Editing Screwball comedy

{{Short description|Genre of comedy film}}
[[File:BabyPoster2.jpg|thumb|''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938) is a screwball comedy from the genre's classic period.]]

'''Screwball comedy''' is a film subgenre of the [[romantic comedy]] genre that became popular during the [[Great Depression]], beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristics similar to [[film noir]], distinguished by a female character who dominates the relationship with the male central character, whose [[masculinity]] is challenged,<ref name="Dancyger2006p84">
{{cite book 
 | last1 = Dancyger
 | first1 = Ken
 | last2  = Rush
 | first2 = Jeff
 | title = Alternative Scriptwriting
 | edition = Fourth
 | year = 2006
 | publisher = Focal Press
 | isbn = 978-0240808499
 | pages = 85
 | quote = The screwball comedy is funny film noir that has a happy ending... The premise of the film is about the struggle in their relationship. During the course of the struggle, which is highly sexually charged, the maleness of the central character is challenged. The female is the dominant character in the relationship. This role reversion is central to the screwball comedy.
}}</ref> and the two engage in a humorous [[wikt:battle of the sexes|battle of the sexes]].<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book">Cele Otnes; Elizabeth Hafkin PleckCele Otnes, Elizabeth Hafkin Pleck (2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_GbTEDRyXQ4C&pg=PA168&dq=screwball+It+Happened+One+Night&lr=&num=50&ei=H3hCSpf0C4TuzATZ_5lf ''Cinderella dreams: the allure of the lavish wedding''] University of California Press, p. 168. {{ISBN|0-520-24008-1}}.</ref>

The genre also featured romantic attachments between members of different [[social class]]es,<ref>Beach, Christopher. ''Class, Language, and American Film Comedy''. Cambridge University Press (February 11, 2002). p.&nbsp;125.</ref> as in ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'' (1936).<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book" />

What sets the screwball comedy apart from the generic romantic comedy is that "screwball comedy puts the emphasis on a funny spoofing of love, while the more traditional romantic comedy ultimately accents love."<ref name=":0" /> Other elements of the screwball comedy include fast-paced, overlapping [[wit|repartee]], [[farce|farcical]] situations, [[Escapism|escapist]] themes, physical battle of the sexes, disguise and masquerade, and plot lines involving courtship and marriage.<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book" /> Some [[Comedy (drama)|comic plays]] are also described as screwball comedies.

==Name==
Screwball comedy gets its name from the [[screwball]], a type of [[breaking ball|breaking]] [[pitch (baseball)|pitch]] in [[baseball]] and [[fastpitch softball]] that moves in the opposite direction from all other breaking pitches. These features of the screwball pitch also describe the dynamics between the lead characters in screwball comedy films. According to Gehring (2008):<ref>{{cite book |title=Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy: Charting the Difference |last=Gehring |first=Wes D. |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2008 |location=Lanham |page=9}}</ref>

<blockquote>Still, ''screwball'' comedy probably drew its name from the term's entertainingly unorthodox use in the national pastime. Before the term's application in 1930s film criticism, "screwball" had been used in baseball to describe both an oddball player and "any pitched ball that moves in an unusual or unexpected way." Obviously, these characteristics also describe performers in screwball comedy films, from oddball [[Carole Lombard]] to the unusual or unexpected movement of [[Katharine Hepburn]] in ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938). As with the crazy period antics in baseball, screwball comedy uses nutty behavior as a prism through which to view a topsy-turvy period in American history.</blockquote>

==History==
Screwball comedy has proved to be a popular and enduring film genre.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarris |first=Andrew |date=March 1, 1978 |title=THE SEX COMEDY WITHOUT SEX |volume=3 |pages=8–15 |work=American Film |issue=5 |location=New York |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/964099959 |access-date=December 19, 2022|id={{ProQuest|964099959}} }}</ref> ''[[Three-Cornered Moon]]'' (1933), starring [[Claudette Colbert]], is often credited as the first true screwball,<ref name="Three">[https://www.allmovie.com/movie/three-cornered-moon-vm1070978 ''Three-Cornered Moon''] AllMovie review by Craig Butler, accessed October 28, 2023</ref> though ''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]'' starring [[Jean Harlow]] followed it in the same year. Although many film scholars agree that its classic period had effectively ended by 1942,<ref>
{{cite book 
 | last1 = Byrge
 | first1 = Duane
 | last2  = Miller
 | first2 = Robert Milton
 | title = The Screwball Comedy Films: A History and Filmography, 1934&ndash;1942
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SK5ZAAAAMAAJ&q=screwball+comedy+1940
 | year = 1991
 | publisher = McFarland
 | isbn = 978-0-89950-539-8
 | page = 104
 | quote = With the explosive exception of His Girl Friday, screwball comedy had calmed considerably by 1940 from its peak of zaniness in 1937–38.
}}</ref> elements of the genre have persisted or have been paid homage to in later films. Other film scholars argue that the screwball comedy lives on.

During the [[Great Depression]], there was a general demand for films with a strong social class critique and hopeful, escapist-oriented themes. The screwball format arose largely due to the major film studios' desire to avoid censorship by the increasingly enforced [[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]]. Filmmakers resorted to handling these elements covertly to incorporate prohibited risqué elements into their plots. The verbal sparring between the sexes served as a stand-in for physical and sexual tension.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805215834/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 5, 2012 |title=Under the Radar: The Hays Code and the Birth of Screwball |publisher=[[University of Virginia]] |website=virginia.edu |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> Though some film scholars, such as [[William K. Everson]], argue that "screwball comedies were not so much rebelling against the Production Code as they were attacking{{snd}} and ridiculing{{snd}} the dull, lifeless respectability that the Code insisted on for family viewing."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hollywood Bedlam: Classic Screwball Comedies |last=Everson |first=William K. |publisher=Carol Publishing Group |year=1994 |location=New York}}</ref>

The screwball comedy has close links with the [[theatre|theatrical]] genre of [[farce]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy: Charting the Difference |last=Gehring |first=Wes D. |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2008 |location=Lanham |page=186}}</ref> and some comic plays are also described as screwball comedies. Other genres with which screwball comedy is associated include [[slapstick]], [[situation comedy]], [[romantic comedy]] and [[bedroom farce]].

