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 1940s, 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.
Ray Milland was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945), which won him Best Actor at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award, and ultimately an Academy Award—the first such accolades for any Welsh actor.
Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy was an English actress and comedienne. She began her film career in the musical film London Town (1946), a financial failure. Kendall worked regularly until her appearance in the comedy film Genevieve (1953) brought her widespread recognition. Prolific in British films, Kendall also achieved some popularity with American audiences, and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in the musical-comedy film Les Girls (1957).
Edmund Gwenn was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street (1947), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe Award. He received a second Golden Globe and another Academy Award nomination for the comedy film Mister 880 (1950). He is also remembered for his appearances in four films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
What's New Pussycat? is a 1965 screwball comedy film directed by Clive Donner, written by Woody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss, and Ursula Andress.
Nothing Sacred is a 1937 American Technicolor screwball comedy film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by David O. Selznick, and starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March with a supporting cast featuring Charles Winninger and Walter Connolly. Ben Hecht was credited with the screenplay based on the 1937 story "Letter to the Editor" by James H. Street, and an array of additional writers, including Ring Lardner Jr., Budd Schulberg, Dorothy Parker, Sidney Howard, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman and Robert Carson made uncredited contributions.
Platinum Blonde is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy motion picture directed by Frank Capra, written by Jo Swerling and starring Loretta Young, Robert Williams and Jean Harlow. Platinum Blonde was Robert Williams' last screen appearance; he died of peritonitis three days after the film's October 31 release.
Carefree is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Ralph Bellamy. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, Carefree is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.
The Major and the Minor is a 1942 American romantic comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay credited to Wilder and Charles Brackett is "suggested by" the 1923 play Connie Goes Home by Edward Childs Carpenter, based on the 1921 Saturday Evening Post story "Sunny Goes Home" by Fannie Kilbourne.
Rhubarb is a 1951 film adapted from the 1946 novel Rhubarb by humorist H. Allen Smith. Directed by Arthur Lubin, the screwball noir comedy stars the cat Orangey along with Jan Sterling and Ray Milland. Cinematography was by Lionel Lindon. The supporting cast features William Frawley and Gene Lockhart.
Kitty is a 1945 film, a costume drama set in London during the 1780s, directed by Mitchell Leisen, based on the novel of the same name by Rosamond Marshall, with a screenplay by Karl Tunberg. It stars Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, Constance Collier, Patric Knowles, Reginald Owen, and Cecil Kellaway as the English painter Thomas Gainsborough. In a broad interpretation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, the film tells the rags-to-riches story of a beautiful young cockney guttersnipe who is given a complete makeover by an impoverished aristocrat (Milland) and his aunt (Collier) in hopes of arranging her marriage to a peer, thereby repairing their fortunes and their social status.
Honeymoon in Bali is a 1939 American romantic comedy film. It is also known by the alternative titles Husbands or Lovers and My Love for Yours. Virginia Van Upp's screenplay was based on the short stories "Our Miss Keane" by Grace Sartwell Mason in The Saturday Evening Post of May 24, 1923, and "Free Woman" by Katharine Brush in Redbook magazine of November–December 1936. In 1936 Paramount announced a film of Our Miss Keane to star Merle Oberon to be produced.
Lady in the Dark is a 1944 American musical film directed by Mitchell Leisen, from a screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett that is based on the 1941 musical of the same name by Moss Hart. The film stars Ginger Rogers as a magazine editor, who although successful, finds herself on the edge of a breakdown while juggling her feelings for three prospective suitors, played by Ray Milland, Warner Baxter, and Jon Hall.
Bulldog Drummond Escapes is a 1937 American mystery thriller film directed by James P. Hogan and starring Ray Milland as Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond alongside Heather Angel and Reginald Denny. Paramount continued with the Bulldog Drummond series, producing seven more films over the next two years. They replaced Milland with John Howard.
Doctor in Love is a 1960 British comedy film, the fourth of the seven films in the Doctor series, starring James Robertson Justice as Sir Lancelot Spratt and Michael Craig as Dr Richard Hare. This was the first film in the series not to feature Dirk Bogarde, although he did return for the next film in the series Doctor in Distress. It was loosely based on the 1957 novel of the same title by Richard Gordon.
She Went to the Races is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring James Craig, Frances Gifford and Ava Gardner. The screenplay concerns a team of scientists who discover a seemingly foolproof way of discovering the winner of horse races.
She Wouldn't Say Yes is a 1945 screwball comedy film directed by Alexander Hall and starring Rosalind Russell and Lee Bowman.
Passion Flower is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed and produced by William C. deMille and starring Kay Francis, Kay Johnson and Charles Bickford in a romantic triangle. This production includes actor Ray Milland's American screen debut, although his appearance as a party guest is uncredited.
Bridal Suite is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and written by Samuel Hoffenstein. The film stars Annabella, Robert Young, Walter Connolly, Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, and Arthur Treacher. The film was released on May 26, 1939, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was the debut of Robert Blake, who played an uncredited role as a child.
Wife, Doctor and Nurse is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Loretta Young, Warner Baxter and Virginia Bruce.
