Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s were enduringly successful due to their directors, stars, and screwball comedy's mission to poke fun at social norms and undermine gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts book "Screwball Comedy" provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, explaining how it met the expectations of a booming American middle class eager for the liberalization of morals.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 10 February 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

The Hollywood madcap comedies of the 1930s have endured for decades, thanks to the direction of masters of comedy like Hawks, LaCava, Leisen, and Ruggles, as well as the iconic stars of the era, such as Colbert, Dunne, Grant, and Hepburn. Screwball comedy, a subgenre that emerged in the 1930s, aimed to challenge social norms and undermine stereotypical gender roles. Grégoire Halbouts comprehensive reexamination of screwball comedy provides a comprehensive overview of this (sub)genre, eschewing the auteurist approach and including "minor" works that have never been analyzed through the screwball lens.

Halbouts investigation unfolds in three parts. He first establishes a definition of Hollywood screwball comedy through a cross-sectional analysis of its socio-historical context and an in-depth examination of the genre. He then situates screwball comedy in relation to its institutional context, with an exclusive study of archival material explaining the emergence of a screwball aesthetic meant to subvert the prohibitions of the 1934 Hollywood Production Code through a verbal and visual rhetoric of diversion and mitigation. Finally, Halbout explores the social function of the genres placement of romantic intimacy at the center of its narratives.

Weight: 834g
Dimension: 203 x 263 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501347610