“A Room and the Right Kind of People:” the Ideology Of
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“A ROOM AND THE RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE:” THE IDEOLOGY OF ROMANTIC COMEDY IN CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD CINEMA by CLAIRE E. GRAMAN A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. March 2020 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Claire E. Graman Title: “A Room and the Right Kind of People:” The Ideology of Romantic Comedy in Classical Hollywood Cinema This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the English Department by: Dr. Michael Aronson Chairperson/Advisor Dr. Sangita Gopal Core Member Dr. Priscilla Peña Ovalle Core Member Dr. Sergio Rigoletto Institutional Representative and Kate Mondloch Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded March 2020 ii © 2020 Claire Elise Graman This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Claire Graman Doctor of Philosophy Department of English March 2020 Title: “A Room and the Right Kind of People:” The Ideology of Romantic Comedy in Classical Hollywood Cinema Screwball comedy was a unique subgenre of romantic comedy occurring in American film of the 1930s and 40s, with an emphasis on fast-paced, witty dialogue, zany physical humor, and strong female characters. This dissertation examines the origins of screwball comedy in many subgenres of romantic comedy in the 1920s and 1930s, including slapstick, sophisticated comedies, flapper comedies, sentimental comedies, and anarchic pre-Code comedies, with particular focus on the way women are represented in these comedies. By building off theories of comedy and feminist film historiography, this dissertation argues for the feminist potential of these films, as their heroines create a filmic world where gender equality is possible, before studying the decline of screwball comedy with the reification of gender roles during World War II. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Claire E. Graman GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Western Washington University, Bellingham Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, English, 2020, University of Oregon Master of Arts, English, 2013, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, English, 2009, Western Washington University Associate of Arts, General, 2007, Spokane Falls Community College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Film and Media Studies Feminist Film Theory Film History PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Employee, University of Oregon, 2012-2013, 2014-2019 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Sherman Travel Award, University of Oregon, 2015 Hermine Zwanck Graham Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2014-2015 PUBLICATIONS: Graman, Claire: “‘That Girl’s Got It!:’ The Unruly Woman, Romantic Comedy, and Sexual Modernity.” Jump Cut, No. 58, Spring 2018. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One problem, or gift, of studying history is knowing that even the smallest occurrence could only have come about through a complex weave of circumstances and causes. Even my own small occurrence, this dissertation, stems from the small journey of my life and the countless films and people that have built more than century of motion picture history. What if, growing up, my local rural library hadn’t been able to get the funding to buy Criterion DVDs for my bored teenage self to watch? What if the economy (and my heart) hadn’t been broken in 2009, and I hadn’t gone to graduate school? What if a now-forgotten writer hadn’t been brave enough to submit her short story to some magazine, where it would eventually become one of the films I analyze? So, I’ll just pick one beginning to start with, the beginning of me: Thank you to my parents, Heather and Kevin Graman, for raising me in home filled with books, films, love, and laughter. Thank you to my siblings, Kate and Lachlan, for being my first critics. Thank you to wonderful friends and colleagues during my long graduate career: Sarah Blakely-Cartwright, Justin Brock, Zack Cheney, Liz Curry, Aaron Fai, Erin Ferrell, Courtney Floyd, Erica Goss, Tim and Helene Hannon, Caroline Huff, Jumpei Iiyama, Diana Martinez, Sakiko Morita, Dina Muhic, Aidan Pang, Celeste Reeb, Angie Rovak, Quentin Rowan, Danielle Seid, Bjorn Smars, Dannelle Stice, and last, but most, Natasha Sunderland. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the countless podcasts, video games, films, and TV shows that kept me sane during this long, long process and a dark time in American history. vi Thank you to my writing group and fellow cinephiles, Andrew McLaughlin, Stephanie Mastrostefano, and Zak Roman. Thank you to Sangita Gopal, Priscilla Ovalle, and Sergio Rigoletto, both for serving on my committee and for being incredible mentors and teachers, without whom this project wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you to my advisor, Michael Aronson, for having an unfathomable amount of patience, empathy, and humor to guide an extremely anxious advisee to accomplish something she never thought possible. I beyond grateful for his guidance, wisdom, and love of film history. Thank you to my therapist, Jen Hart, who helped me from the very beginning of my PhD career to filter through endless negative voices and accomplish all I’ve been able to. Thank you to Bandana Adam Graman-Berns, for not getting to play fetch as much as he would’ve liked, while I finished this dissertation. And, lastly, thank you to Jacob Thomas Berns, my best friend and business associate, who said, “You’re going to be great,” and I believed him. vii In memory of Thelma Sprake & Dannelle Stice, two real life screwball heroines viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: "AN EMPTY ROOM AND THE RIGHT KIND OF PEOPLE"………………………………………………………………..…...…... 1 II. THE PROBLEM WITH PLEASURE: THE ROOTS OF SCREWBALL COMEDY, 1920-1926……………………………………………..……………….……...... 18 III. “CHASING OUR BLUES AWAY:” ROMANTIC COMEDY DURING THE LIMINAL ERA, 1927-1934………………………………………..…............... 62 IV. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP: THE UTOPIC POSSIBILITIES OF SCREWBALL, 1935-1943…………………………………………………....……………......... 123 V. CONCLUSION: “SOMETHING WHICH HAS NEVER OCCURRED SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL…”……………………………………………………..…….. 181 REFERENCES CITED……………………………………...………………………….190 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Blake and Bullock discuss insane asylums in My Man Godfrey (1936)…………………………………………………………….……. 2 2.1 A 1920 ComedyArt Productions advertisement……………………….. 19 2.2 An advertisement for Mabel’s Lovers (1912) from an issue of Moving Picture World from November 2, 1912……………………………….. 23 2.3 An advertisement for Mickey (1918) from July 1917 issue of Motion Picture News……………………………………………...…………………… 23 2.4 Sue performing as vamp and virgin…………………….……………... 27 2.5 Sue performing as vamp and virgin…………………………………… 27 2.6 Shadows and desire in The Extra Girl………………………………… 28 2.7 Shadows and desire in Trouble in Paradise…………………………… 28 2.8 Sue and Dave’s relationship is characterized by passion and play….… 29 2.9 Sue and Dave’s relationship is characterized by passion and play….… 29 2.10 In a melodramatic scene, Sue is torn between love and family……….. 31 2.11 A slapstick versus a screwball chase………………………...………… 32 2.12 A slapstick versus a screwball chase…………………………...……… 32 2.13 Sue retrieves hats in a comic sight-gag, participating in the screwball world of Hollywood, but still believes in the illusory desires created by Hollywood……………………………………………………..…… 33 2.14 Sue retrieves hats in a comic sight-gag, participating in the screwball world of Hollywood, but still believes in the illusory desires created by Hollywood………………………………………………………..… 33 2.15 Sue smiles at Dave across the prop counter, echoing an earlier shot where she admired a handsome actor…………………………………. 33 2.16 Sue unknowingly fails an audition through various visual gags…...….. 34 x Figure Page 2.17 Sue unknowingly fails an audition through various visual gags………. 34 2.18 Sue accidentally releases a lion in a film studio, representing the chaotic potential of female sexuality.………………………………..… 35 2.19 Sue accidentally releases a lion in a film studio, representing the chaotic potential of female sexuality.…………………………..……… 35 2.20 “That’s some pussy cat!”………………………………………………. 35 2.21 Sue reacts with surprise and embarrassment as she watches her old audition, finally separating herself as “performer” and “viewer.”…….. 36 2.22 Sue reacts with surprise and embarrassment as she watches her old audition, finally separating herself as “performer” and “viewer.”…….. 36 2.23 The opening shot of The Wildcat (1921)…………………..…………... 41 2.24 A large crowd of women bid Alexis farewell……………….………… 42 2.25 Alexis graciously receives their thanks………………………………... 42 2.26 Alexis and Rischka undermine gender norms…………………………. 44 2.27 Role playing in Flaming Youth.……………………………………….. 45 2.28 Role playing in Flaming Youth………………………………………... 45 2.29 Role playing in The Wildcat.…………………………………………... 45 2.30 Role playing in The Wildcat.…………………………………………... 45 2.31 The commander stumbles through the zany mise-en-scène of The Wildcat…...……………………………………………………………. 46 2.32 A promotional still for Her Sister from Paris with Roland Colman and Constance Talmadge as an unhappy couple in the midst of a humorously exaggerated fight…………………………………………. 49 2.33 Talmadge enacts her revenge by seducing the conflicted Joseph in the back of a car.……………………………………………………..……. 49 2.34 La Perry listens