The Art of the Screwball Comedy

Part One of this wonderfully entertaining exploration of screwball comedies and their later offspring begins midcentury discussing the careers and love of popular super stars such as Cary Grant and Carole Lombard and well-known supporting players like Walter Connally and Ralph Bellamy (also Asta, top animal star of the 1930s!). Writers and directors are given their due: Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges, are three. 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 Lover, and the stars that appear in them, the Gables, the Colberts, the Roberts and Geres, ending with some thoughts about the future.