==Characteristics==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2009}}
[[File:Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night.jpg|thumb|A still from a trailer for ''[[It Happened One Night]]'']]
Films that are definitive of the genre usually feature farcical situations, a combination of slapstick and fast-paced repartee, and show the struggle between economic classes. They also generally feature a self-confident and often [[Hawksian woman|stubborn central female protagonist]] and a plot involving courtship, marriage, or [[Comedy of remarriage|remarriage]]. These traits can be seen in both ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'' (1936). The film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] has defined the screwball comedy as "a [[sex comedy]] without the sex."<ref>[http://www.newsradioart.com/Pages/2.Introduction.html Citation] Sarris, Andrew. You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: The American Talking Film, History & Memory, 1927&ndash;1949, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998</ref>

Like farce, screwball comedies often involve masquerades and disguises in which a character or characters resort to secrecy. Sometimes screwball comedies feature male characters [[cross-dressing]], further contributing to elements of masquerade (''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938), ''[[Love Crazy (1941 film)|Love Crazy]]'' (1941), ''[[I Was a Male War Bride]]'' (1949), and ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959)). At first, the couple seems mismatched and even hostile to each other, but eventually overcome their differences amusingly or entertainingly, leading to romance. Often, this mismatch comes about when the man is of a lower social class than the woman (''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934), ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' and ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]'', both 1938). The woman often plans the final romantic union from the outset, and the man is seemingly oblivious to this. In ''Bringing Up Baby,'' the woman tells a third party: "He's the man I'm going to marry. He doesn't know it, but I am."

[[File:The-Lady-Eve.jpg|thumb|In ''[[The Lady Eve]]'', Jean (center, played by [[Barbara Stanwyck]]) passes herself off as an upper-class woman.]]
These pictures also offered a cultural escape valve: a safe battleground to explore serious issues such as class under a comedic and non-threatening framework.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120805215834/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html] The Screwball and Its Audience - University of Virginia</ref> Class issues are a strong component of screwball comedies: the upper class is represented as idle, pampered, and having difficulty coping with the real world. By contrast, when lower-class people attempt to pass themselves off as upper class or otherwise insinuate themselves into high society, they can do so with relative ease (''[[The Lady Eve]]'', 1941; ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'', 1936). Some critics believe that the portrayal of the upper class in ''It Happened One Night'' was brought about by the [[Great Depression]], and the financially struggling moviegoing public's desire to see the upper class taught a lesson in humanity.<ref name="Genre for the People">{{cite book |last1=Pronovost |first1=Virginie |title="Screwball": A Genre for the People : Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938): Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938) |date=2020 |publisher=Stockholm University |url=https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?language=en&pid=diva2%3A1437132 |access-date=27 February 2024 |format=PDF}}</ref>

Another common element of the screwball comedy is fast-talking, witty [[repartee]], such as in ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]'' (1938) and ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940). This stylistic device did not originate in the genre: it is also found in many of the old [[Hollywood cycles]], including [[gangster film]]s and traditional romantic comedies.

Screwball comedies also tend to contain ridiculous, farcical situations, such as in ''Bringing Up Baby'', where a couple must take care of a pet leopard during much of the film. Slapstick elements are also frequently present, such as the numerous pratfalls [[Henry Fonda]] takes in ''The Lady Eve'' (1941).<ref name="BFI"/>

One subgenre of screwball is known as the [[comedy of remarriage]], in which characters divorce and then remarry one another (''[[The Awful Truth]]'' (1937), ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940), ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940)).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cavell |first1=Stanley |title=Pursuits of happiness: the Hollywood comedy of remarriage |date=2003 |publisher=Harvard Univ. Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-674-73906-2 |edition=10. print}}</ref> Some scholars point to this frequent device as evidence of the shift in the American moral code, as it showed freer attitudes toward divorce (though the divorce always turns out to have been a mistake: "You've got an old fashioned idea divorce is something that lasts forever, 'til death do us part.' Why divorce doesn't mean anything nowadays, Hildy, just a few words mumbled over you by a judge.")

Another subgenre of screwball comedy is the woman chasing a man who is oblivious to or uninterested in her. Examples include [[Barbara Stanwyck]] chasing [[Henry Fonda]] (''[[The Lady Eve]]'', 1941); [[Sonja Henie]] chasing [[John Payne (actor)|John Payne]] (''[[Sun Valley Serenade]]'', 1941, and ''[[Iceland (film)|Iceland]]'', 1942); [[Marion Davies]] chasing [[Antonio Moreno]] (''[[The Cardboard Lover]]'', 1928); Marion Davies chasing [[Bing Crosby]] (''[[Going Hollywood]]'', 1933); and [[Carole Lombard]] chasing [[William Powell]] (''[[My Man Godfrey]]'', 1936).

