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Kwakwakaʼwakw

2025-10-16T15:54:25Z

2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:BC64:8015:2323:FCAA: bad hyphen

{{Short description|Indigenous ethnic group of the Pacific Northwest Coast}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=April 2019}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw
| image = Crooked Beak of Heaven Mask.jpg
| image_caption = Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw mask (19th century)
| population = 3,665 (2016 census)
| total_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110522&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Ancestry Responses (73), Single and Multiple Aboriginal Responses (4), Residence on or off reserve (3), Residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat (7), Age (8A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census – 25% Sample Data|last=Canada|first=Government of Canada, Statistics|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=25 October 2017|language=en|access-date=2017-11-16}}</ref>
| popplace = Canada ([[British Columbia]])
| langs = [[English language|English]], [[Kwakʼwala]]
| rels = Traditional Indigenous religion
| related = [[Haisla people|Haisla]], [[Heiltsuk people|Heiltsuk]], [[Wuikinuxv people|Wuikinuxv]]
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|root=|person=|people=Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw|language=[[Kwakʼwala|Kwak̓wala]]{{indent|5}}Kwak̓wala{{indent|5}}ʼNak̓wala{{indent|5}}G̱uc̓ala{{indent|5}}T̓łat̓łasik̓wala{{indent|5}}Liqʼwala|country=Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw A̱wi'nagwis}}

The '''Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw''' ({{IPA|kwk|ˈkʷakʷəkʲəʔwakʷ|}}), also known as the '''Kwakiutl'''<ref>[http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/Kwak_Poster_TG.pdf National Museum of the American Indian] Retrieved December 15, 2014.</ref><ref>[http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/totem-park-house-names/ University of British Columbia Totem Park House Names] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210051359/http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/totem-park-house-names/ |date=2017-12-10 }} Retrieved December 15, 2014. [http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/map.htm Ministry of Education, Government of British Columbia Website] Retrieved December 15, 2014. [https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/resdocs/bcfns/bcfns_pronoun.pdf Ministry of Education, Government of British Columbia Website] Retrieved December 15, 2014.</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɑː|k|j|ʊ|t|əl}}; "[[Kwakʼwala]]-speaking peoples"),<ref>[https://www.umista.ca/pages/kwakwakawakw-tribes "The Kwakʼwala Speaking Tribes", Uʼmista Cultural Centre. Retrieved November 21 2013]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Kwakwala First Voices: Kwak̓wala Community Portal] Retrieved November 21, 2013</ref> are an [[indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|indigenous group of the Pacific Northwest Coast]], in southwestern [[Canada]]. Their total population, according to a 2016 census, was 3,665 people. Most live in their traditional territories on northern [[Vancouver Island]], as well as nearby smaller islands (such as the [[Discovery Islands]]) and inland on the adjacent [[British Columbia]] mainland. Some also live outside their traditional homelands, in urban areas such as [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] and [[Vancouver]]. They are politically organized into 13 [[band government]]s.

The Kwakwaka'wakw language, now spoken by only 3.1% of the population, consists of four dialects of what is commonly referred to as [[Kwakʼwala]], known as [[Kwakʼwala|Kwak̓wala]], 'Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and [[Tlatlasikwala Nation|T̓łat̓łasik̓wala]].<ref>[http://www.languagegeek.com/wakashan/kwakwakawakw_communities.html Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw/Kʷakʷəkəw̓akʷ Communities, LanguageGeek.com] Retrieved April 6, 2013.</ref>

==Name==
[[Image:Wawadit'la(Mungo Martin House) a Kwakwaka'wakw big house.jpg|thumb|''Wawaditʼla'', also known as Mungo Martin House, a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw "big house", with [[totem pole]]. Built by Chief [[Mungo Martin]] in 1953. Located at [[Thunderbird Park (Victoria, British Columbia)|Thunderbird Park]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Thunderbird Park – A Place of Cultural Sharing | url=http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/tbird-park/index.html | access-date=2006-06-24 | publisher=[[Royal British Columbia Museum]]}}
Mungo and David Martin, with carpenter Robert J. Wallace, built a big house based on Chief Nakap'ankam's house in Tsaxis (Fort Rupert, British Columbia). The house "bears on its house-posts the hereditary crests of Martin's family." It continues to be used for ceremonies with the permission of Chief Oast'akalagalis 'Walas 'Namugwis (Peter Knox, Martin's grandson) and Mable Knox.

Pole carved by [[Mungo Martin]], David Martin and Mildred Hunt. "Rather than display his own crests on the pole, which was customary, Martin chose to include crests representing the Aʼwaʼetlala, Kwaguʼl, ʼNkʼwaxdaʼxw and ʼNamgis Nations. In this way, the pole represents and honours all the Kwakwakaʼwakw people."
</ref>]]

The name ''Kwakiutl'' derives from ''[[Kwaguʼł]]''—the name of a single community of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw located at [[Fort Rupert]]. The anthropologist [[Franz Boas]] had done most of his anthropological work in this area and popularized the term for both this nation and the collective as a whole. The term became misapplied to mean all the nations who spoke Kwakʼwala, as well as three other Indigenous peoples whose language is a part of the [[Wakashan languages|Wakashan]] linguistic group, but whose language is not Kwakʼwala. These peoples, incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl, were the [[Haisla people|Haisla]], [[Wuikinuxv]], and [[Heiltsuk]].

Many people whom others call Kwakiutl consider that name a misnomer.
They prefer the name ''Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw'', which means "[[Kwakʼwala]]-speaking-peoples".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kwakiutl {{!}} people {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kwakiutl |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
One exception is the [[Laich-kwil-tach]] at [[Campbell River, British Columbia|Campbell River]]: they are known as the Southern Kwakiutl, and their council is the [[Kwakiutl District Council]].

==History==
[[File:Grave Marker in the Form of a Copper, late 19th century, 08.491.8895.jpg|thumbnail|upright|''Grave Marker'', Gwaʼsa̱la Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw (Native American), late 19th century, [[Brooklyn Museum]].]]
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw [[oral tradition|oral history]] says their ancestors (''ʼnaʼmima'') came in the forms of animals via the land, sea and from underground. When one of these ancestral creatures arrived at a given spot, it shed its animal appearance and became human. Animals that figure in these [[origin myth]]s include the [[Thunderbird (mythology)|Thunderbird]] and his brother, [[Kwakwakaʼwakw mythology|Kolas]], the [[Gull|seagull]], [[orca]], [[grizzly bear]], or chief ghost. Some ancestors have human origins and are said to come from distant places.<ref>Boas, (1925) vol. 3, pp 229–30.</ref>

Historically, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy was based primarily on fishing, with the men also engaging in some hunting, and the women gathering wild fruits and berries. Ornate weaving and woodwork were important crafts, and wealth, defined by [[Slavery among the indigenous peoples of the Americas|slaves]] and material goods, was prominently displayed and traded at [[potlatch]] ceremonies. These customs were the subject of extensive study by the [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Franz Boas]]. In contrast to most non-native societies, wealth and status were not determined by how much you had, but by how much you had to give away. This act of giving away your wealth was one of the main acts in a potlatch.

The first documented contact with Europeans was with Captain [[George Vancouver]] in 1792. Disease, which developed as a result of direct contact with European settlers along the West Coast of Canada, drastically reduced the Indigenous Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population during the late 19th-early 20th century. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw population dropped by 75% between 1830 and 1880.<ref>Duff Wilson, ''The Indian History of British Columbia'', 38–40; Sessional Papers, 1873–1880.</ref> The [[1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic]] alone killed over half of the people.

Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dancers from Vancouver Island performed at the [[World's Columbian Exposition|1893 World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago.<ref>Raibmon, Paige. "[http://www.sil.si.edu/silpublications/Worlds-Fairs/WF_selected.cfm?categories=World%27s%20Columbian%20Exhibition%2C%20Chicago%201893 Theatres of Contact: The Kwakwak'wakw Meet Colonialism in British Columbia and the Chicago World's Fair]". ''Canadian Historical Review'' 81: 2(June 2000):157–191.</ref>

An account of experiences of two founders of early [[Canadian Indian residential school system|residential schools for Aboriginal children]] was published in 2006 by the [[University of British Columbia Press]]. ''Good Intentions Gone Awry – Emma Crosby and the Methodist Mission On the Northwest Coast''<ref>{{cite book|last=Hare|first=Jan|title=Good intentions gone awry Emma Crosby and the Methodist mission on the Northwest Coast|year=2006|publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver, BC |isbn=978-0-7748-1270-2 |author2=Barman, Jean }}</ref> by [[Jan Hare]] and Jean Barman contains the letters and account of the life of the wife of [[Thomas Crosby (missionary)|Thomas Crosby]], the first missionary in [[Lax Kwʼalaams]] (Port Simpson). This covers the period from 1870 to the turn of the 20th century.

A second book was published in 2005 by the [[University of Calgary Press]], ''The Letters of Margaret Butcher – Missionary Imperialism on the North Pacific Coast'',<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Kelm |editor-first=Mary-Ellen |title=The letters of Margaret Butcher: missionary-imperialism on the north Pacific Coast |year=2005 |publisher=University of Calgary Press |isbn=978-1-55238-166-3}}</ref> edited by Mary-Ellen Kelm. It picks up the story from 1916 to 1919 in [[Kitamaat Village]] and details of Butcher's experiences among the Haisla people.

A review article entitled ''Mothers of a Native Hell'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/08/08/Mothers/|access-date=27 May 2012|title=Mothers of a Native Hell|date=8 August 2007}}</ref> about these two books, was published in the British Columbia online news magazine ''[[The Tyee]]'' in 2007.

Restoring their ties to their land, culture and rights, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw have undertaken much in bringing back their customs, beliefs and language. Potlatches occur more frequently as families reconnect to their birthright, and the community uses language programs, classes and social events to [[language revitalization|restore the language]]. Artists in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as [[Mungo Martin]], [[Ellen Neel]] and [[Willie Seaweed]], have taken efforts to revive [[Kwakwakaʼwakw art]] and culture.

==Divisions==
Each Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nation has its own [[clan]]s, chiefs, history, culture and peoples, but remain collectively similar to the rest of the Kwak̓wala-Speaking nations.

