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Stock market got you down? Let a screwball comedy perk you up!
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It’s a beautiful autumn today here in New York City, and I took advantage of it by walking around my favorite city. What struck me most? Stock market jitters be damned, it’s still the most vibrant place I’ve ever been. As Noel Coward said, “Outside of New York, every place is Bridgeport.” Connecticut residents can be offended, but how many cities can lay claim to being the site of so many great movie comedies?
The screwball comedy, one of Hollywood’s most enduring genres, started in the midst of the Great Depression, and many took place in New York. Here are several suggestions for a laff-riot in the midst of nervous economic times.
My Man Godfrey (1936): Carole Lombard plays a rich dither-bat on a treasure hunt for a “forgotten man” in the midst of Depression-era New York. She finds suave William Powell living in a shantytown on the East River, hires him as her family’s butler, and complications both bitter and amusing ensue. My Man is more biting social commentary than laff-riot, so if you need to fall about whilst holding your sides you might try…
Twentieth Century (1934), in which screen great John Barrymore plays Oscar Jaffe, down-on-his-luck theatrical producer whose greatest creation is Lily Garland, the former Mildred Plotka (Carole Lombard, again). Barrymore’s performance is a miraculous weaving together of outrageously hammy acting and most delicate of theatrical sensibilities. Just to hear him utter the phrase “ting-a-ling” can reduce me to giggles. Highly recommended.
A guaranteed laugh-getter is Howard Hawks’ Bringing up Baby (1938) which throws together Cary Grant as an anxious anthropologist and Katherine Hepburn as a devil-may-care heiress. The results are side-splitting. One highlight of the film is the delivery man who’s got a special package for Cary Grant. Cary’s very happy to see the delivery man, because he’s been waiting for his bone all day. How that got past the censors…
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