Screwball Actress

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P a g e SCREWBALL ACTRESS RAY E. BOOMHOWER efore the days of cable and satellite dishes, when there were only three major networks avail able for viewing, one of the few things on television that always sparked my interest was the perennialshowing of old movies, usually on lazy Sunday afternoons. The films ranged from Bud Abbott and Lou Costello meeting a host of monsters (Frankenstein, the WolfMan, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man to name but a few) to the detective adventures of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. My favorites, however, were the sophisticated, and hilarious, screwball comedies produced lly Hollywood studios during the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s and into the early 1940s. These films, which often matched the wits of daz an eccentric Park Avenue family. Bullock hires zlingly daffy females with those of hapless males, fea Parke as the family's new butler and eventually tured the talents of such well known stars as Cary Grant, falls in love with her new "protege." Irene Dunne, Katherine Hepburn, Clark Cable, and Of course, as often happens in these movies, Claudette Colbert. Who hasn't chortled over the bud Parke, representingthe decency and forthright ding romance between a spoiled heiress and a recently ness of the common man, teaches the wealthy fired reporter in It Happened One Night ( 1934), the mis family a thing or twoabout life and saves them understandings between a married couple in TheAwful from disaster. A box-office hit at the time, the Truth (1937), the madcap search for a missing dinosaur movie featured fine acting from not only its bone in Bringing Up Baby ( 1938), and the bizarre machi stars-both Lombard and Powell received nations of a newspaper editor attempting to lure his Academy Award nominations for their per ex-wife back to her former job in His GirlFriday (1940)? formances-but also from its supporting cast. My favorite screwball comedy, however, involved a I still marvel at the fine comedic timing of Hoosier-born actress who became a fixture in this Mischa Auer, who played Carlo, Angelica film genre: Carole Lombard. In 1936 Lombard Bullock's protege, and Eugene Pallette, who starred alongside her ex-husband William Powell portrayed the harried patriarch of the ("the only intelligent actor I've ever met," according Bullock family. Not even a fine physical come to Lombard) in the Universal movie My Man Godfrey. dian such as Jim Carrey could hope to match Directed by Gregory La Cava, the movie tells the story Auer's side-splitting imitation of a gorilla to of Godfrey "Duke" Parke (Powell), a former Boston amuse Irene during a (fake) crying spell. Brahmin who after a failed romance begins living at The delight I took upon first viewing My the city dump with victims of the depression. A scav Man Godfreycame back to me again recently enger hunt organized as part of a society fund-raiser through two events. The first was when I for the underprivileged brings Parke-the prover received the film on a new DVD from the bial forgotten man-in contact with Irene Bullock Criterion Collection, which through the (Lombard), a young and scatterbrained member of years has pulled cinematic treasures from 2 TRACES Spring 2002 .

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Screwball Syll
Webster University FLST 3160: Topics in Film Studies: Screwball Comedy Instructor: Dr. Diane Carson, Ph.D. Email: [email protected] COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course focuses on classic screwball comedies from the 1930s and 40s. Films studied include It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth, and The Lady Eve. Thematic as well as technical elements will be analyzed. Actors include Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, and Barbara Stanwyck. Class involves lectures, discussions, written analysis, and in-class screenings. COURSE OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this course is to analyze and inform students about the screwball comedy genre. By the end of the semester, students should have: 1. An understanding of the basic elements of screwball comedies including important elements expressed cinematically in illustrative selections from noteworthy screwball comedy directors. 2. An ability to analyze music and sound, editing (montage), performance, camera movement and angle, composition (mise-en-scene), screenwriting and directing and to understand how these technical elements contribute to the screwball comedy film under scrutiny. 3. An ability to apply various approaches to comic film analysis, including consideration of aesthetic elements, sociocultural critiques, and psychoanalytic methodology. 4. An understanding of diverse directorial styles and the effect upon the viewer. 5. An ability to analyze different kinds of screwball comedies from the earliest example in 1934 through the genre’s development into the early 40s. 6. Acquaintance with several classic screwball comedies and what makes them unique. 7. An ability to think critically about responses to the screwball comedy genre and to have insight into the films under scrutiny.
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Martin Balsam and the Refining of Male Character Acting in American Films, 1957-1976 John Thomas Mcguire, Siena College
Man In A Hat: Martin Balsam and the Refining of Male Character Acting in American Films, 1957-1976 John Thomas McGuire, Siena College [email protected] Volume 8. 1 (2020) | ISSN 2158-8724 (online) | DOI 10.5195/cinej.2020.235 | http://cinej.pitt.edu Abstract This article attempts a definition at what constitutes “character acting” in mainstream cinema in the United States and argues that throughout the peak of his film career—roughly, 1957 through 1976--Martin Balsam refined the definition of male character acting in American film, a parameter previously established by such skilled practitioners as Eugene Pallette and Claude Rains. Balsam did this through his ability to portray what can be termed “a man in a hat” portrayals: tartly humorous, reliable, and sometimes authoritative supporting characters, usually wearing a chapeau. This is clearly seen in such performances as the private investigator in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and most interestingly, a partner in an unusual subway hijacking in Joseph Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974). Keywords: Character acting, male, in film, United States; Martin Balsam; Academy Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor; Claude Rains; Alfred Hitchcock; 20th Century film acting. New articles in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States License. This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press Man In A Hat: Martin Balsam1 and the Refining Of Male Character Acting in American Films, 1957-1976 John Thomas McGuire "I'll tell you; I still don't feel whatever change you're supposed to feel when your name goes up above the title.
