The Screwball Comedy Films

My Man Godfrey, Four’s a Crowd, My Favorite Wife, The Devil and Miss Jones—for their inspired blend of slapstick humor with casual elegance and witty repartee, these movies are examples of what became known as “screwball” comedies. This study focuses on the genre, film-by-film, year-by-year, providing the film enthusiast or serious researcher with an informed guide to the screen offerings of the era.
Each of the major contributors is profiled, from directors (such as Capra, Hawks, McCarey or LaCava) to writers (Hecht, Krasna, Wilder, and others) to the inspired lunacy of performers (Grant, Lombard, Dunne, or MacMurray). The large filmography covers more than 50 films, appearing chronologically, and gives title, studio, date, time, director, producer, writers, source, photography, cast, plot description and background notes.

Duane Byrge is a film critic for The Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
Robert Milton Miller is an associate professor of communication studies at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. He lives in DeKalb.

Duane Byrge and Robert Milton Miller
Foreword by Arthur Knight
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 156
Bibliographic Info: photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2001 [1991]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1106-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0701-6
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword     vii
Introduction     1
1 Major Performers     5
2 Major Writers
3 Major Directors     29
4 The Films, 1934–1942     45

Notes     35
Bibliography     37
Index     43

• “Readable, precise”—Classic Images
• “Focuses on all aspects of the genre…an informed guide…exhaustive”—Midwest Book Review
• “It’s a pleasure to re-acquaint oneself with so many likeable films and performers”—Film Review
• “Libraries that support film programs will…want a copy”—ARBA
• “An amiable, worthwhile survey”—VideoMania