{| class="wikitable"
! Nation name
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! Translation
! Community
! [[Anglicisation|Anglicized]], archaic variants or adaptations
|-
| ''[[Kwaguʼł]]''
|
| ''Smoke-Of-The-World''
| Tsax̱is / [[Fort Rupert]]
| Kwagyewlth, Kwakiutl
|-
| ''[[Mamalilikala|Mamaliliḵa̱la]]''
|
| ''The-People-Of-Malilikala''
| ʼMimkumlis / [[Village Island]]
|
|-
| ''[[ʼNamgis|ʼNa̱mg̱is]]''
|
| ''Those-Who-Are-One-When-They-Come-Together''
| Xwa̱lkw / [[Nimpkish River]] and Yalis / [[Alert Bay]],
| Nimpkish-Cheslakees
|-
| ''Ławitsis''
|
| ''Angry-ones''
| Ḵalug̱wis / [[Turnour Island]]<ref name="firstvoices.com">{{Cite web
| title = FirstVoices: Kwak̓wala. Nature / Environment – place names: words
| access-date = 2012-07-08
| url = http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Kwakwala/word-category/1f2fd0f8542dbe9f/--Nature--Environment---place-names
}}</ref>
| Tlowitsis
|-
| ''[[A'wa'etlala First Nation|A̱ʼwa̱ʼetła̱la]]''
|
| ''Those-Up-The-Inlet''
| Dzawadi / [[Knight Inlet]]
|
|-
| ''[[Daʼnaxdaʼxw Nation|Da̱ʼnaxdaʼx̱w]]''
|
| ''The-Sandstone-Ones''
| Tʼsadzisnukwa̱meʼ| [[New Vancouver]], [[Harbledown Island]]
| Tanakteuk
|-
| ''[[Ma'amtagila First Nation|Maʼa̱mtagila]]''
|
|
| Itsika̱n
| Etsekin, ''Iʼtsika̱n''<ref name="firstvoices.com"/>
|-
| ''[[Tsawataineuk First Nation|Dzawa̱da̱ʼenux̱w]]''
|
|''People-Of-The-Eulachon-Country''
| Gwaʼyi / [[Kingcome Inlet]]
| Tsawataineuk
|-
| ''Ḵwiḵwa̱sut̓inux̱w''
|
| ''People-Of-The-Other-Side''
| G̱waʼyasda̱ms / [[Gilford Island]]
| Kwicksutaineuk
|-
| ''Gwawa̱ʼenux̱w''
|
|
| Heg̱a̱mʼs / [[Hopetown, British Columbia|Hopetown]] ([[Watson Island (British Columbia)|Watson Island]])
| Gwawaenuk
|-
| ''[[Gwaʼsala-ʼNakwaxdaʼxw Nations|ʼNak̕waxdaʼx̱w]]''
|
|
| Baʼaʼs / [[Blunden Harbour]], [[Seymour Inlet]], & [[Deserters Group]]
| Nakoaktok, Nakwoktak
|-
| ''[[Gwaʼsala-ʼNakwaxdaʼxw Nations|Gwaʼsa̱la]]''
|
|''North People''<ref>The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, Boas, Franz, 1897</ref>
| T̓a̱kus / [[Smith Inlet (British Columbia)|Smith Inlet]], Burnett Bay
| Gwasilla, Quawshelah
|-
| ''G̱usgimukw''
|
|People of Guseʼ
| X̱wa̱tis | [[Quatsino]]
| Koskimo
|-
| ''Gwat̕sinux̱w''
|
| ''Head-Of-Inlet-People''
| [[Winter Harbour]]
| Oyag̱a̱mʼla / Quatsino
|-
| ''[[Tlatlasikwala Nation|T̓łat̕ła̱siḵwa̱la]]''
|
| ''Those-Of-The-Ocean-Side''
| X̱wa̱mdasbeʼ / [[Hope Island (British Columbia)|Hope Island]]
|
|-
| ''Wiwēqay̓i''
|
|
| Ceqʷəl̓utən / [[Quadra Island|Cape Mudge]]
| Weiwaikai, Yuculta, Euclataws, Laich-kwil-tach, Lekwiltok, Likʷʼala
|-
| ''Wiwēkam''
|
|
| ƛam̓atax̌ʷ / [[Campbell River, British Columbia|Campbell River]]
| Weiwaikum
|}

==Society ==
[[Image:Kwakwakawakwgirl.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dzawada̱'enux̱w First Nation|Dzawa̱da̱ʼenux̱w]]<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/261720288_fig5_Figure-2-Photo2-Margaret-Wilson-Frank-daughter-of-Emily-Hunt-and-David-Wilson Figure 2: Photo 2. Margaret Wilson Frank, daughter of Emily Hunt and David Wilson, granddaughter of Lucy Homikanis and George Hunt. Identified by Edward S. Curtis as "Tsawatenok girl, Kwakiutl Indian." 1914. (Also on the cover of this issue.) Photo by Edward S. Curtis, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Edward S. Curtis Collection, no. 3567. – Scientific Figure on ResearchGate]</ref> girl, Margaret Frank (née Wilson)<ref>[http://www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu/film/making-of-head-hunters-mainmenu-34 The Kwakwakaʼwakw, Curtis, and the Making of ''In the Land of the Head Hunters'']</ref> wearing abalone shell earrings, a sign of nobility and worn only by members of this class.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/6844126/My_Sisters_Will_Not_Speak_Boas_Hunt_and_the_Ethnographic_Silencing_of_First_Nations_Women Bruchac, Margaret M. – My Sisters Will Not Speak: Boas, Hunt, and the Ethnographic Silencing of First Nations Women.]</ref>]]

===Kinship===
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw kinship is based on a bilinear structure, with loose characteristics of a patrilineal culture. It has large extended families and interconnected community life. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are made up of numerous communities or bands. Within those communities they are organized into extended family units or ''naʼmima,'' which means 'of one kind'. Each ''naʼmima'' had positions that carried particular responsibilities and privileges. Each community had around four ''naʼmima'', although some had more, some had less. 

Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw follow their genealogy back to their ancestral roots. A head chief who, through [[primogeniture]], could trace his origins to that ''naʼmima'''s ancestors delineated the roles throughout the rest of his family. Every [[clan]] had several sub-chiefs, who gained their titles and position through their own family's primogeniture. These chiefs organized their people to harvest the communal lands that belonged to their family.

Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw society was organized into four classes: the nobility, attained through birthright and connection in lineage to ancestors, the aristocracy who attained status through connection to wealth, resources or spiritual powers displayed or distributed in the potlatch, commoners, and slaves. On the nobility class, "the noble was recognized as the literal conduit between the social and spiritual domains, birthright alone was not enough to secure rank: only individuals displaying the correct moral behavior [sic] throughout their life course could maintain ranking status."<ref>Joseph Masco, "It is a Strict Law that Bids Us Dance": ''Cosmologies, Colonialism, Death, and Ritual Authority in the Kwakwakaʼwakw Potlatch, 1849 to 1922,'' 48.</ref>

===Property===
As in other Northwest Coast peoples, the concept of property was well developed and important to daily life. Territorial property such as hunting or fishing grounds was inherited, and from these properties material wealth was collected and stored.<ref>Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 31</ref>

===Economy===
A trade and barter [[subsistence economy]] formed the early stages of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw economy. Trade was carried out between internal Kwakwakaʼwakw nations, as well as surrounding Indigenous nations such as the [[Tsimshian]], [[Tlingit]], the [[Nuu-chah-nulth]] and [[Coast Salish]] peoples.

[[Image:Kwakwaka'wakw man and copper shield, by Edward Curtis.jpg|thumb|upright|Man with [[copper (potlatch)|copper piece]], hammered in the characteristic "T" shape. Photo taken by [[Edward S. Curtis]].]]

Over time, the [[potlatch]] tradition created a demand for stored surpluses, as such a display of wealth had social implications. By the time of European colonialism, it was noted that wool blankets had become a form of common [[currency]]. In the potlatch tradition, hosts of the potlatch were expected to provide enough gifts for all the guests invited.<ref>Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 33</ref> This practice created a system of [[loan]] and [[interest]], using wool blankets as currency.<ref name="Hawthorn 35">Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 35</ref>

As with other Pacific Northwest nations, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw highly valued copper in their economy and used it for ornament and precious goods.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> Scholars have proposed that prior to trade with Europeans, the people acquired copper from natural copper veins along riverbeds, but this has not been proven. Contact with European settlers, particularly through the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], brought an influx of copper to their territories. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw nations also were aware of [[silver]] and [[gold]], and crafted intricate bracelets and jewellery from hammered coins traded from European settlers.<ref name="Hawthorn 173">Hawthorn, A. (1988) pp. 173</ref> Copper was given a special value amongst the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, most likely for its ceremonial purposes. This copper was beaten into sheets or plates, and then painted with mythological figures.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> The sheets were used for decorating wooden carvings or kept for the sake of prestige.

Individual pieces of copper were sometimes given names based on their value.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> The value of any given piece was defined by the number of wool blankets last traded for them. In this system, it was considered prestigious for a buyer to purchase the same piece of copper at a higher price than it was previously sold, in their version of an art market.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> During potlatch, copper pieces would be brought out, and bids were placed on them by rival chiefs. The highest bidder would have the honour of buying said copper piece.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> If a host still held a surplus of copper after throwing an expensive potlatch, he was considered a wealthy and important man.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/> Highly ranked members of the communities often have the Kwakʼwala word for "copper" as part of their names.<ref name="Hawthorn 35"/>

Copper's importance as an indicator of status also led to its use in a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw [[Public humiliation|shaming ritual]]. The copper cutting ceremony involved breaking copper plaques. The act represents a challenge; if the target cannot break a plaque of equal or greater value, he or she is shamed. The ceremony, which had not been performed since the 1950s, was revived by chief [[Beau Dick]] in 2013, as part of the [[Idle No More]] movement. He performed a copper cutting ritual on the lawn of the [[British Columbia Parliament Buildings|British Columbia Legislature]] on February 10, 2013, to ritually shame the [[Stephen Harper]] government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/first-nations-chief-to-perform-rare-shaming-rite-on-legislature-lawn-today-1.70849|title=First Nations chief to perform rare shaming rite on legislature lawn today|date=9 February 2013|access-date=10 February 2013|publisher=[[Victoria Times Colonist]]|author=Judith Lavoie}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[Image:Edward Curtis Image 002.jpg|thumb|upright|Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw canoe welcoming with masks and traditional dug out cedar canoes. On bow is dancer in Bear regalia.]]
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are a highly stratified bilineal culture of the Pacific Northwest. They are many separate nations, each with its own history, culture and governance. The Nations commonly each had a head chief, who acted as the leader of the nation, with numerous hereditary clan or family chiefs below him. In some of the nations, there also existed ''Eagle Chiefs'', but this was a separate society within the main society and applied to the potlatching only.

