The golden age of screwball comedies lasted from about 1932 until 1942. It would have ended at the start of World War II, if Preston Sturges and Ernst Lubitsch hadn’t almost single handedly (or would that be double handedly?) kept it going. There were many fine comedies after 1942, but none had the same sense of comedic abandon that’s shown mostly perfectly in the 20 films below.
(1) Duck Soup (1933; directed by Leo McCarey) 
(2) Bringing Up Baby (1938; directed by Howard Hawks)
(3) His Girl Friday (1940; directed by Howard Hawks)
(4) Trouble in Paradise (1932; directed by Ernst Lubitsch)
(5) Holiday (1938; directed by George Cukor)
(6) The Merry Widow (1934; directed by Ernst Lubitsch)
(7) The Awful Truth (1937; directed by Leo McCarey)
(8) Twentieth Century (1934; directed by Howard Hawks)
(9) The Palm Beach Story (1942; directed by Preston Sturges)
(10) The Lady Eve (1941; directed by Preston Sturges)
(11) It Happened One Night (1934; directed by Frank Capra)
(12) A Night at the Opera (1935; directed by Sam Wood)
(13) It’s a Gift (1934; directed by Norman Z. McLeod)
(14) My Man Godfrey (1936; directed by Gregory La Cava)
(15) Christmas in July (1940; directed by Preston Sturges)
(16) To Be or Not to Be (1942; directed by Ernst Lubitsch)
(17) The Good Fairy (1935; directed by William Wyler)
(18) Easy Living (1937; directed by Mitchell Leisen)
(19) Midnight (1939; directed by Mitchell Leisen)
(20) Theodora Goes Wild (1936; directed by Richard Boleslawski)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.