The philosopher [[Stanley Cavell]] has noted that many classic screwball comedies turn on an interlude in the state of [[Connecticut]] (''Bringing Up Baby'', ''The Lady Eve'', ''[[The Awful Truth]]'').<ref>Cavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981</ref> In ''[[Christmas in Connecticut]]'' (1945), the action moves to Connecticut and remains there for the duration of the film. [[New York City]] is also featured in a lot of screwball comedies, which critics have noted may be because of the economic diversity of the city and the ability to contrast different social classes during the Great Depression.<ref name="Genre for the People"/> The screwball comedies ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[The Palm Beach Story]]'' (1942) also feature characters traveling to and from [[Florida]] by train. Trains, another staple of screwball comedies and romantic comedies from the era,  are also featured prominently in ''[[Design for Living (film)|Design for Living]]'' (1934), ''[[Twentieth Century (film)|Twentieth Century]]'' (1934) and ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'' (1938).

==Examples from the classic period==
{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
! Year !! Title !! Director  !! class="unsortable"|Stars !! class="unsortable"|Ref
|-
| 1928|| {{sort|Patsy|''[[The Patsy (1928 film)|The Patsy]]''}}|| {{sort|Vidor|[[King Vidor]]}}|| [[Marion Davies]], [[Marie Dressler]], and [[Lawrence Gray]] ||
|-
| 1931 ||''[[Platinum Blonde (film)|Platinum Blonde]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Loretta Young]], [[Robert Williams (actor, born 1894)|Robert Williams]] and [[Jean Harlow]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1931|| {{sort|Front|''[[The Front Page (1931 film)|The Front Page]]''}} (remade as ''His Girl Friday'')|| {{sort|Milestone|[[Lewis Milestone]]}}|| [[Adolphe Menjou]] and [[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]]||  <ref name=Dirks>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms3.html |title=Comedy films: Screwball comedy |author=Tim Dirks |publisher=filmsite.org}}</ref>  
|-
| 1932||  [[Trouble in Paradise (1932 film)|''Trouble in Paradise'']]|| {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| [[Miriam Hopkins]], [[Kay Francis]], and [[Herbert Marshall]]|| <ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Armond |title=Trouble in Paradise: Lovers, On the Money |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1073-trouble-in-paradise-lovers-on-the-money |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=The Criterion Collection |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alberti |first=John |title=Screen Ages: A Survey of American Cinema |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=9781317650287 |pages=111}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Halbout |first=Grégoire |title=Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=9781501347627}}</ref>
|-
| 1933||''[[Three-Cornered Moon]]''||[[Elliott Nugent]]||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Richard Arlen]]||<ref name="Three" />
|-
| 1933||''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]''||[[Victor Fleming]]||[[Jean Harlow]] and [[Lee Tracy]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1934||''[[Design for Living (film)|Design for Living]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Fredric March]], [[Gary Cooper]] and [[Miriam Hopkins]]||<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Janes |first1=Samantha Anne |title=Girls Will Be Girls: Examining the Adaptation of Female Characters in Screwball Comedy Films and Their Source Texts |url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/192331 |website=OAKTrust |publisher=Texas A&M University |access-date=27 February 2024  |format=PDF |date=2020-05-26|type=Thesis }}</ref>
|-
| 1934||  ''[[It Happened One Night]]''|| {{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}|| [[Clark Gable]] and [[Claudette Colbert]]||   <ref name=BFI/><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1934||  ''[[Twentieth Century (film)|Twentieth Century]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[John Barrymore]] and [[Carole Lombard]]||  <ref name=Dirks/><ref name=Collin>{{cite news |title=Who killed the screwball comedy? |author=Robbie Collin |author-link=Robbie Collin |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=23 June 2015 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/screwball-comedy/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/screwball-comedy/ |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|-
| 1935||''[[Hands Across the Table]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Carole Lombard]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]||<ref name="TCM"/>
|-
| 1935||''[[She Couldn't Take It]]''||{{sort|Garnett|[[Tay Garnett]]}}||[[George Raft]] and [[Joan Bennett]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1935||''[[If You Could Only Cook]]''||[[William A. Seiter]]||[[Herbert Marshall]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1936 ||''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Gary Cooper]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1936||''[[The Ex-Mrs. Bradford]]''||[[Stephen Roberts (director)|Stephen Roberts]]||[[William Powell]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals">{{cite book |last1=Halbout |first1=Grégoire |title=Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: sex, love, and democratic ideals |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=New York London Oxford New Delhi Sydney |isbn=978-1501347610 |edition=Paperback}}</ref>
|-
| 1936||  ''[[My Man Godfrey]]''|| {{sort|La|[[Gregory La Cava]]}}|| [[William Powell]] and [[Carole Lombard]]|| <ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1936||  ''[[Cain and Mabel]]''|| {{sort|Bacon|[[Lloyd Bacon]]}}|| [[Marion Davies]] and [[Clark Gable]]||    
|-
| 1936||  ''[[Libeled Lady]]''|| {{sort|Conway|[[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]]}}|| [[Jean Harlow]], [[William Powell]], [[Myrna Loy]], and [[Spencer Tracy]]||    
|-
| 1936||  ''[[Theodora Goes Wild]]''|| {{sort|Boleslawski|[[Richard Boleslawski]]}}|| [[Irene Dunne]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]||  <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/theodora-goes-wild-2/|title=Theodora Goes Wild (1936): Boleslawsky's Screwball Comedy Starring Irene Dunne in Oscar-Nominated Performance &#124; Emanuel Levy|date=6 February 2006 }}</ref>
|-
| 1937||''[[Easy Living (1937 film)|Easy Living]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Edward Arnold (actor)|Edward Arnold]] and [[Ray Milland]]||<ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1937||''[[Topper (film)|Topper]]''||{{sort|McLeod|[[Norman Z. McLeod]]}}||[[Constance Bennett]] and [[Cary Grant]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1937|| {{sort|Awful|''[[The Awful Truth]]''}}|| {{sort|McCarey|[[Leo McCarey]]}}|| [[Irene Dunne]], [[Cary Grant]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]||  <ref name=BFI>{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-screwball-comedies |title=10 great screwball comedy films |date=12 February 2015 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1937||''[[Double Wedding (1937 film)|Double Wedding]]''||{{sort|Thorpe|[[Richard Thorpe]]}}||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||
|-
| 1937||  ''[[Nothing Sacred (film)|Nothing Sacred]]''|| {{sort|Wellman|[[William A. Wellman]]}}|| [[Carole Lombard]] and [[Fredric March]]||<ref name=BFI/><ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1937|| ''[[True Confession]]''||{{sort|Ruggles|[[Wesley Ruggles]]}}|| [[Carole Lombard]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[John Barrymore]]||<ref name="Mubi">{{cite web |last1=Kiriakou |first1=Olympia |title=Notebook Primer: Screwball Comedy |url=https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-screwball-comedy |website=MUBI |access-date=26 February 2024 |language=en |date=6 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]''||[[Tim Whelan]]||[[Merle Oberon]] and [[Laurence Olivier]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levy |first1=Emanuel |title=Divorce of Lady X: Korda Screwball Comedy, Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson - Emanuel Levy |url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/divorce-of-lady-x-the-6/ |website=Emanuel Levy |access-date=21 March 2024 |language=en |date=10 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Dennis |title=Most Olivier Performances Available on Home Video |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-14-ca-3883-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=14 July 1989}}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[Merrily We Live]]''||{{sort|McLeod|[[Norman Z. McLeod]]}}||[[Constance Bennett]] and [[Brian Aherne]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1938||''[[Bringing Up Baby]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]] and [[Cary Grant]]||  <ref name=BFI/> 
|-
| 1938||''[[Bluebeard's Eighth Wife]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Gary Cooper]]||
|-