The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw are one of the few bilineal cultures. Traditionally the rights of the family would be passed down through the paternal side, but in rare occasions, the rights could pass on the maternal side of their family also. Within the pre-colonization times, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw were organized into three classes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw shared many cultural and political alliances with numerous neighbours in the area, including the [[Nuu-chah-nulth]], [[Heiltsuk]], [[Wuikinuxv]] and some [[Coast Salish]].

===Language===
The [[Kwakʼwala]] language is a part of the [[Wakashan languages|Wakashan language]] group. Word lists and some documentation of Kwakʼwala were created from the early period of contact with Europeans in the 18th century, but a systematic attempt to record the language did not occur before the work of [[Franz Boas]] in the late 19th and early 20th century. The use of Kwakʼwala declined significantly in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly due to the [[Cultural assimilation|assimilationist]] policies of the Canadian government. Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw children were forced to attend [[Canadian Indian residential school system|residential schools]], which enforced English use and discouraged other languages. Although Kwakʼwala and Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw culture have been well-studied by linguists and anthropologists, these efforts did not reverse the trends leading to [[language death|language loss]]. According to Guy Buchholtzer, "The anthropological discourse had too often become a long monologue, in which the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw had nothing to say."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/sfu_news/archives/sfunews07070512.shtml |title=SFU News Online – Native language centre planned – July 7, 2005 |access-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-date=February 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202015913/https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/sfu_news/archives/sfunews07070512.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As a result of these pressures, there are relatively few Kwakʼwala speakers today. Most remaining speakers are past the age of child-rearing, which is considered a crucial stage for language transmission. As with many other Indigenous languages, there are significant barriers to [[language revitalization]].<ref>[http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/stabilize/conclusion.htm Stabilizing Indigenous Languages: Conclusion]</ref> Another barrier separating new learners from the native speaker is the presence of four separate orthographies; the young are taught Uʼmista or NAPA, while the older generations generally use Boaz, developed by the American anthropologist Franz Boas.

A number of revitalization efforts are underway. A 2005 proposal to build a Kwakwakaʼwakw First Nations Centre for Language Culture has gained wide support.<ref>[https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/sfu_news/archives/sfunews07070512.shtml "Native language centre planned" – July 7, 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202015913/https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/sfu_news/archives/sfunews07070512.shtml |date=February 2, 2008 }}, SFU News Online</ref> A review of revitalization efforts in the 1990s showed that the potential to fully revitalize Kwakʼwala still remained, but serious hurdles also existed.<ref>{{Cite book | chapter= Chapter 4: Reversing Language Shift: Can Kwak'wala Be Revived? | author-last= Anonby| author-first= Stan J. | pages= 33–52 | title=Revitalizing Indigenous Languages| url= http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/RIL_Contents.html | chapter-url= http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/%7Ejar/RIL_4.html|editor1-first= Jon |editor1-last= Reyhner |editor2-first= Gina |editor2-last= Cantoni |editor3-first= Robert N. |editor3-last= St. Clair |editor4-first= Evangeline Parsons |editor4-last= Yazzie |publisher= Northern Arizona University| place= Flagstaff, AZ, USA | date=1999 | isbn= 0-9670554-0-7 | lccn= 99-70356 }}</ref>

===Arts===
[[File:Kwakwaka'wakw transformation mask.jpg|thumb|"Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw [[transformation mask]]".]]In the old times, the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw believed that art symbolized a common underlying element shared by all species.<ref>Jonaitis, A. (1991) pp 67.</ref>

[[Kwakwakaʼwakw art]]s consist of a diverse range of crafts, including totems, masks, textiles, jewellery and carved objects, ranging in size from [[transformation mask]]s to {{convert|40|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[totem pole]]s. [[Cedrus|Cedar]] wood was the preferred medium for sculpting and carving projects as it was readily available in the native Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw regions. Totems were carved with bold cuts, a relative degree of realism, and an emphatic use of paints. Masks make up a large portion of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw art, as masks are important in the portrayal of the characters central to Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dance ceremonies.
Woven textiles included the [[Chilkat weaving|''Chilkat'' blanket]], dance aprons and button cloaks, each patterned with Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw designs. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw used a variety of objects for jewellery, including ivory, bone, [[abalone]] shell, copper, silver and more. Adornments were frequently found on the clothes of important persons.

===Music===
[[Kwakwakaʼwakw music]] is the ancient art of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw peoples. The music is an ancient art form, stretching back thousands of years. The music is used primarily for ceremony and ritual, and is based on percussive instrumentation, especially [[Slit drum|log]], box, and hide drums, as well as rattles and whistles. The four-day ''Klasila'' festival is an important cultural display of song and dance and masks; it occurs just before the advent of the ''tsetseka'', or winter.

===Ceremonies and events===

====Potlatch====
[[Image:Edward S. Curtis, Kwakwaka'wakw potlatch, British Columbia.jpg|thumb|Showing of masks at Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw potlatch.|alt=]]
[[File:Speaker Figure, 19th century, 05.588.7418.jpg|thumbnail|upright|Speaker Figure, 19th century, [[Brooklyn Museum]], the figure represents a speaker at a potlatch. An orator standing behind the figure would have spoken through its mouth, announcing the names of arriving guests.|alt=]]
The [[potlatch]] culture of the Northwest is well known and widely studied. It is still practised among the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, as is the lavish artwork for which they and their neighbours are so renowned. The phenomenon of the potlatch, and the vibrant societies and cultures associated with it, can be found in ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'', which details the incredible artwork and legendary material that go with the other aspects of the potlatch, and gives a glimpse into the high politics and great wealth and power of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw chiefs.

When the Canadian government was focused on assimilation of First Nations, it made the potlatch a target of activities to be suppressed. Missionary William Duncan wrote in 1875 that the potlatch was "by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the way of Indians becoming Christians, or even civilized".<ref>Robin Fisher, ''Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774–1890'', Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, 1977, 207.</ref>

In 1885, the [[Indian Act]] was revised to include clauses [[Potlatch ban|banning the potlatch]] and making it illegal to practise. The official legislation read,

{{Blockquote|Every Indian or other person who engages in or assists in celebrating the Indian festival known as the "Potlatch" or the Indian dance known as the "Tamanawas" is guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not more than six nor less than two months in a jail or other place of confinement; and, any Indian or other person who encourages, either directly or indirectly an Indian or Indians to get up such a festival or dance, or to celebrate the same, or who shall assist in the celebration of same is guilty of a like offence, and shall be liable to the same punishment.}}

Oʼwax̱a̱laga̱lis, Chief of the [[Kwaguʼł]] "Fort Rupert Tribes", said to anthropologist [[Franz Boas]] on October 7, 1886, when he arrived to study their culture:

{{Blockquote|We want to know whether you have come to stop our dances and feasts, as the missionaries and agents who live among our neighbors {{sic}} try to do. We do not want to have anyone here who will interfere with our customs. We were told that a man-of-war would come if we should continue to do as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers have done. But we do not mind such words. Is this the white man's land? We are told it is the Queen's land, but no! It is mine.

Where was the Queen when our God gave this land to my grandfather and told him, "This will be thine"? My father owned the land and was a mighty Chief; now it is mine. And when your man-of-war comes, let him destroy our houses. Do you see yon trees? Do you see yon woods? We shall cut them down and build new houses and live as our fathers did.

We will dance when our laws command us to dance, and we will feast when our hearts desire to feast. Do we ask the white man, "Do as the Indian does"? It is a strict law that bids us dance. It is a strict law that bids us distribute our property among our friends and neighbors. It is a good law. Let the white man observe his law; we shall observe ours. And now, if you come to forbid us dance, be gone. If not, you will be welcome to us.}}
Eventually the Act was amended, expanded to prohibit guests from participating in the potlatch ceremony. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw were too numerous to police, and the government could not enforce the law. [[Duncan Campbell Scott]] convinced Parliament to change the offence from criminal to summary, which meant "the agents, as justice of the peace, could try a case, convict, and sentence".<ref>Aldona Jonaitis, ''Chiefly Feasts: the Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'', Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1991, p.159.</ref>

Sustaining the customs and culture of their ancestors, in the 21st century the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw openly hold potlatches to commit to the revival of their ancestors' ways. The frequency of potlatches has increased as occur frequently and increasingly more over the years as families reclaim their birthright.

===Housing and shelter===
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw built their houses from cedar planks, which are highly water resistant. They were very large, anywhere from {{convert|50|to|100|ft|abbr=on}} long. The houses could hold about 50 people, usually families from the same clan. At the entrance, there was usually a totem pole carved with different animals, mythological figures and family crests.

===Clothing and regalia===
In summer, men wore no clothing except jewelry. In the winter, they usually rubbed fat on themselves to keep warm. In battle the men wore red cedar armor and helmets, and breech clouts made from cedar. During ceremonies they wore circles of cedar bark on their ankles as well as cedar [[Loincloth|breech clouts]]. The women wore skirts of softened cedar, and a cedar or wool blanket on top during the winter.

===Transportation===
[[File:Kwakwakaʼwakw_clams.jpg|thumb|A Kwakwakaʼwakw canoe]]
Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw transportation was similar to that of other coastal people. Being an ocean and coastal people, they travelled mainly by canoe. Cedar [[dugout canoe]]s, each made from one log, would be carved for use by individuals, families and communities. Sizes varied from ocean-going canoes, for long sea-worthy travel in trade missions, to smaller local canoes for inter-village travel. Some boats had buffalo fur inside to keep protection from the cold winters.

