Sturges, Howard Hawks, Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor, and Frank Capra all had successes in this genre.