| 1938||''[[Joy of Living]]''||{{sort|Garnett|[[Tay Garnett]]}}||[[Irene Dunne]] and [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice">{{cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Jane M. |title=A Proper Dash of Spice: Screwball Comedy and the Production Code |journal=Journal of Film and Video |date=2011 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=45–63 |doi=10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |jstor=10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |access-date=26 February 2024 |issn=0742-4671}}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[Vivacious Lady]]''||{{sort|Stevens|[[George Stevens]]}}||[[Ginger Rogers]] and [[James Stewart]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1938|| ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]''|| {{sort|Cukor|[[George Cukor]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]] and [[Cary Grant]]||
|-
| 1938||''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Lionel Barrymore]], [[James Stewart]] and [[Edward Arnold (actor)|Edward Arnold]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berardinelli |first1=James |title=You Can't Take it with You |url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/you-can-t-take-it-with-you |website=Reelviews Movie Reviews |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Mark |title=95 Years of Oscars: Ranking The Best Picture Winners: #95-76 |url=https://www.awardsdaily.com/2023/05/19/95-years-of-oscars-ranking-the-best-picture-winners-95-76/ |website=Awardsdaily |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=19 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hamada |first1=James T. |title=The Nippu Jiji |url=https://hojishinbun.hoover.org/?a=d&d=tnj19390104-02.1.10&e=-------en-10--1--img------- |access-date=27 February 2024 |work=hojishinbun.hoover.org |date=Feb 8, 2022 |location=Honolulu}}</ref><ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1938||''[[Three Loves Has Nancy]]''||{{sort|Thorpe|[[Richard Thorpe]]}}||[[Janet Gaynor]], [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Franchot Tone]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1938|| ''[[The Mad Miss Manton]]''|| [[Leigh Jason]]|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]]|| <ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1938||''[[Say It in French]]''||[[Andrew L. Stone]]||[[Ray Milland]] and [[Olympe Bradna]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1939||''[[Midnight (1939 film)|Midnight]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Don Ameche]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1939||''[[It's a Wonderful World (1939 film)|It's a Wonderful World]]''||{{sort|Van Dyke|[[W. S. Van Dyke]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[James Stewart]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1939||''[[Bachelor Mother]]''||{{sort|Kanin|[[Garson Kanin]]}}||[[Ginger Rogers]], [[David Niven]] and [[Charles Coburn]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1939|| ''[[Ninotchka]]'' || {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| [[Greta Garbo]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]||
|-
| 1940||  ''[[His Girl Friday]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Cary Grant]], [[Rosalind Russell]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]|| <ref name=BFI/><ref name="Collin" />
|-
| 1940||''[[Too Many Husbands (1940 film)|Too Many Husbands]]''||{{sort|Ruggles|[[Wesley Ruggles]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1940||  ''[[My Favorite Wife]]''|| {{sort|Kanin|[[Garson Kanin]]}}|| [[Cary Grant]] and [[Irene Dunne]]||
|-
| 1940||''[[The Great McGinty]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Brian Donlevy]], [[Muriel Angelus]] and [[Akim Tamiroff]]||
|-
| 1940||''[[I Love You Again]]''||{{sort|Van Dyke|[[W. S. Van Dyke]]}}||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=THE SCREEN; William Powell and Myrna Loy Back Together in 'I Love You Again,' at the Capitol (Published 1940) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/08/16/archives/the-screen-william-powell-and-myrna-loy-back-together-in-i-love-you.html |access-date=2 January 2025 |publisher=The New York Times |date=16 August 1940 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1940||''[[Christmas in July (film)|Christmas in July]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Dick Powell]] and [[Ellen Drew]]||<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beach |first1=Christopher |title=Class, language, and American film comedy |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-00209-7 |page=117 |edition=Transferred to digital print}}</ref>
|-
| 1940|| {{sort|Philadelphia |''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]''}}|| {{sort|Cukor|[[George Cukor]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Cary Grant]] and [[James Stewart]]||    
|-
| 1941||  ''[[Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941 film)|Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]''|| {{sort|Hitchcock|[[Alfred Hitchcock]]}}|| [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Carole Lombard]]||    
|-
| 1941|| {{sort|Lady|''[[The Lady Eve]]''}}|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]]||  <ref name=BFI/><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1941||''[[The Devil and Miss Jones]]''||[[Sam Wood]]||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Robert Cummings]] and [[Charles Coburn]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1941||''[[Love Crazy (1941 film)|Love Crazy]]''||[[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]]||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1941||  ''[[Unfinished Business (1941 film)|Unfinished Business]]''|| {{sort|La|[[Gregory La Cava]]}}|| [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Irene Dunne]]||   
|-
| 1941|| ''[[Ball of Fire]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Gary Cooper]]||  <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-lost-art-of-screwball-comedy-20110225-1b81i.html|title=The lost art of screwball comedy|last=WILSON|first=JAKE|date=2011-02-25|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/the-21-most-underrated-rom-coms-of-all-time-from-leap-year-to-the-break-up-75462|title=These 21 Underrated Rom-Coms Should Be Next In Your Netflix Queue|last=Gemmill|first=Allie|website=Bustle|date=9 August 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref> 
|-
| 1941||''[[Sullivan's Travels]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Joel McCrea]] and [[Veronica Lake]]||
|-
| 1942||  ''[[To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)|To Be or Not To Be]]''|| {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| Carole Lombard, [[Jack Benny]], [[Robert Stack]]||  <ref>{{Cite book |last=Haslam |first=Jason |title=The Public Intellectual and the Culture of Hope |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781442641846 |pages=164}}</ref>
|-
| 1942||''[[The Major and the Minor]]''||[[Billy Wilder]]||[[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Ray Milland]]||<ref name="TCM">{{cite web |last1=Liebenson |first1=Donald |title=TCM Spotlight: Screwball Comedies |url=https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming%20Article/021735/tcm-spotlight-screwball-comedies |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1942||''[[I Married a Witch]]''||[[René Clair]]||[[Fredric March]] and [[Veronica Lake]]||<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Landay |first1=Lori Ruth |title=Madcaps, screwballs, and con-women: The female trickster in American culture |journal=Indiana University |date=1994 |page=204 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304127781 |access-date=26 February 2024|id={{ProQuest|304127781}} }}</ref>
|-
| 1942|| {{sort|Palm|''[[The Palm Beach Story]]''}}|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Joel McCrea]]||  <ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1943|| ''[[The More the Merrier]]''|| {{sort|Stevens|[[George Stevens]]}}|| [[Jean Arthur]] and [[Joel McCrea]]||    
|-
| 1944|| ''[[The Miracle of Morgan's Creek]]''|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Betty Hutton]] and [[Eddie Bracken]]||  <ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Jaeckle |editor1-first=Jeff |title=ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges |date=2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9781474406574 |pages=118–120}}</ref>
|-
| 1944||''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (film)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Cary Grant]] and [[Priscilla Lane]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1945|| ''[[Eve Knew Her Apples]]'' (the first musical remake of ''[[It Happened One Night]]'')||[[Will Jason]]||[[Ann Miller]] and [[William Wright (actor)|William Wright]]||
|-
| 1945|| ''[[Christmas in Connecticut]]''||[[Peter Godfrey (director)|Peter Godfrey]]||[[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Dennis Morgan]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Siede |first1=Caroline |title=Christmas In Connecticut: Subversive 1940s rom-com turned gender roles on their head |url=https://www.avclub.com/celebrate-christmas-with-the-subversive-1940s-rom-com-t-1845857392 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=26 February 2024 |language=en |date=18 December 2020}}</ref>
|-
| 1946||''[[Cluny Brown]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Charles Boyer]] and [[Jennifer Jones]]||
|-
| 1946||''[[Easy to Wed]]'' (musical remake of ''[[Libeled Lady]]'')||[[Edward Buzzell]]||[[Van Johnson]], [[Esther Williams]], [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Keenan Wynn]]||
|-
| 1948||''[[A Song Is Born]]'' (musical remake of ''[[Ball of Fire]]'')||{{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}||[[Danny Kaye]] and [[Virginia Mayo]]||
|-
| 1949||''[[I Was a Male War Bride]]''||{{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}||[[Cary Grant]] and [[Ann Sheridan]]||
|}

