Description
The most up-to-date study of the Hollywood romantic comedy film, from the development of sound to the twenty-first century, this book examines the history and conventions of the genre and surveys the controversies arising from the critical responses to these films.
- Provides a detailed interpretation of important romantic comedy films from as early as 1932 to movies made in the twenty-first century
- Presents a full analysis of the range of romantic comedy conventions, including dramatic conflicts, characters, plots, settings, and the function of humor
- Develops a survey of romantic comedy movies and builds a canon of key films from Hollywood's classical era right up to the present day
- Chapters work as discrete studies as well as within the larger context of the book
Table of Contents
List of Plates ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
2 History, Cycles, and Society 25
3 Thinking Seriously About Laughter and Romance 67
4 Trouble in Paradise (1932): What is the Trouble in Paradise? 84
5 His Girl Friday (1940): Jailbreak! 96
6 The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944): The Home Front Romantic Comedy 106
7 Adam’s Rib (1949): Anatomy Lesson 117
8 Some Like It Hot (1959): Riding Sidesaddle 129
9 The Graduate (1967): Counter-Conventions and Cultural Change 139
10 Annie Hall (1977): The Trials of Partnership 150
11 When Harry Met Sally (1989): Friendship, Sex, and Courtship 160
12 There’s Something About Mary (1998): Parody and the Grotesque 171
13 Waitress (2007): Women’s Ambivalence 181
A Chronology of Prominent Hollywood Romantic Comedies 191
References 195
Index 201
