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, and the two engage in a humorous battle of the sexes.
Carole Lombard was an American actress. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies".
The Godless Girl (1928) is an American dramatic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shown for years as his last completely silent film. The cast features Lina Basquette, Marie Prevost, Tom Keene and Noah Beery.
Edward Quillan was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.
Dream of Love is a 1928 American silent biographical drama film directed by Fred Niblo, and starring Joan Crawford and Nils Asther. Due to the public apathy towards silent films, a sound version was also prepared. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is based on the 1849 French tragedy Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé.
Gang War is a 1928 American sound part-talkie gangster film, best known for being the main feature attached to Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey Mouse in sound. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the RCA Photophone sound-on-film system. Despite the synchronised sound as well as the all-star cast, the film is largely unknown in its own right and is now a lost film, being overshadowed by its far more famous preceding short. The film starred Jack Pickford in his last major role as "Clyde", a saxophone player whose love for a dancer named Flowers traps him in the middle of a gang war.
The Younger Generation is a 1929 sound part-talkie American drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Ricardo Cortez. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Western Electric sound-on-film system. The film was produced by Jack Cohn for Columbia Pictures. It was Capra's first sound film. The screenplay was adapted from a 1927 Fannie Hurst play, It Is to Laugh.
Weary River is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Richard Barthelmess, Betty Compson, and William Holden. The film was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
Outcast is a 1928 American sound drama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. This sound film was released with a synchronized Vitaphone soundtrack of music and sound effects. It was directed by William A. Seiter and stars Corinne Griffith, often considered one of the most beautiful women in film. This story had been filmed in 1917 as The World and the Woman with Jeanne Eagels. In 1922 a Paramount film of the same name with Elsie Ferguson reprising her stage role was released. Both films were based on a 1914 play, Outcast, by Hubert Henry Davies which starred Ferguson. The Seiter/Griffith film was an all silent with Vitaphone music and sound effects. In the sound era the story was filmed once again as The Girl from 10th Avenue starring Bette Davis. According to the Library of Congress database shows a print surviving complete at Cineteca Italiana in Milan.
Waterfront is a 1928 American silent comedy drama film released with sound effects and music, produced and released by First National Pictures. The film was directed by William A. Seiter and starred Dorothy Mackaill and Jack Mulhall, then a popular duo under the First National banner. This sound film was released with a synchronized Vitaphone soundtrack of music and sound effects.
Me, Gangster is a 1928 American silent gangster film directed by Raoul Walsh. It stars June Collyer, Don Terry, Anders Randolf and a young Carole Lombard.
Serenade is a lost 1927 American drama silent film directed by Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast and written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Ernest Vajda. The film stars Adolphe Menjou, Kathryn Carver, Lawrence Grant, Lina Basquette and Martha Franklin. The film was released on December 24, 1927, by Paramount Pictures.
Arizona Terror is a 1931 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Ken Maynard, Lina Basquette and Hooper Atchley.
The Divine Sinner is a 1928 American silent film directed by Scott Pembroke and starring Vera Reynolds, Nigel De Brulier and Bernard Siegel.
A Perfect Crime is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Monte Blue, Jacqueline Logan, and Stanton Heck. It is not known whether the film survives which suggests it may be lost.
Finders Keepers is an extant 1928 silent military-comedy film directed by Wesley Ruggles and Otis B. Thayer and starring Laura La Plante and John Harron. Due to the public apathy towards silent films, a sound version was prepared late in 1928. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it features a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film may or may not be a remake of a 1921 film Finders Keepers singularly directed by Thayer.
Geraldine is a 1929 American romantic comedy film, directed by Melville Brown. It stars Marian Nixon, Eddie Quillan, and Albert Gran, and was released on January 20, 1929.
Noisy Neighbors is a 1929 American sound part-talkie comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and starring Eddie Quillan, Alberta Vaughn and Jane Keckley. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The sound was recorded using the RCA Photophone sound system.
The Sophomore is a 1929 American sound all-talking pre-Code comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Eddie Quillan, Sally O'Neil and Jeanette Loff. Made during the early sound era, it was shot using the RCA Photophone sound system. The film survives in an mute print of the alternate sound version known as an International Sound Version which was meant to be played along with Vitaphone discs. It is not known whether the Vitaphone type soundtrack discs to the International Sound Version are extant.