[[File:His Girl Friday still 2.jpg|thumb|A promotional photo for the 1940 screwball comedy ''[[His Girl Friday]]'']]
Other films from this period in other genres incorporate elements of the screwball comedy. For example, Alfred Hitchcock's [[Thriller film|thriller]] ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'' (1935) features the gimmick of a young couple who finds themselves handcuffed together and who eventually, almost despite themselves, fall in love with one another, and [[Woody Van Dyke]]'s detective comedy ''[[The Thin Man (film)|The Thin Man]]'' (1934), which portrays a witty, urbane couple who trade barbs as they solve mysteries together. Some of the [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Ginger Rogers]] [[Musical film|musicals]] of the 1930s also feature screwball comedy plots, such as ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934), ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935), and ''[[Carefree (film)|Carefree]]'' (1938), which costars [[Ralph Bellamy]]. The [[Eddie Cantor]] musicals ''[[Whoopee! (film)|Whoopee!]]'' (1930) and ''[[Roman Scandals]]'' (1933), and slapstick [[road movie]]s such as ''[[Six of a Kind]]'' (1934) include screwball elements. Screwball comedies such as ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940) and ''[[Ball of Fire]]'' (1941) also received musical remakes, ''[[High Society (1956 film)|High Society]]'' (1956) and ''[[A Song Is Born|A Song is Born]]'' (1948). Some of the [[Joe E. Brown]] comedies also fall into this category, particularly ''[[Broadminded (film)|Broadminded]]'' (1931) and ''[[Earthworm Tractors]]'' (1936).