== Notable Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

* [[Alfred Scow]] (1927–2013), first Aboriginal person to graduate from a BC law school, the first Aboriginal lawyer called to the BC bar and the first Aboriginal legally trained judge appointed to the BC Provincial Court
* [[Sonny Assu]] (b. 1975), interdisciplinary artist
* [[Joe Peters Jr.]], artist, woodcarver
* [[Beau Dick]], artist, woodcarver
* [[Gord Hill]], artist, author and Indigenous rights activist
* [[Calvin Hunt (artist)|Calvin Hunt]] (b. 1956), artist
* [[Henry Hunt (artist)|Henry Hunt]] (1923–1985), artist
* [[Richard Hunt (artist)|Richard Hunt]] (b. 1951), artist
* [[Tony Hunt Sr.]] (1942–2017), artist
* [[Charles Joseph (carver)|Charles Joseph]], carver from [[Maʼamtaglia-Tlowitsis]] tribe<ref>{{cite web |work=[[The Walrus]] |url=https://thewalrus.ca/the-story-behind-jordan-petersons-indigenous-identity/ |title=The Story Behind Jordan Peterson's Indigenous Identity|date=March 22, 2018 |access-date=August 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/downtown-totem-pole-honours-residential-school-survivors |work=Montreal Gazette |date=May 5, 2017 |access-date=August 5, 2018 |title=Totem pole in Montreal honours residential school survivors|first=Christopher |last=Curtis}}</ref>
* [[Mungo Martin]], woodcarver
* [[David Neel]], artist, writer
* [[Ellen Neel]], woodcarver
* [[Marianne Nicolson]] (b. 1969), artist, academic
* [[Spencer O'Brien]] (b. 1988), snowboarder
* Joe Peters Jr. artist, woodcarver (b.1960–1994)
* [[Quesalid]], [[medicine man]], writer
* [[Willie Seaweed]], woodcarver
* [[James Sewid]], writer
* [[Jody Wilson-Raybould]], politician
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Kwakiutl (statue)|''Kwakiutl'' (statue)]]
* ''[[In the Land of the Head Hunters]]''
* [[Sisiutl]]
* ''[[Dances of the Kwakiutl]]''
* ''[[I Heard the Owl Call My Name]]''

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* ''Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'' Aldona Jonaitis (Editor) U. Washington Press 1991'' (also a publication of the [[American Museum of Natural History]])
* ''Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. People of the Totem: The Indians of the Pacific Northwest'' University of Oklahoma Press, 1988
* ''Boas, Contributions to the Ethnology of the Kwakiutl, Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology'', vol. 3, New York: Columbia University Press, 1925.
* ''Fisher, Robin. Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia'', 1774–1890, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1977.
* ''Goldman, Irving. The Mouth of Heaven: an Introduction to Kwakiutl Religious Thought'', New York: Joh Wiley and Sons, 1975.
* ''[[Audrey Hawthorn|Hawthorn, Audrey]]. Kwakiutl Art.'' University of Washington Press. 1988. {{ISBN|0-88894-612-0}}.
* ''Jonaitis, Aldona. Chiefly Feasts: the Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch'', Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991.
* ''Masco, Joseph. "It is a Strict Law that Bids Us Dance"'': Cosmologies, Colonialism, Death, and Ritual Authority in the Kwakwakaʼwakw Potlatch, 1849 to 1922, San Diego: University of California.
* ''Reid, Martine and Daisy Sewid-Smith. Paddling to Where I Stand'', Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004.
* ''Spradley, James. Guests Never Leave Hungry, New Haven'': Yale University Press, 1969.
* ''Umista Cultural Society''. Creation myth of Kwakwakaʼwakw (December 1, 2007).
* ''Walens, Stanley "Review of the Mouth of Heaven by Irving Goldman,"'' American Anthropologist, 1981.
* ''Wilson, Duff. The Indian History of British Columbia'', 38–40; Sessional Papers, 1873–1880.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kwakwaka'wakw}}
* [http://www.umista.ca/ Uʼmista Cultural Society – Alert Bay]

{{Kwakwaka'wakw}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kwakwaka'wakw| ]]
[[Category:First Nations in British Columbia]]

Screwball comedy

2025-10-16T00:41:09Z

2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:BC64:8015:2323:FCAA: grammar: "distinguished by...the two engaging"

{{Short description|Genre of comedy film}}
[[File:BabyPoster2.jpg|thumb|''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938) is a screwball comedy from the genre's classic period.]]

'''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,<ref name="Dancyger2006p84">
{{cite book
| last1 = Dancyger
| first1 = Ken
| last2 = Rush
| first2 = Jeff
| title = Alternative Scriptwriting
| edition = Fourth
| year = 2006
| publisher = Focal Press
| isbn = 978-0240808499
| pages = 85
| quote = The screwball comedy is funny film noir that has a happy ending... The premise of the film is about the struggle in their relationship. During the course of the struggle, which is highly sexually charged, the maleness of the central character is challenged. The female is the dominant character in the relationship. This role reversion is central to the screwball comedy.
}}</ref> and the two engaging in a humorous [[wikt:battle of the sexes|battle of the sexes]].<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book">Cele Otnes; Elizabeth Hafkin PleckCele Otnes, Elizabeth Hafkin Pleck (2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_GbTEDRyXQ4C&pg=PA168&dq=screwball+It+Happened+One+Night&lr=&num=50&ei=H3hCSpf0C4TuzATZ_5lf ''Cinderella dreams: the allure of the lavish wedding''] University of California Press, p. 168. {{ISBN|0-520-24008-1}}.</ref>

The genre also featured romantic attachments between members of different [[social class]]es,<ref>Beach, Christopher. ''Class, Language, and American Film Comedy''. Cambridge University Press (February 11, 2002). p. 125.</ref> as in ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'' (1936).<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book" />

What sets the screwball comedy apart from the generic romantic comedy is that "screwball comedy puts the emphasis on a funny spoofing of love, while the more traditional romantic comedy ultimately accents love."<ref name=":0" /> Other elements of the screwball comedy include fast-paced, overlapping [[wit|repartee]], [[farce|farcical]] situations, [[Escapism|escapist]] themes, physical battle of the sexes, disguise and masquerade, and plot lines involving courtship and marriage.<ref name="Cele-Otnes-book" /> Some [[Comedy (drama)|comic plays]] are also described as screwball comedies.

==Name==
Screwball comedy gets its name from the [[screwball]], a type of [[breaking ball|breaking]] [[pitch (baseball)|pitch]] in [[baseball]] and [[fastpitch softball]] that moves in the opposite direction from all other breaking pitches. These features of the screwball pitch also describe the dynamics between the lead characters in screwball comedy films. According to Gehring (2008):<ref>{{cite book |title=Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy: Charting the Difference |last=Gehring |first=Wes D. |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2008 |location=Lanham |page=9}}</ref>

<blockquote>Still, ''screwball'' comedy probably drew its name from the term's entertainingly unorthodox use in the national pastime. Before the term's application in 1930s film criticism, "screwball" had been used in baseball to describe both an oddball player and "any pitched ball that moves in an unusual or unexpected way." Obviously, these characteristics also describe performers in screwball comedy films, from oddball [[Carole Lombard]] to the unusual or unexpected movement of [[Katharine Hepburn]] in ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938). As with the crazy period antics in baseball, screwball comedy uses nutty behavior as a prism through which to view a topsy-turvy period in American history.</blockquote>

==History==
Screwball comedy has proved to be a popular and enduring film genre.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarris |first=Andrew |date=March 1, 1978 |title=THE SEX COMEDY WITHOUT SEX |volume=3 |pages=8–15 |work=American Film |issue=5 |location=New York |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/964099959 |access-date=December 19, 2022|id={{ProQuest|964099959}} }}</ref> ''[[Three-Cornered Moon]]'' (1933), starring [[Claudette Colbert]], is often credited as the first true screwball,<ref name="Three">[https://www.allmovie.com/movie/three-cornered-moon-vm1070978 ''Three-Cornered Moon''] AllMovie review by Craig Butler, accessed October 28, 2023</ref> though ''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]'' starring [[Jean Harlow]] followed it in the same year. Although many film scholars agree that its classic period had effectively ended by 1942,<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Byrge
| first1 = Duane
| last2 = Miller
| first2 = Robert Milton
| title = The Screwball Comedy Films: A History and Filmography, 1934–1942
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SK5ZAAAAMAAJ&q=screwball+comedy+1940
| year = 1991
| publisher = McFarland
| isbn = 978-0-89950-539-8
| page = 104
| quote = With the explosive exception of His Girl Friday, screwball comedy had calmed considerably by 1940 from its peak of zaniness in 1937–38.
}}</ref> elements of the genre have persisted or have been paid homage to in later films. Other film scholars argue that the screwball comedy lives on.

During the [[Great Depression]], there was a general demand for films with a strong social class critique and hopeful, escapist-oriented themes. The screwball format arose largely due to the major film studios' desire to avoid censorship by the increasingly enforced [[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]]. Filmmakers resorted to handling these elements covertly to incorporate prohibited risqué elements into their plots. The verbal sparring between the sexes served as a stand-in for physical and sexual tension.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805215834/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 5, 2012 |title=Under the Radar: The Hays Code and the Birth of Screwball |publisher=[[University of Virginia]] |website=virginia.edu |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> Though some film scholars, such as [[William K. Everson]], argue that "screwball comedies were not so much rebelling against the Production Code as they were attacking{{snd}} and ridiculing{{snd}} the dull, lifeless respectability that the Code insisted on for family viewing."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hollywood Bedlam: Classic Screwball Comedies |last=Everson |first=William K. |publisher=Carol Publishing Group |year=1994 |location=New York}}</ref>

The screwball comedy has close links with the [[theatre|theatrical]] genre of [[farce]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy: Charting the Difference |last=Gehring |first=Wes D. |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2008 |location=Lanham |page=186}}</ref> and some comic plays are also described as screwball comedies. Other genres with which screwball comedy is associated include [[slapstick]], [[situation comedy]], [[romantic comedy]] and [[bedroom farce]].

==Characteristics==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2009}}
[[File:Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night.jpg|thumb|A still from a trailer for ''[[It Happened One Night]]'']]
Films that are definitive of the genre usually feature farcical situations, a combination of slapstick and fast-paced repartee, and show the struggle between economic classes. They also generally feature a self-confident and often [[Hawksian woman|stubborn central female protagonist]] and a plot involving courtship, marriage, or [[Comedy of remarriage|remarriage]]. These traits can be seen in both ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'' (1936). The film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] has defined the screwball comedy as "a [[sex comedy]] without the sex."<ref>[http://www.newsradioart.com/Pages/2.Introduction.html Citation] Sarris, Andrew. You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: The American Talking Film, History & Memory, 1927–1949, Oxford University Press, New York, 1998</ref>

Like farce, screwball comedies often involve masquerades and disguises in which a character or characters resort to secrecy. Sometimes screwball comedies feature male characters [[cross-dressing]], further contributing to elements of masquerade (''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938), ''[[Love Crazy (1941 film)|Love Crazy]]'' (1941), ''[[I Was a Male War Bride]]'' (1949), and ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959)). At first, the couple seems mismatched and even hostile to each other, but eventually overcome their differences amusingly or entertainingly, leading to romance. Often, this mismatch comes about when the man is of a lower social class than the woman (''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934), ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' and ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]'', both 1938). The woman often plans the final romantic union from the outset, and the man is seemingly oblivious to this. In ''Bringing Up Baby,'' the woman tells a third party: "He's the man I'm going to marry. He doesn't know it, but I am."

