Comedy
Throughout cinema history comedies have been popular with mass audiences. Starting in the early days with stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chase to the present day with stars such as Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. However it was in the 1930s that one of the peaks of this genre was reached with the 'Screwball Comedy' with films like Bringing Up Baby, (1938), His Girl Friday, (1940), The Awful Truth (1937) and The Palm Beach Story (1942).
These films featured themes such as wacky heiresses, boss ladies and Cinderellas played by stars like Claudette Colbert and Katharine Hepburn. They hated and mated Cary Grant, Joel McCrea - absent-minded professors, mad impresarios and tuxedo-clad detectives. Two of the masters of this genre were directors Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges (who incidentally invented kiss-proof lipstick!). Sturges' rules for a successful comedy are probably the best description of this genre:
A pretty girl is better than a plain one
A leg is better than an arm
A bedroom is better than a living room
An arrival is better than a departure
A birth is better than a death
A chase is better than a chat
A dog is better than a landscape
A kitten is better than a dog
A baby is better than a kitten
A kiss is better than a baby
A pratfall is better than anything
The posters in this section are some of the best examples of their genre. Most notably the French poster for Bringing Up Baby really captures the essence of 'Screwball'.
Laughing Gravy
Details
Laughing Gravy
1931, M.G.M., U.S. title card - 11 x 14in. (27.9 x 35.6cm.), (A)
1931, M.G.M., U.S. title card - 11 x 14in. (27.9 x 35.6cm.), (A)
Provenance
The Hal Roach Collection