Actors and actresses featured in or associated with screwball comedy:

{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Jean Arthur]]
* [[Fred Astaire]]
* [[Ralph Bellamy]]
* [[Eric Blore]]
* [[Jack Carson]]
* [[Charles Coburn]]
* [[Claudette Colbert]]
* [[Gary Cooper]]
* [[Marion Davies]]
* [[William Demarest]]
* [[Melvyn Douglas]]
* [[Irene Dunne]]
* [[Clark Gable]]
* [[Cary Grant]]
* [[Jean Harlow]]
* [[Katharine Hepburn]]
* [[Edward Everett Horton]]
* [[Harold Lloyd]]
* [[Carole Lombard]]
* [[Myrna Loy]]
* [[Fred MacMurray]]
* [[Fredric March]]
* [[Joel McCrea]]
* [[Ray Milland]]
* [[William Powell]]
* [[Ginger Rogers]]
* [[Rosalind Russell]]
* [[Barbara Stanwyck]]
* [[James Stewart]]
{{div col end}}

Directors of screwball comedies:

{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Frank Capra]]
* [[George Cukor]]
* [[Howard Hawks]]
* [[Garson Kanin]]
* [[Gregory La Cava]]
* [[Mitchell Leisen]]
* [[Ernst Lubitsch]]
* [[Leo McCarey]]
* [[George Stevens]]
* [[Preston Sturges]]
* [[W. S. Van Dyke]]
* [[Billy Wilder]]
{{div col end}}

==Later examples==
[[File:Marilyn Monroe and Alexander D'Arcy in How to Marry a Millionaire trailer.jpg|thumb|A screenshot from a trailer for ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'']]
[[File:One two three43.jpg|thumb|''[[One, Two, Three]]'' (1961)]]

Later films thought to have revived elements of the classic era screwball comedies include:

