Screwball Comedies Viewer's Response
Viewer’s response: The Philadelphia Story and Bringing Up Baby
Please respond on a separate piece of paper, neatly and in complete sentences. Answers should be thoughtful, detailed and supported by specific references to the film. It will be graded on a scale of 1 to 4, 4 being the highest.
1. The American Film Institute rates both The Philadelphia Story (51) and Bringing Up Baby (97) in the list of top 100 American films made. Do you believe such a list is valid? Can you rank order art?
2. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are paired in both movies. Why? How do you feel each acts as a foil for the other? Do they have “chemistry”? Do they complement each other? How?
3. “Screw-ball comedies” were popular in the 1930s and 40s. What do you understand as characteristic of these films? Please cite examples of the characteristics from these films.
4. Why are “screw-ball comedies” popular? What about the 1930s and 40s made them popular? Why have they endured? Are they still being produced?
5. The characters in these films can almost always get themselves out of the difficult situation in which they have found themselves. Why don’t they? What film making/story telling techniques are employed to allow the audience to tolerate this lack of problem solving? How is tension established? How is your attention kept?
6. Is a screwball comedy different than a romantic comedy? What are the characteristics of each? What is the difference between a screwball comedy and a “chick flick”?
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