[[File:The-Lady-Eve.jpg|thumb|In ''[[The Lady Eve]]'', Jean (center, played by [[Barbara Stanwyck]]) passes herself off as an upper-class woman.]]
These pictures also offered a cultural escape valve: a safe battleground to explore serious issues such as class under a comedic and non-threatening framework.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120805215834/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/historicalcontext.html] The Screwball and Its Audience - University of Virginia</ref> Class issues are a strong component of screwball comedies: the upper class is represented as idle, pampered, and having difficulty coping with the real world. By contrast, when lower-class people attempt to pass themselves off as upper class or otherwise insinuate themselves into high society, they can do so with relative ease (''[[The Lady Eve]]'', 1941; ''[[My Man Godfrey]]'', 1936). Some critics believe that the portrayal of the upper class in ''It Happened One Night'' was brought about by the [[Great Depression]], and the financially struggling moviegoing public's desire to see the upper class taught a lesson in humanity.<ref name="Genre for the People">{{cite book |last1=Pronovost |first1=Virginie |title="Screwball": A Genre for the People : Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938): Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938) |date=2020 |publisher=Stockholm University |url=https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?language=en&pid=diva2%3A1437132 |access-date=27 February 2024 |format=PDF}}</ref>

Another common element of the screwball comedy is fast-talking, witty [[repartee]], such as in ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]'' (1938) and ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940). This stylistic device did not originate in the genre: it is also found in many of the old [[Hollywood cycles]], including [[gangster film]]s and traditional romantic comedies.

Screwball comedies also tend to contain ridiculous, farcical situations, such as in ''Bringing Up Baby'', where a couple must take care of a pet leopard during much of the film. Slapstick elements are also frequently present, such as the numerous pratfalls [[Henry Fonda]] takes in ''The Lady Eve'' (1941).<ref name="BFI"/>

One subgenre of screwball is known as the [[comedy of remarriage]], in which characters divorce and then remarry one another (''[[The Awful Truth]]'' (1937), ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940), ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940)).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cavell |first1=Stanley |title=Pursuits of happiness: the Hollywood comedy of remarriage |date=2003 |publisher=Harvard Univ. Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-674-73906-2 |edition=10. print}}</ref> Some scholars point to this frequent device as evidence of the shift in the American moral code, as it showed freer attitudes toward divorce (though the divorce always turns out to have been a mistake: "You've got an old fashioned idea divorce is something that lasts forever, 'til death do us part.' Why divorce doesn't mean anything nowadays, Hildy, just a few words mumbled over you by a judge.")

Another subgenre of screwball comedy is the woman chasing a man who is oblivious to or uninterested in her. Examples include [[Barbara Stanwyck]] chasing [[Henry Fonda]] (''[[The Lady Eve]]'', 1941); [[Sonja Henie]] chasing [[John Payne (actor)|John Payne]] (''[[Sun Valley Serenade]]'', 1941, and ''[[Iceland (film)|Iceland]]'', 1942); [[Marion Davies]] chasing [[Antonio Moreno]] (''[[The Cardboard Lover]]'', 1928); Marion Davies chasing [[Bing Crosby]] (''[[Going Hollywood]]'', 1933); and [[Carole Lombard]] chasing [[William Powell]] (''[[My Man Godfrey]]'', 1936).

The philosopher [[Stanley Cavell]] has noted that many classic screwball comedies turn on an interlude in the state of [[Connecticut]] (''Bringing Up Baby'', ''The Lady Eve'', ''[[The Awful Truth]]'').<ref>Cavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981</ref> In ''[[Christmas in Connecticut]]'' (1945), the action moves to Connecticut and remains there for the duration of the film. [[New York City]] is also featured in a lot of screwball comedies, which critics have noted may be because of the economic diversity of the city and the ability to contrast different social classes during the Great Depression.<ref name="Genre for the People"/> The screwball comedies ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934) and ''[[The Palm Beach Story]]'' (1942) also feature characters traveling to and from [[Florida]] by train. Trains, another staple of screwball comedies and romantic comedies from the era, are also featured prominently in ''[[Design for Living (film)|Design for Living]]'' (1934), ''[[Twentieth Century (film)|Twentieth Century]]'' (1934) and ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'' (1938).