{{Div col}}
* ''[[Champagne for Caesar]]'' (1950), d. [[Richard Whorf]]
* ''[[The Mating Season (film)|The Mating Season]]'' (1951), d. [[Mitchell Leisen]]
*'' [[Monkey Business (1952 film)|Monkey Business]]'' (1952), d. [[Howard Hawks]]
* ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'' (1953), d. [[Jean Negulesco]]
* ''[[Let's Do It Again (1953 film)|Let's Do It Again]]'' (1953), d. [[Alexander Hall]], musical remake of ''[[The Awful Truth]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Living It Up]]'' (1954), d. [[Norman Taurog]], remake of ''[[Nothing Sacred (film)|Nothing Sacred]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Three for the Show]]'' (1955), d. [[H. C. Potter]], musical remake of ''[[Too Many Husbands (1940 film)|Too Many Husbands]]''
* ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]'' (1955), d. [[Billy Wilder]]
* ''[[The Birds and the Bees (film)|The Birds and the Bees]]'' (1956), d. [[Norman Taurog]], a musical remake of ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941)
* ''[[High Society (1956 film)|High Society]]'' (1956), d. [[Charles Walters]], musical remake of ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940)
* ''[[You Can't Run Away from It]]'' (1956) d. [[Dick Powell]], the second musical remake of ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Bundle of Joy]]'' (1956) d. [[Norman Taurog]], musical remake of ''[[Bachelor Mother]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Silk Stockings (1957 film)|Silk Stockings]]'' (1957), d. [[Rouben Mamoulian]], musical remake of ''[[Ninotchka]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi]]'' (1958), d. [[Satyen Bose]]<ref name="CKNG">{{Cite web|title=rediff.com, Movies: Classics Revisited: Why Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi is nonstop fun|url=https://m.rediff.com/movies/2003/jan/08dinesh.htm|access-date=2023-04-30|website=m.rediff.com}}</ref>
* ''[[Rock-A-Bye Baby (film)|Rock-A-Bye Baby]]'', d. [[Frank Tashlin]], a musical remake of ''[[The Miracle of Morgan's Creek]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Bell, Book and Candle (film)|Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958), d. [[Richard Quine]]
* ''[[Pillow Talk (film)|Pillow Talk]]'' (1959), d. [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]]
* ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959), d. [[Billy Wilder]]
* ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' (1960), d. [[Stanley Donen]]
* ''[[Lover Come Back (1961 film)|Lover Come Back]]'' (1961), d. [[Delbert Mann]]
* ''[[One, Two, Three]]'' (1961), d. [[Billy Wilder]], which contains elements of ''Ninotchka'', co-written by Wilder
* ''[[Charade (1963 film)|Charade]]'' (1963), d. [[Stanley Donen]]
* ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]'' (1963), d. [[Stanley Kramer]]
* ''[[Move Over, Darling]]'' (1963) d. [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]], remake of ''[[My Favorite Wife]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Man's Favorite Sport?]]'' (1964), d. [[Howard Hawks]], homage to ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938), also directed by Hawks
* ''[[Send Me No Flowers]]'' (1964), d. [[Norman Jewison]]
* ''[[What's New Pussycat?]]'' (1965), d. [[Clive Donner]]
* ''[[Walk, Don't Run (film)|Walk, Don't Run]]'' (1966), d. [[Charles Walters]], remake of ''[[The More the Merrier]]'' (1943)
* ''[[What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)|What's Up, Doc?]]'' (1972), d. [[Peter Bogdanovich]]
* ''[[For Pete's Sake (film)|For Pete's Sake]]'' (1974), d. [[Peter Yates]]
* ''[[Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)|Heaven Can Wait]]'' (1978), d. [[Warren Beatty]] and [[Buck Henry]]
* ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]'' (1981), d. [[Steve Gordon (director)|Steve Gordon]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |title=Dudley Moore Stars as a Screwball in 'Arthur' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/17/movies/dudley-moore-stars-as-a-screwball-in-arthur.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=July 17, 1981}}</ref>
* ''[[Under the Rainbow]]'' (1981) d. [[Steve Rash]] 
* ''[[Poochakkoru Mookkuthi]]'' (1984), d. [[Priyadarshan]], based on [[Charles Dickens]]'s play 'The Strange Gentleman'<ref>{{cite web | url=https://insights.ranker.com/?id=1822732&adjectives=any | title=Ranker Insights }}</ref>
* ''[[Unfaithfully Yours (1984 film)|Unfaithfully Yours]]'' (1984), d. [[Howard Zieff]], a remake of the [[Unfaithfully Yours (1948 film)|1948 Preston Sturges film of the same name]]
* ''[[Une Femme ou Deux]]'' ({{translation}} "One Woman or Two"; 1985), d. Daniel Vigne 
* ''[[Desperately Seeking Susan]]'' (1985), d. [[Susan Seidelman]]<ref>Described as a screwball comedy in [[Roger Ebert]]'s [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/desperately-seeking-susan-1985 contemporary review].</ref>
* ''[[Something Wild (1986 film)|Something Wild]]'' (1986), d. [[Jonathan Demme]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kael |first1=Pauline |title=The Stacks: 'Something Wild' Is One Great Road Movie |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-stacks-something-wild-is-one-great-road-movie |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=8 February 2024 |language=en |date=21 February 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Overboard (1987 film)|Overboard]]'' (1987), d. [[Garry Marshall]]
* ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' (1987), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Who's That Girl (1987 film)|Who's That Girl]]'' (1987) d. [[James Foley (director)|James Foley]]
* ''[[Switching Channels]]'' (1988), d. [[Ted Kotcheff]], a remake of ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown]]'' (1988), d. [[Pedro Almodóvar]]
* ''[[Oscar (1991 film)|Oscar]]'' (1991) d. [[John Landis]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/04/26/stallones-oscar-recovers-from-bad-start/|title=Stallone's 'Oscar' Recovers From Bad Start|website=chicagotribune.com|date=26 April 1991 |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>
* ''[[Sólo con tu pareja]]'' (1991), d. [[Alfonso Cuarón]]
* ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (1994), d. [[Joel Coen]]
* ''[[Radioland Murders]]'' (1994), d. [[Mel Smith]] from story by [[George Lucas]]
* ''[[Flirting with Disaster (film)|Flirting with Disaster]]'' (1996), d. [[David O. Russell]]
* ''[[Runaway Bride (film)|Runaway Bride]]'' (1999) d. [[Garry Marshall]] 
* ''[[Little Nicky]]'' (2000), d. [[Steven Brill (filmmaker)|Steven Brill]]
* ''[[Rat Race (film)|Rat Race]]'' (2001), d. [[Jerry Zucker]]
* ''[[Intolerable Cruelty]]'' (2003), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' (2004), d. [[Adam McKay]]
* ''[[I Heart Huckabees]]'' (2004), d. [[David O. Russell]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_heart_huckabees/ | title=I Heart Huckabees (2004) | work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | publisher=[[Fandango Media]] | access-date=January 12, 2024 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118154101/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_heart_huckabees/ | archive-date=January 18, 2010 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* ''[[Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day]]'' (2008), d. [[Bharat Nalluri]]
* ''[[Our Idiot Brother]]'' (2011), d. [[Jesse Peretz]]
* ''[[While We're Young (film)|While We're Young]]'' (2014), d. [[Noah Baumbach]]
* ''[[She's Funny That Way (film)|She's Funny That Way]]'' (2014), d. [[Peter Bogdanovich]]
* ''[[Mistress America]]'' (2015), d. Noah Baumbach
* ''[[Night Owls (2015 film)|Night Owls]]'' (2015), d. Charles Hood<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Malley |first1=Sheila |title=Modern Screwball: Charles Hood on "Night Owls" |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/modern-screwball-charles-hood-on-night-owls |website=Roger Ebert |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=Dec 15, 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Hail, Caesar!]]'' (2016), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Chongqing Hot Pot]]'' (2016), d. Yang Qing<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/chongqing-hot-pot-hkiff-review/5101848.article|title= 'Chongqing Hot Pot': HKIFF review|first= James|last= Marsh|date= March 23, 2016|access-date= March 28, 2016|work= [[Screen Daily]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Hit Man (2023 film)|Hit Man]]'' (2023), d. Richard Linklater<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/what-is-cinema-richard-linklater.article|title= 'Richard Linklater Explains How He Turned True Crime Into Screwball Comedy|first= Eve|last= Batey|date= June 7, 2024|access-date= June 18, 2024|work= [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Anora (film)|Anora]]'' (2024), d. Sean Baker<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.slashfilm.com/1670305/anora-review-sean-baker-mikey-madison-comedy/|title= 'Anora Review: Sean Baker's High Stress Screwball Comedy Is The Best Movie Of 2024 [Fantastic Fest]|first= Jacob|last= Hall|date= September 21, 2024|access-date= October 15, 2024|work= [[/film|Slashfilm]]}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

