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The Hollywood Romantic Comedy
Conventions, History, Controversies

Leger Grindon (Author)

9781405182652, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 18 March 2011

240 pages
23.1 x 15.5 x 1.5 cm, 0.345 kg

“Grindon’s contribution to the romantic comedy film bibliography is a valuable addition to the limited number of similar scholarly endeavors, and it seems well-designed for classroom use—not just for teaching the particular films he discusses, but also for teaching methodology. The romantic comedy genre has rarely received the sort of academic recognition it deserves, but students, film scholars, romance scholars, and rom-com enthusiasts all over the world will find The Hollywood Romantic Comedya fine introduction to this culturally and politically significant  film genre.”  (Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 1 October 2012)

"The romantic comedy genre has rarely received the sort of academic recognition it deserves, but students, film scholars, romance scholars, and rom-com enthusiasts all over the world will find The Hollywood Romantic Comedy a fine introduction to this culturally and politically significant  film genre." (Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 15 October 2012)


"Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers." (Choice, 1 September 2011)

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

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

Subject Areas: Society & culture: general [JF]
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