==Examples from the classic period==
{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
! Year !! Title !! Director !! class="unsortable"|Stars !! class="unsortable"|Ref
|-
| 1928|| {{sort|Patsy|''[[The Patsy (1928 film)|The Patsy]]''}}|| {{sort|Vidor|[[King Vidor]]}}|| [[Marion Davies]], [[Marie Dressler]], and [[Lawrence Gray]] ||
|-
| 1931 ||''[[Platinum Blonde (film)|Platinum Blonde]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Loretta Young]], [[Robert Williams (actor, born 1894)|Robert Williams]] and [[Jean Harlow]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1931|| {{sort|Front|''[[The Front Page (1931 film)|The Front Page]]''}} (remade as ''His Girl Friday'')|| {{sort|Milestone|[[Lewis Milestone]]}}|| [[Adolphe Menjou]] and [[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]]|| <ref name=Dirks>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/comedyfilms3.html |title=Comedy films: Screwball comedy |author=Tim Dirks |publisher=filmsite.org}}</ref>
|-
| 1932|| [[Trouble in Paradise (1932 film)|''Trouble in Paradise'']]|| {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| [[Miriam Hopkins]], [[Kay Francis]], and [[Herbert Marshall]]|| <ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Armond |title=Trouble in Paradise: Lovers, On the Money |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1073-trouble-in-paradise-lovers-on-the-money |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=The Criterion Collection |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alberti |first=John |title=Screen Ages: A Survey of American Cinema |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=9781317650287 |pages=111}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Halbout |first=Grégoire |title=Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=9781501347627}}</ref>
|-
| 1933||''[[Three-Cornered Moon]]''||[[Elliott Nugent]]||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Richard Arlen]]||<ref name="Three" />
|-
| 1933||''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]''||[[Victor Fleming]]||[[Jean Harlow]] and [[Lee Tracy]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1934||''[[Design for Living (film)|Design for Living]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Fredric March]], [[Gary Cooper]] and [[Miriam Hopkins]]||<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Janes |first1=Samantha Anne |title=Girls Will Be Girls: Examining the Adaptation of Female Characters in Screwball Comedy Films and Their Source Texts |url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/192331 |website=OAKTrust |publisher=Texas A&M University |access-date=27 February 2024 |format=PDF |date=2020-05-26|type=Thesis }}</ref>
|-
| 1934|| ''[[It Happened One Night]]''|| {{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}|| [[Clark Gable]] and [[Claudette Colbert]]|| <ref name=BFI/><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1934|| ''[[Twentieth Century (film)|Twentieth Century]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[John Barrymore]] and [[Carole Lombard]]|| <ref name=Dirks/><ref name=Collin>{{cite news |title=Who killed the screwball comedy? |author=Robbie Collin |author-link=Robbie Collin |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=23 June 2015 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/screwball-comedy/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/screwball-comedy/ |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|-
| 1934||''[[The Richest Girl in the World (1934 film)|The Richest Girl in the World]]''||[[William A. Seiter]]||[[Miriam Hopkins]], [[Joel McCrea]], and [[Fay Wray]]||
|-
| 1935||''[[Hands Across the Table]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Carole Lombard]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]||<ref name="TCM"/>
|-
| 1935||''[[She Couldn't Take It]]''||{{sort|Garnett|[[Tay Garnett]]}}||[[George Raft]] and [[Joan Bennett]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1935||''[[If You Could Only Cook]]''||[[William A. Seiter]]||[[Herbert Marshall]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1936 ||''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Gary Cooper]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1936||''[[The Ex-Mrs. Bradford]]''||[[Stephen Roberts (director)|Stephen Roberts]]||[[William Powell]] and [[Jean Arthur]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals">{{cite book |last1=Halbout |first1=Grégoire |title=Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: sex, love, and democratic ideals |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=New York London Oxford New Delhi Sydney |isbn=978-1501347610 |edition=Paperback}}</ref>
|-
| 1936|| ''[[My Man Godfrey]]''|| {{sort|La|[[Gregory La Cava]]}}|| [[William Powell]] and [[Carole Lombard]]|| <ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1936|| ''[[Cain and Mabel]]''|| {{sort|Bacon|[[Lloyd Bacon]]}}|| [[Marion Davies]] and [[Clark Gable]]||
|-
| 1936|| ''[[Libeled Lady]]''|| {{sort|Conway|[[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]]}}|| [[Jean Harlow]], [[William Powell]], [[Myrna Loy]], and [[Spencer Tracy]]||
|-
| 1936|| ''[[Theodora Goes Wild]]''|| {{sort|Boleslawski|[[Richard Boleslawski]]}}|| [[Irene Dunne]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]|| <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/theodora-goes-wild-2/|title=Theodora Goes Wild (1936): Boleslawsky's Screwball Comedy Starring Irene Dunne in Oscar-Nominated Performance | Emanuel Levy|date=6 February 2006 }}</ref>
|-
| 1936||''[[Love on the Run (1936 film)|Love on the Run]]''||[[W. S. Van Dyke]]||[[Joan Crawford]] and [[Clark Gable]]||
|-
| 1937||''[[Love Is News]]''||{{sort|Garnett|[[Tay Garnett]]}}||[[Tyrone Power]], [[Loretta Young]], and [[Don Ameche]]||
|-
| 1937||''[[Easy Living (1937 film)|Easy Living]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Edward Arnold (actor)|Edward Arnold]] and [[Ray Milland]]||<ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1937||''[[Topper (film)|Topper]]''||{{sort|McLeod|[[Norman Z. McLeod]]}}||[[Constance Bennett]] and [[Cary Grant]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1937|| {{sort|Awful|''[[The Awful Truth]]''}}|| {{sort|McCarey|[[Leo McCarey]]}}|| [[Irene Dunne]], [[Cary Grant]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]|| <ref name=BFI>{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-screwball-comedies |title=10 great screwball comedy films |date=12 February 2015 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1937||''[[Double Wedding (1937 film)|Double Wedding]]''||{{sort|Thorpe|[[Richard Thorpe]]}}||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||
|-
| 1937|| ''[[Nothing Sacred (film)|Nothing Sacred]]''|| {{sort|Wellman|[[William A. Wellman]]}}|| [[Carole Lombard]] and [[Fredric March]]||<ref name=BFI/><ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1937|| ''[[True Confession]]''||{{sort|Ruggles|[[Wesley Ruggles]]}}|| [[Carole Lombard]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[John Barrymore]]||<ref name="Mubi">{{cite web |last1=Kiriakou |first1=Olympia |title=Notebook Primer: Screwball Comedy |url=https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-screwball-comedy |website=MUBI |access-date=26 February 2024 |language=en |date=6 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]''||[[Tim Whelan]]||[[Merle Oberon]] and [[Laurence Olivier]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levy |first1=Emanuel |title=Divorce of Lady X: Korda Screwball Comedy, Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson - Emanuel Levy |url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/divorce-of-lady-x-the-6/ |website=Emanuel Levy |access-date=21 March 2024 |language=en |date=10 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Dennis |title=Most Olivier Performances Available on Home Video |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-14-ca-3883-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=14 July 1989}}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[Merrily We Live]]''||{{sort|McLeod|[[Norman Z. McLeod]]}}||[[Constance Bennett]] and [[Brian Aherne]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1938||''[[Bringing Up Baby]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]] and [[Cary Grant]]|| <ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1938||''[[Bluebeard's Eighth Wife]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Gary Cooper]]||
|-
| 1938||''[[Joy of Living]]''||{{sort|Garnett|[[Tay Garnett]]}}||[[Irene Dunne]] and [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice">{{cite journal |last1=Greene |first1=Jane M. |title=A Proper Dash of Spice: Screwball Comedy and the Production Code |journal=Journal of Film and Video |date=2011 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=45–63 |doi=10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |jstor=10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jfilmvideo.63.3.0045 |access-date=26 February 2024 |issn=0742-4671|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|-
| 1938||''[[Vivacious Lady]]''||{{sort|Stevens|[[George Stevens]]}}||[[Ginger Rogers]] and [[James Stewart]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1938|| ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]''|| {{sort|Cukor|[[George Cukor]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]] and [[Cary Grant]]||
|-
| 1938||''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Lionel Barrymore]], [[James Stewart]] and [[Edward Arnold (actor)|Edward Arnold]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berardinelli |first1=James |title=You Can't Take it with You |url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/you-can-t-take-it-with-you |website=Reelviews Movie Reviews |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Mark |title=95 Years of Oscars: Ranking The Best Picture Winners: #95-76 |url=https://www.awardsdaily.com/2023/05/19/95-years-of-oscars-ranking-the-best-picture-winners-95-76/ |website=Awardsdaily |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=19 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hamada |first1=James T. |title=The Nippu Jiji |url=https://hojishinbun.hoover.org/?a=d&d=tnj19390104-02.1.10&e=-------en-10--1--img------- |access-date=27 February 2024 |work=hojishinbun.hoover.org |date=Feb 8, 2022 |location=Honolulu}}</ref><ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1938||''[[Three Loves Has Nancy]]''||{{sort|Thorpe|[[Richard Thorpe]]}}||[[Janet Gaynor]], [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Franchot Tone]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1938|| ''[[The Mad Miss Manton]]''|| [[Leigh Jason]]|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]]|| <ref name=Mubi/>
|-
| 1938||''[[Say It in French]]''||[[Andrew L. Stone]]||[[Ray Milland]] and [[Olympe Bradna]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1939||''[[Midnight (1939 film)|Midnight]]''||{{sort|Leisen|[[Mitchell Leisen]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Don Ameche]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1939||''[[It's a Wonderful World (1939 film)|It's a Wonderful World]]''||{{sort|Van Dyke|[[W. S. Van Dyke]]}}||[[Claudette Colbert]] and [[James Stewart]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1939||''[[Bachelor Mother]]''||{{sort|Kanin|[[Garson Kanin]]}}||[[Ginger Rogers]], [[David Niven]] and [[Charles Coburn]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1939|| ''[[Ninotchka]]'' || {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| [[Greta Garbo]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]||
|-
| 1940|| ''[[His Girl Friday]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Cary Grant]], [[Rosalind Russell]] and [[Ralph Bellamy]]|| <ref name=BFI/><ref name="Collin" />
|-
| 1940||''[[Too Many Husbands (1940 film)|Too Many Husbands]]''||{{sort|Ruggles|[[Wesley Ruggles]]}}||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Fred MacMurray]] and [[Melvyn Douglas]]||<ref name="Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals"/>
|-
| 1940|| ''[[My Favorite Wife]]''|| {{sort|Kanin|[[Garson Kanin]]}}|| [[Cary Grant]] and [[Irene Dunne]]||
|-
| 1940||''[[The Great McGinty]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Brian Donlevy]], [[Muriel Angelus]] and [[Akim Tamiroff]]||
|-
| 1940||''[[I Love You Again]]''||{{sort|Van Dyke|[[W. S. Van Dyke]]}}||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=THE SCREEN; William Powell and Myrna Loy Back Together in 'I Love You Again,' at the Capitol (Published 1940) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/08/16/archives/the-screen-william-powell-and-myrna-loy-back-together-in-i-love-you.html |access-date=2 January 2025 |publisher=The New York Times |date=16 August 1940 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1940||''[[Christmas in July (film)|Christmas in July]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Dick Powell]] and [[Ellen Drew]]||<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beach |first1=Christopher |title=Class, language, and American film comedy |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-00209-7 |page=117 |edition=Transferred to digital print}}</ref>
|-
| 1940|| {{sort|Philadelphia |''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]''}}|| {{sort|Cukor|[[George Cukor]]}}|| [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Cary Grant]] and [[James Stewart]]||
|-
| 1941|| ''[[Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941 film)|Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]''|| {{sort|Hitchcock|[[Alfred Hitchcock]]}}|| [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Carole Lombard]]||
|-
| 1941|| {{sort|Lady|''[[The Lady Eve]]''}}|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]]|| <ref name=BFI/><ref name=Collin/>
|-
| 1941||''[[The Devil and Miss Jones]]''||[[Sam Wood]]||[[Jean Arthur]], [[Robert Cummings]] and [[Charles Coburn]]||<ref name="Genre for the People"/>
|-
| 1941||''[[Love Crazy (1941 film)|Love Crazy]]''||[[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]]||[[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]]||<ref name="A Proper Dash of Spice" />
|-
| 1941||''[[Tom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)|Tom, Dick and Harry]]''||[[Garson Kanin]]||[[Ginger Rogers]]||
|-
| 1941||''[[The Bride Came C.O.D.]]''||[[William Keighley]]||[[James Cagney]] and [[Bette Davis]]||
|-
| 1941|| ''[[Unfinished Business (1941 film)|Unfinished Business]]''|| {{sort|La|[[Gregory La Cava]]}}|| [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] and [[Irene Dunne]]||
|-
| 1941|| ''[[You Belong to Me (1941 film)|You Belong to Me]]''||{{sort|Ruggles|[[Wesley Ruggles]]}}||[[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]]||
|-
| 1941|| ''[[Ball of Fire]]''|| {{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}|| [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Gary Cooper]]|| <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-lost-art-of-screwball-comedy-20110225-1b81i.html|title=The lost art of screwball comedy|last=WILSON|first=JAKE|date=2011-02-25|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/the-21-most-underrated-rom-coms-of-all-time-from-leap-year-to-the-break-up-75462|title=These 21 Underrated Rom-Coms Should Be Next In Your Netflix Queue|last=Gemmill|first=Allie|website=Bustle|date=9 August 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref>
|-
| 1941||''[[Sullivan's Travels]]''||{{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}||[[Joel McCrea]] and [[Veronica Lake]]||
|-
| 1942|| ''[[To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)|To Be or Not To Be]]''|| {{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}|| [[Carole Lombard]], [[Jack Benny]], [[Robert Stack]]|| <ref>{{Cite book |last=Haslam |first=Jason |title=The Public Intellectual and the Culture of Hope |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781442641846 |pages=164}}</ref>
|-
| 1942||''[[The Major and the Minor]]''||[[Billy Wilder]]||[[Ginger Rogers]] and [[Ray Milland]]||<ref name="TCM">{{cite web |last1=Liebenson |first1=Donald |title=TCM Spotlight: Screwball Comedies |url=https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming%20Article/021735/tcm-spotlight-screwball-comedies |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1942||''[[Girl Trouble (1942 film)|Girl Trouble]]''||[[Harold Schuster]]||[[Don Ameche]] and [[Joan Bennett]]||
|-
| 1942||''[[I Married a Witch]]''||[[René Clair]]||[[Fredric March]] and [[Veronica Lake]]||<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Landay |first1=Lori Ruth |title=Madcaps, screwballs, and con-women: The female trickster in American culture |journal=Indiana University |date=1994 |page=204 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304127781 |access-date=26 February 2024|id={{ProQuest|304127781}} }}</ref>
|-
| 1942|| {{sort|Palm|''[[The Palm Beach Story]]''}}|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Claudette Colbert]] and [[Joel McCrea]]|| <ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1943|| ''[[The More the Merrier]]''|| {{sort|Stevens|[[George Stevens]]}}|| [[Jean Arthur]] and [[Joel McCrea]]||
|-
| 1944|| ''[[The Miracle of Morgan's Creek]]''|| {{sort|Sturges|[[Preston Sturges]]}}|| [[Betty Hutton]] and [[Eddie Bracken]]|| <ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Jaeckle |editor1-first=Jeff |title=ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges |date=2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9781474406574 |pages=118–120}}</ref>
|-
| 1944||''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (film)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]''||{{sort|Capra|[[Frank Capra]]}}||[[Cary Grant]] and [[Priscilla Lane]]||<ref name=BFI/>
|-
| 1944||''[[Bride by Mistake]]'' (remake of ''[[The Richest Girl in the World (1934 film)|The Richest Girl in the World)]]''||{{sort|Wallace|[[Richard Wallace (director)|Richard Wallace]]}}||[[Alan Marshal (actor)|Alan Marshal]] and [[Laraine Day]]||
|-
| 1945|| ''[[Eve Knew Her Apples]]'' (the first musical remake of ''[[It Happened One Night]]'')||[[Will Jason]]||[[Ann Miller]] and [[William Wright (actor)|William Wright]]||
|-
| 1945|| ''[[Christmas in Connecticut]]''||[[Peter Godfrey (director)|Peter Godfrey]]||[[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Dennis Morgan]]||<ref>{{cite web |last1=Siede |first1=Caroline |title=Christmas In Connecticut: Subversive 1940s rom-com turned gender roles on their head |url=https://www.avclub.com/celebrate-christmas-with-the-subversive-1940s-rom-com-t-1845857392 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=26 February 2024 |language=en |date=18 December 2020}}</ref>
|-
| 1946||''[[Cluny Brown]]''||{{sort|Lubitsch|[[Ernst Lubitsch]]}}||[[Charles Boyer]] and [[Jennifer Jones]]||
|-
| 1946||''[[Easy to Wed]]'' (musical remake of ''[[Libeled Lady]]'')||[[Edward Buzzell]]||[[Van Johnson]], [[Esther Williams]], [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Keenan Wynn]]||
|-
| 1948||''[[A Song Is Born]]'' (musical remake of ''[[Ball of Fire]]'')||{{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}||[[Danny Kaye]] and [[Virginia Mayo]]||
|-
| 1948||''[[That Wonderful Urge]]'' (remake of ''[[Love Is News]]'')||[[Robert B. Sinclair]]||[[Tyrone Power]] and [[Gene Tierney]]||
|-
| 1949||''[[I Was a Male War Bride]]''||{{sort|Hawks|[[Howard Hawks]]}}||[[Cary Grant]] and [[Ann Sheridan]]||
|}