Elements of classic screwball comedy often found in more recent films which might otherwise be classified as [[romantic comedy|romantic comedies]] include the "battle of the sexes" (''[[Down with Love]]'', ''[[How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days]]''), witty repartee (''Down with Love''), and the contrast between the wealthy and the middle class (''[[You've Got Mail]]'', ''[[Two Weeks Notice]]''). Many of [[Elvis Presley]]'s films from the 1960s had drawn, consciously or unconsciously, the many characteristics of the screwball comedy genre. Some examples are ''[[Double Trouble (1967 film)|Double Trouble]]'', ''[[Tickle Me]]'', ''[[Girl Happy]]'' and ''[[Live a Little, Love a Little]]''. Modern updates on screwball comedy are also sometimes categorized as [[black comedy]] (''[[Intolerable Cruelty]]'', which also features a twist on the classic screwball element of divorce and remarriage). The [[Joel and Ethan Coen|Coen Brothers]] often include screwball elements in a film which may not otherwise be considered screwball or even a comedy.

The [[Golmaal (film series)|Golmaal movies]], a series of Hindi-language [[Cinema of India|Indian films]], has been described as a screwball comedy franchise.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/golmaal-again/movie-review/61142705.cms|title=Golmaal Again Review {3.5/5}: No logic, Only magic. Gags, fights, songs, giggles, ghosts, here is a buffet you can overdose on.|newspaper=The Times of India }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/jul/14golmaal.htm|title=Golmaal: A wacky winner|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref>

==Screwball comedy elements in other media and genres==
The screwball film tradition influenced television [[sitcom]] and [[comedy drama]] genres. Notable screwball couples in television have included [[Sam and Diane]] in ''[[Cheers]]'', Maddie and David in ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]'', and [[List of Northern Exposure characters|Joel and Maggie]] in ''[[Northern Exposure]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scodari |first=Christine |date=March 1995 |title=Possession, attraction, and the thrill of the chase: Gendered myth-making in film and television comedy of the sexes |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15295039509366917 |journal=Critical Studies in Mass Communication |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=23–39 |doi=10.1080/15295039509366917 |access-date=7 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer |first=Metta |title=Two aspirins and a comedy: How television can enhance health and society |date=2006 |publisher=Paradigm |isbn=9781594511554 |pages=207–208}}</ref>

In his 2008 production of the classic [[Beaumarchais]] comedy ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|The Marriage of Figaro]]'', author [[William James Royce]] trimmed the five-act play down to three acts and labeled it a "classic screwball comedy". The playwright made Suzanne the central character, endowing her with all the feisty comedic strengths of her classic film counterparts. In his adaptation, entitled ''One Mad Day!'' (a play on Beaumarchais' original French title), Royce underscored all of the elements of the classic screwball comedy, suggesting that Beaumarchais may have had a hand in the origins of the genre.

The plot of ''[[Corrupting Dr. Nice]]'', a [[science fiction]] novel by [[John Kessel]] involving [[time travel]], is modeled on films such as ''The Lady Eve'' and ''Bringing Up Baby''.<ref name=Gevers>{{cite web|first=Nick |last=Gevers |author-link=Nick Gevers |title=''Corrupting Dr Nice'' by John Kessel |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/drnice.htm |work=infinity plus |date=16 October 1999 |access-date=29 August 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comedy of manners]]
* [[Comedy of remarriage]]
* [[Farce]]
* [[Hawksian woman]]
* [[Love-hate relationship]]
* [[Sex comedy]]
* [[Slapstick film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Wes D. Gehring, 1983. [https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSMngrph/id/24 Screwball Comedy: Defining a Film Genre]
* Grégoire Halbout, 2022. [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hollywood-screwball-comedy-19341945-9781501389313/ Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals].
* {{cite web |last1=Liebenson |first1=Donald |title=TCM Spotlight: Screwball Comedies |url=https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming%20Article/021735/tcm-spotlight-screwball-comedies |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pronovost |first1=Virginie |title='Screwball': A Genre for the People : Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938) |date=2020-06-08 |publisher=[[DiVA portal]], Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Media Studies, Cinema Studies. |location=Stockholm University Library |url=https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?language=en&pid=diva2%3A1437132 |access-date=8 May 2023 |language=en |quote=Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150109085339/http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/screwball.jsp Screwball Comedy]—Green Cine
* [https://archive.today/20121211130320/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/sbhome.html Home of the Screwball] - [[University of Virginia]]
* [http://everything2.com/title/screwball+comedy Screwball Comedy]—[[Everything2]]
* [http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Screwball_comedy_film Screwball Comedy Film] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723100224/http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Screwball_comedy_film |date=2012-07-23 }})—wordiQ
* [http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/leisen.html Great Directors: Mitchell Leisen] - ''Senses of Cinema''
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview11 Head Over Heels]—''[[The Guardian]]''
* {{In lang|fr|cap=yes}} [http://cinemaclassic.free.fr/hollywood/comedy/screwball_comedy.html La Screwball Comedy]—CINEMACLASSIC.free.fr
* {{In lang|de|cap=yes}} [http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/Medien//berichte/arbeiten/0003_03.html Screwball Comedies] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420105455/http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/Medien//berichte/arbeiten/0003_03.html |date=2012-04-20 }})—[[University of Hamburg]]

{{Comedy footer}}
{{Film genres}}
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