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1934-04-26 [P C-4]
PIERCE HALL PLAYERS hostess. There have been Invited a lng the play. The stage crew, under a model constructed by Miss Brown. number of dinner guests. Including the direction of Newell Lusby, has The business stall Is headed by Jennifer, who poses as a general's National constructed one of the most difficult Ployd Sparks. Tickets for the play Players Prepare End” PRESENT GOOD COMEDY widow, but is In reality the pseudo — ever amateur be obtained at Wardman Parle Reviving “Journey’s prince’s estranged wife. After a series settings attempted by may A. A. Milne's Play, “To Have the of humorous situations, the two Im- organizations. They weye guided by Theater tonight and tomorrow night. To Their New Season posters finally reveal their identities Open Is Vehicle for Honor,” to their understanding hostess and to take another in the Amateurs. proceed flyer First Will Be The Pur- matrimonial market. “THH- Play Monday Evening “To Have the Honor” Is to he re- A. A. Milne's play about a pseudo by the players at Successful on Broad- prince or a pseudo country who runs peated tonight suit of Happiness,” Pierce Hall at 8:30 o’clock. Is di- Into difficulty when he runs Into his It rected Ina L. Hawes. estranged wife, also posing as some by the Film Theaters. M. W. B. A way—At or e else she is not, at an English din- woman, The story Pierce Hall ner party, gave Players, sure of her of « wife Paul Alexander, Ruth Perrott and IN “JOURNEYS END.” BY E.
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The Representation of Women in Romantic Comedies Jordan A
Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers Student Research 4-24-2017 Female Moments / Male Structures: The Representation of Women in Romantic Comedies Jordan A. Scharaga Ursinus College, [email protected] Adviser: Jennifer Fleeger Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/media_com_hon Part of the Communication Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Gender and Sexuality Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. Recommended Citation Scharaga, Jordan A., "Female Moments / Male Structures: The Representation of Women in Romantic Comedies" (2017). Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers. 6. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/media_com_hon/6 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Female Moments/Male Structures: The Representation of Women in Romantic Comedies Jordan Scharaga April 24, 2017 Submitted to the Faculty of Ursinus College in fulfillment of the requirements for Distinguished Honors in the Media and Communication Studies Department. Abstract: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again. With this formula it seems that romantic comedies are actually meant for men instead of women. If this is the case, then why do women watch these films? The repetition of female stars like Katharine Hepburn, Doris Day and Meg Ryan in romantic comedies allows audiences to find elements of truth in their characters as they grapple with the input of others in their life choices, combat the anxiety of being single, and prove they are less sexually naïve than society would like to admit.
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Mark of Zorro Ebook
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In Love in a Movie : Women and Contemporary Romantic Comedy
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William Powell ~ 23 Films
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Noel Drewe Collection Film 178D5
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GSC Films: S-Z Saboteur 1942 Alfred Hitchcock 3.0 Robert Cummings, Patricia Lane as not so charismatic love interest, Otto Kruger as rather dull villain (although something of prefigure of James Mason’s very suave villain in ‘NNW’), Norman Lloyd who makes impression as rather melancholy saboteur, especially when he is hanging by his sleeve in Statue of Liberty sequence. One of lesser Hitchcock products, done on loan out from Selznick for Universal. Suffers from lackluster cast (Cummings does not have acting weight to make us care for his character or to make us believe that he is going to all that trouble to find the real saboteur), and an often inconsistent story line that provides opportunity for interesting set pieces – the circus freaks, the high society fund-raising dance; and of course the final famous Statue of Liberty sequence (vertigo impression with the two characters perched high on the finger of the statue, the suspense generated by the slow tearing of the sleeve seam, and the scary fall when the sleeve tears off – Lloyd rotating slowly and screaming as he recedes from Cummings’ view). Many scenes are obviously done on the cheap – anything with the trucks, the home of Kruger, riding a taxi through New York. Some of the scenes are very flat – the kindly blind hermit (riff on the hermit in ‘Frankenstein?’), Kruger’s affection for his grandchild around the swimming pool in his Highway 395 ranch home, the meeting with the bad guys in the Soda City scene next to Hoover Dam. The encounter with the circus freaks (Siamese twins who don’t get along, the bearded lady whose beard is in curlers, the militaristic midget who wants to turn the couple in, etc.) is amusing and piquant (perhaps the scene was written by Dorothy Parker?), but it doesn’t seem to relate to anything.
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