[[File:His Girl Friday still 2.jpg|thumb|A promotional photo for the 1940 screwball comedy ''[[His Girl Friday]]'']]
Other films from this period in other genres incorporate elements of the screwball comedy. For example, Alfred Hitchcock's [[Thriller film|thriller]] ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'' (1935) features the gimmick of a young couple who finds themselves handcuffed together and who eventually, almost despite themselves, fall in love with one another, and [[Woody Van Dyke]]'s detective comedy ''[[The Thin Man (film)|The Thin Man]]'' (1934), which portrays a witty, urbane couple who trade barbs as they solve mysteries together. Some of the [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Ginger Rogers]] [[Musical film|musicals]] of the 1930s also feature screwball comedy plots, such as ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934), ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935), and ''[[Carefree (film)|Carefree]]'' (1938), which costars [[Ralph Bellamy]]. The [[Eddie Cantor]] musicals ''[[Whoopee! (film)|Whoopee!]]'' (1930) and ''[[Roman Scandals]]'' (1933), and slapstick [[road movie]]s such as ''[[Six of a Kind]]'' (1934) include screwball elements. Some of the [[Joe E. Brown]] comedies also fall into this category, particularly ''[[Broadminded (film)|Broadminded]]'' (1931) and ''[[Earthworm Tractors]]'' (1936). Screwball comedies such as ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940) and ''[[Ball of Fire]]'' (1941) also received musical remakes, ''[[High Society (1956 film)|High Society]]'' (1956) and ''[[A Song Is Born|A Song is Born]]'' (1948).

Actors and actresses featured in or associated with screwball comedy:

{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Jean Arthur]]
* [[Fred Astaire]]
* [[Ralph Bellamy]]
* [[Constance Bennett]]
* [[Eric Blore]]
* [[Jack Carson]]
* [[Charles Coburn]]
* [[Claudette Colbert]]
* [[Gary Cooper]]
* [[Marion Davies]]
* [[William Demarest]]
* [[Melvyn Douglas]]
* [[Irene Dunne]]
* [[Kay Francis]]
* [[Clark Gable]]
* [[Cary Grant]]
* [[Jean Harlow]]
* [[Katharine Hepburn]]
* [[Edward Everett Horton]]
* [[Harold Lloyd]]
* [[Carole Lombard]]
* [[Myrna Loy]]
* [[Fred MacMurray]]
* [[Fredric March]]
* [[Joel McCrea]]
* [[Ray Milland]]
* [[William Powell]]
* [[Tyrone Power]]
* [[Ginger Rogers]]
* [[Rosalind Russell]]
* [[Barbara Stanwyck]]
* [[James Stewart]]
{{div col end}}

Directors of screwball comedies:

{{Div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Lloyd Bacon]]
* [[Frank Capra]]
* [[George Cukor]]
* [[Michael Curtiz]]
* [[Tay Garnett]]
* [[Alexander Hall]]
* [[Howard Hawks]]
* [[Garson Kanin]]
* [[Gregory La Cava]]
* [[Mitchell Leisen]]
* [[Ernst Lubitsch]]
* [[Leo McCarey]]
* [[Norman Z. McLeod]]
* [[Wesley Ruggles]]
* [[William A. Seiter]]
* [[George Stevens]]
* [[Preston Sturges]]
* [[Richard Thorpe]]
* [[W. S. Van Dyke]]
* [[James Whale]]
* [[Billy Wilder]]
{{div col end}}

==Later examples==
[[File:Marilyn Monroe and Alexander D'Arcy in How to Marry a Millionaire trailer.jpg|thumb|A screenshot from a trailer for ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'']]
[[File:One two three43.jpg|thumb|''[[One, Two, Three]]'' (1961)]]

Later films thought to have revived elements of the classic era screwball comedies include:

{{Div col}}
* ''[[Champagne for Caesar]]'' (1950), d. [[Richard Whorf]]
* ''[[The Mating Season (film)|The Mating Season]]'' (1951), d. [[Mitchell Leisen]]
*'' [[Monkey Business (1952 film)|Monkey Business]]'' (1952), d. [[Howard Hawks]]
* ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'' (1953), d. [[Jean Negulesco]]
* ''[[Let's Do It Again (1953 film)|Let's Do It Again]]'' (1953), d. [[Alexander Hall]], musical remake of ''[[The Awful Truth]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Living It Up]]'' (1954), d. [[Norman Taurog]], remake of ''[[Nothing Sacred (film)|Nothing Sacred]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Three for the Show]]'' (1955), d. [[H. C. Potter]], musical remake of ''[[Too Many Husbands (1940 film)|Too Many Husbands]]''
* ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]'' (1955), d. [[Billy Wilder]]
*''[[You're Never Too Young]]'' (1955), d. [[Norman Taurog]], musical remake of ''[[The Major and the Minor]]''
* ''[[The Birds and the Bees (film)|The Birds and the Bees]]'' (1956), d. [[Norman Taurog]], a musical remake of ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941)
* ''[[High Society (1956 film)|High Society]]'' (1956), d. [[Charles Walters]], musical remake of ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]]'' (1940)
* ''[[You Can't Run Away from It]]'' (1956) d. [[Dick Powell]], the second musical remake of ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Bundle of Joy]]'' (1956) d. [[Norman Taurog]], musical remake of ''[[Bachelor Mother]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Silk Stockings (1957 film)|Silk Stockings]]'' (1957), d. [[Rouben Mamoulian]], musical remake of ''[[Ninotchka]]'' (1939)
*''[[My Man Godfrey (1957 film)|My Man Godfrey]]'' (1957), d. [[Henry Koster]] (1936), remake of 1936 [[My Man Godfrey|film of the same name]]
* ''[[Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi]]'' (1958), d. [[Satyen Bose]]<ref name="CKNG">{{Cite web|title=rediff.com, Movies: Classics Revisited: Why Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi is nonstop fun|url=https://m.rediff.com/movies/2003/jan/08dinesh.htm|access-date=2023-04-30|website=m.rediff.com}}</ref>
* ''[[The Girl Most Likely]]'' (1958), d. [[Mitchell Leisen]], a musical remake of ''[[Tom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)|Tom, Dick and Harry]]''
* ''[[Rock-A-Bye Baby (film)|Rock-A-Bye Baby]]'' (1958), d. [[Frank Tashlin]], a musical remake of ''[[The Miracle of Morgan's Creek]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Bell, Book and Candle (film)|Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958), d. [[Richard Quine]]
* ''[[Pillow Talk (film)|Pillow Talk]]'' (1959), d. [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]]
* ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959), d. [[Billy Wilder]]
* ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' (1960), d. [[Stanley Donen]]
* ''[[Lover Come Back (1961 film)|Lover Come Back]]'' (1961), d. [[Delbert Mann]]
* ''[[One, Two, Three]]'' (1961), d. [[Billy Wilder]], which contains elements of ''Ninotchka'', co-written by Wilder
* ''[[Charade (1963 film)|Charade]]'' (1963), d. [[Stanley Donen]]
* ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]'' (1963), d. [[Stanley Kramer]]
* ''[[Move Over, Darling]]'' (1963) d. [[Michael Gordon (film director)|Michael Gordon]], remake of ''[[My Favorite Wife]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Man's Favorite Sport?]]'' (1964), d. [[Howard Hawks]], homage to ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938), also directed by Hawks
* ''[[Send Me No Flowers]]'' (1964), d. [[Norman Jewison]]
* ''[[What's New Pussycat?]]'' (1965), d. [[Clive Donner]]
* ''[[Walk, Don't Run (film)|Walk, Don't Run]]'' (1966), d. [[Charles Walters]], remake of ''[[The More the Merrier]]'' (1943)
* ''[[What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)|What's Up, Doc?]]'' (1972), d. [[Peter Bogdanovich]]
* ''[[For Pete's Sake (film)|For Pete's Sake]]'' (1974), d. [[Peter Yates]]
* ''[[Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)|Heaven Can Wait]]'' (1978), d. [[Warren Beatty]] and [[Buck Henry]]
* ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]'' (1981), d. [[Steve Gordon (director)|Steve Gordon]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |title=Dudley Moore Stars as a Screwball in 'Arthur' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/17/movies/dudley-moore-stars-as-a-screwball-in-arthur.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=July 17, 1981}}</ref>
* ''[[Under the Rainbow]]'' (1981) d. [[Steve Rash]]
* ''[[To Be or Not to Be (1983 film)|To Be or Not to Be]]'' (1983), d. [[Alan Johnson (choreographer)|Alan Johnson]], remake of the 1942 [[To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)|film of the same name]]
* ''[[Poochakkoru Mookkuthi]]'' (1984), d. [[Priyadarshan]], based on [[Charles Dickens]]'s play 'The Strange Gentleman'<ref>{{cite web | url=https://insights.ranker.com/?id=1822732&adjectives=any | title=Ranker Insights }}</ref>
* ''[[Unfaithfully Yours (1984 film)|Unfaithfully Yours]]'' (1984), d. [[Howard Zieff]], a remake of the [[Unfaithfully Yours (1948 film)|1948 Preston Sturges film of the same name]]
* ''[[Une Femme ou Deux]]'' ({{translation}} "One Woman or Two"; 1985), d. Daniel Vigne
* ''[[Desperately Seeking Susan]]'' (1985), d. [[Susan Seidelman]]<ref>Described as a screwball comedy in [[Roger Ebert]]'s [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/desperately-seeking-susan-1985 contemporary review].</ref>
* ''[[Something Wild (1986 film)|Something Wild]]'' (1986), d. [[Jonathan Demme]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kael |first1=Pauline |title=The Stacks: 'Something Wild' Is One Great Road Movie |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-stacks-something-wild-is-one-great-road-movie |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=8 February 2024 |language=en |date=21 February 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Overboard (1987 film)|Overboard]]'' (1987), d. [[Garry Marshall]]
* ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' (1987), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Who's That Girl (1987 film)|Who's That Girl]]'' (1987) d. [[James Foley (director)|James Foley]]
* ''[[Switching Channels]]'' (1988), d. [[Ted Kotcheff]], a remake of ''[[His Girl Friday]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown]]'' (1988), d. [[Pedro Almodóvar]]
* ''[[Oscar (1991 film)|Oscar]]'' (1991) d. [[John Landis]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/04/26/stallones-oscar-recovers-from-bad-start/|title=Stallone's 'Oscar' Recovers From Bad Start|website=chicagotribune.com|date=26 April 1991 |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>
* ''[[Sólo con tu pareja]]'' (1991), d. [[Alfonso Cuarón]]
* ''[[Housesitter]]'' (1992), d. [[Frank Oz]]
* ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (1994), d. [[Joel Coen]]
* ''[[Radioland Murders]]'' (1994), d. [[Mel Smith]] from story by [[George Lucas]]
* ''[[Flirting with Disaster (film)|Flirting with Disaster]]'' (1996), d. [[David O. Russell]]
* ''[[Runaway Bride (film)|Runaway Bride]]'' (1999) d. [[Garry Marshall]]
* ''[[Little Nicky]]'' (2000), d. [[Steven Brill (filmmaker)|Steven Brill]]
* ''[[Rat Race (film)|Rat Race]]'' (2001), d. [[Jerry Zucker]]
* ''[[Intolerable Cruelty]]'' (2003), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'' (2004), d. [[Adam McKay]]
* ''[[I Heart Huckabees]]'' (2004), d. [[David O. Russell]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_heart_huckabees/ | title=I Heart Huckabees (2004) | work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | publisher=[[Fandango Media]] | access-date=January 12, 2024 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118154101/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_heart_huckabees/ | archive-date=January 18, 2010 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* ''[[Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day]]'' (2008), d. [[Bharat Nalluri]]
* ''[[Our Idiot Brother]]'' (2011), d. [[Jesse Peretz]]
* ''[[While We're Young (film)|While We're Young]]'' (2014), d. [[Noah Baumbach]]
* ''[[She's Funny That Way (film)|She's Funny That Way]]'' (2014), d. [[Peter Bogdanovich]]
* ''[[Mistress America]]'' (2015), d. Noah Baumbach
* ''[[Night Owls (2015 film)|Night Owls]]'' (2015), d. Charles Hood<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Malley |first1=Sheila |title=Modern Screwball: Charles Hood on "Night Owls" |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/modern-screwball-charles-hood-on-night-owls |website=Roger Ebert |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=Dec 15, 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Hail, Caesar!]]'' (2016), d. [[Coen Brothers]]
* ''[[Chongqing Hot Pot]]'' (2016), d. Yang Qing<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/chongqing-hot-pot-hkiff-review/5101848.article|title= 'Chongqing Hot Pot': HKIFF review|first= James|last= Marsh|date= March 23, 2016|access-date= March 28, 2016|work= [[Screen Daily]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Hit Man (2023 film)|Hit Man]]'' (2023), d. Richard Linklater<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/what-is-cinema-richard-linklater.article|title= 'Richard Linklater Explains How He Turned True Crime Into Screwball Comedy|first= Eve|last= Batey|date= June 7, 2024|access-date= June 18, 2024|work= [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Anora (film)|Anora]]'' (2024), d. Sean Baker<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.slashfilm.com/1670305/anora-review-sean-baker-mikey-madison-comedy/|title= 'Anora Review: Sean Baker's High Stress Screwball Comedy Is The Best Movie Of 2024 [Fantastic Fest]|first= Jacob|last= Hall|date= September 21, 2024|access-date= October 15, 2024|work= [[/film|Slashfilm]]}}</ref>
{{Div col end}}

Elements of classic screwball comedy often found in more recent films which might otherwise be classified as [[romantic comedy|romantic comedies]] include the "battle of the sexes" (''[[Down with Love]]'', ''[[How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days]]''), witty repartee (''Down with Love''), and the contrast between the wealthy and the middle class (''[[You've Got Mail]]'', ''[[Two Weeks Notice]]''). Many of [[Elvis Presley]]'s films from the 1960s had drawn, consciously or unconsciously, the many characteristics of the screwball comedy genre. Some examples are ''[[Double Trouble (1967 film)|Double Trouble]]'', ''[[Tickle Me]]'', ''[[Girl Happy]]'' and ''[[Live a Little, Love a Little]]''. Modern updates on screwball comedy are also sometimes categorized as [[black comedy]] (''[[Intolerable Cruelty]]'', which also features a twist on the classic screwball element of divorce and remarriage). The [[Joel and Ethan Coen|Coen Brothers]] often include screwball elements in a film which may not otherwise be considered screwball or even a comedy.

The [[Golmaal (film series)|Golmaal movies]], a series of Hindi-language [[Cinema of India|Indian films]], has been described as a screwball comedy franchise.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/golmaal-again/movie-review/61142705.cms|title=Golmaal Again Review {3.5/5}: No logic, Only magic. Gags, fights, songs, giggles, ghosts, here is a buffet you can overdose on.|newspaper=The Times of India }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/jul/14golmaal.htm|title=Golmaal: A wacky winner|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref>

==Screwball comedy elements in other media and genres==
The screwball film tradition influenced television [[sitcom]] and [[comedy drama]] genres. Notable screwball couples in television have included [[Sam and Diane]] in ''[[Cheers]]'', Maddie and David in ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]'', and [[List of Northern Exposure characters|Joel and Maggie]] in ''[[Northern Exposure]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scodari |first=Christine |date=March 1995 |title=Possession, attraction, and the thrill of the chase: Gendered myth-making in film and television comedy of the sexes |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15295039509366917 |journal=Critical Studies in Mass Communication |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=23–39 |doi=10.1080/15295039509366917 |access-date=7 October 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer |first=Metta |title=Two aspirins and a comedy: How television can enhance health and society |date=2006 |publisher=Paradigm |isbn=9781594511554 |pages=207–208}}</ref> The comedy-drama series ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' has been compared by scholars to the screwball comedy genre, particularly for its fast-paced repartee and emphasis on class divisions.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Diffrient |editor1-first=David Scott |editor2-last=Lavery |editor2-first=David |title=Screwball Television: Critical Perspectives on Gilmore Girls |date=2010 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1j5d768 |access-date=8 September 2025}}</ref> Creator [[Amy Sherman-Palladino]] has stated that repartee was inspired by the Spencer-Tracy films.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Hugh |title=The Gift of Gab |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104144806/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-09-ca-48690-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=8 September 2025 |date=9 April 2001}}</ref>

In his 2008 production of the classic [[Beaumarchais]] comedy ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|The Marriage of Figaro]]'', author [[William James Royce]] trimmed the five-act play down to three acts and labeled it a "classic screwball comedy". The playwright made Suzanne the central character, endowing her with all the feisty comedic strengths of her classic film counterparts. In his adaptation, entitled ''One Mad Day!'' (a play on Beaumarchais' original French title), Royce underscored all of the elements of the classic screwball comedy, suggesting that Beaumarchais may have had a hand in the origins of the genre.

The plot of ''[[Corrupting Dr. Nice]]'', a [[science fiction]] novel by [[John Kessel]] involving [[time travel]], is modeled on films such as ''The Lady Eve'' and ''Bringing Up Baby''.<ref name=Gevers>{{cite web|first=Nick |last=Gevers |author-link=Nick Gevers |title=''Corrupting Dr Nice'' by John Kessel |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/drnice.htm |work=infinity plus |date=16 October 1999 |access-date=29 August 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comedy of manners]]
* [[Comedy of remarriage]]
* [[Farce]]
* [[Hawksian woman]]
* [[Love-hate relationship]]
* [[Sex comedy]]
* [[Slapstick film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Wes D. Gehring, 1983. [https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSMngrph/id/24 Screwball Comedy: Defining a Film Genre]
* Grégoire Halbout, 2022. [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hollywood-screwball-comedy-19341945-9781501389313/ Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals].
* {{cite web |last1=Liebenson |first1=Donald |title=TCM Spotlight: Screwball Comedies |url=https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming%20Article/021735/tcm-spotlight-screwball-comedies |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=27 February 2024 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pronovost |first1=Virginie |title='Screwball': A Genre for the People: Representing Social Classes in Depression Screwball Comedy (1934-1938) |date=2020-06-08 |publisher=[[DiVA portal]], Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Media Studies, Cinema Studies. |location=Stockholm University Library |url=https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?language=en&pid=diva2%3A1437132 |access-date=8 May 2023 |language=en |quote=Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150109085339/http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/screwball.jsp Screwball Comedy]—Green Cine
* [https://archive.today/20121211130320/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG03/comedy/sbhome.html Home of the Screwball] - [[University of Virginia]]
* [http://everything2.com/title/screwball+comedy Screwball Comedy]—[[Everything2]]
* [http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Screwball_comedy_film Screwball Comedy Film] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723100224/http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Screwball_comedy_film |date=2012-07-23 }})—wordiQ
* [http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/leisen.html Great Directors: Mitchell Leisen] - ''Senses of Cinema''
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview11 Head Over Heels]—''[[The Guardian]]''
* {{In lang|fr|cap=yes}} [http://cinemaclassic.free.fr/hollywood/comedy/screwball_comedy.html La Screwball Comedy]—CINEMACLASSIC.free.fr
* {{In lang|de|cap=yes}} [http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/Medien//berichte/arbeiten/0003_03.html Screwball Comedies] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420105455/http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/Medien//berichte/arbeiten/0003_03.html |date=2012-04-20 }})—[[University of Hamburg]]

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