Film Studies Librarian
Dartmouth College
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Hanover, NH 03755
Other library resource(s)
Film comedy from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Film comedy is a ubiquitous form of cinema, present from the medium’s earliest days with little “mischief joke” movies such as the Lumière brothers’ L’arroseur arrosé (1895) in which the “hoser gets hosed.” Comedies were popular not only in turn-of-the- century France but also in the United States, with Thomas Alva Edison producing shorts such as A Wringing Good Joke (1899) in which a boy ties his grandfather’s chair to the wringer of a washer and mayhem ensues. While some consider comedy a film genre, it is such a broad category that others liken it to a mode (e.g., melodrama) that itself is divided into various genres: romantic comedy, satire, parody, and the like.- American romantic comedy from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Romantic comedies, from classics such as Trouble in Paradise (1932) to 21st-century hits like Knocked Up (2007), have been a cornerstone of Hollywood entertainment since the coming of sound. Success in romantic comedy has created stars from Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant to Julia Roberts and Ben Stiller. ...
A definition for a comedy film
A film genre or mode of considerable variety, range, and commercial success that appears in every national cinema and is defined by the type of response it elicits from its audience, namely, laughter; and is marked by a lightness of tone and a resolution governed by harmony, reconciliation, and happiness. Much early cinema was drawn to a broad, physical comedy based around the joke, the gag, and the pratfall. Defined thus, the earliest comedy film can claim to be the Lumière brothers’ L’arroseur arrosé/The Waterer Watered (1895); in the same vein, trick films were immensely popular during the early period, as was slapstick comedy influenced by the music hall and vaudeville tradition (see silent cinema). Alongside this physical approach to comedy, a more refined version was also cultivated: here the particular confluence of comedy (in the Aristotelian sense), romance, and melodrama found in 19th-century European literature and theatre influenced a diverse range of situational comedies in many countries. During the silent era and 1930s, the films of Cecil B. DeMille and Ernst Lubitsch in the US, the Lisbon comedies in Portugal (see Portugal, film in), and the rise of the romantic comedy genre made this approach to comedy internationally popular. The situational comedy film generates its comedic interest from the way in which confusion, difficulty, and errors arise from a complex narrative situation and are then worked quickly through to a clear and orderly resolution. In practice, most instances of film comedy refuse this neat separation of physical and situational comedy: There’s Something About Mary (Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, US, 1998), for example, combines a ‘comedy of errors’ style narrative with slapstick-influenced ‘gross-out’ humour (gross-out comedy sets out crudely and deliberately to transgress ‘normal’ everyday taste and convention). ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Comedy. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 May. 2023
Finding library resources for comedies
To find comedy films in the Library's collections, you can click on one of the subject headings below:
- comedy filmsThe call number range for Comedies is PN 1995.9 .C55 on Baker Level 4.
Introductory reading(s)
Another fine mess: a history of American film comedy by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 A97 2010ISBN: 9781556529511Charlie Chaplin. Buster Keaton. The Marx Brothers. Billy Wilder. Woody Allen. The Coen Brothers. Where would the American film be without them? Yet the cinematic genre these artists represent--comedy--has perennially received short shrift from critics, film buffs, and the Academy Awards. ...
The film comedy reader by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 F55 2001ISBN: 9780879102951This lavishly illustrated collection of essays recalls the movies that over the past century have created never-ending waves of hilarity.
Military comedy films: a critical survey and filmography of Hollywood releases since 1918 by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .W3 E75 2012ISBN: 9780786462902Beginning with Charlie Chaplin's Shoulder Arms, released in America near the end of World War I, the military comedy film has been one of Hollywood's most durable genres. ...
When the world laughs: film comedy east and west by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780190924997When the World Laughs is a book about the intersection of humor, history, and culture. It explores how film comedy, one of the world's most popular movie genres, reflects the values and beliefs of those who enjoy its many forms, its most enduring characters and stories, its most entertaining routines and funniest jokes. What people laugh at in Europe, Africa, or the Far East reveals important truths about their differences and common bonds. ...
Selected book title(s)
Class, language, and American film comedy by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 B43 2002ISBN: 9780521002097This book examines the evolution of American film comedy through the lens of language and the portrayal of social class. Christopher Beach argues that class has been an important element in the development of sound comedy as a cinematic form. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s, filmmakers recognized that sound and narrative enlarged the semiotic and ideological potential of film. ...
Currents of comedy on the American screen: how film and television deliver different laughs for changing times by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 L24 2009ISBN: 9780786442645This book analyzes the evolution of film and television comedy from the 1930s through the present, defining five distinct periods and discussing the dominant comedic trends of each. ...
Genre-busting dark comedies of the 1970s: twelve American films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 G425 2016ISBN: 9780786495429This examination of dark comedies of the 1970s focuses on films which concealed black humor behind a misleading genre label. All That Jazz (1979) is a musical...about death--hardly Fred and Ginger territory. This masking goes beyond misnomer to a breaking of formula that director Robert Altman called anti-genre.
The Marx Brothers as social critics: satire and comic nihilism in their films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 2297 .M3 G37 2009ISBN: 9780786439423The Marx Brothers' films are packed with slapstick and obvious jokes, gags, puns, pratfalls, and mimicry. But beneath the laughs is a serious and biting condemnation of American culture. ...
Terms of endearment: Hollywood romantic comedy of the 1980s and 1990s by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .C55 T47 1998ISBN: 9780748608850Taking into account romantic comedy's current popularity and the genre's adaptability to changing historical circumstances, as well as its powerful tendency to contain and assimilate social changes, this book explores the complex ways in which recent cultural discourses on gender and sexuality have found their way into the apparently inflexible structure of romantic comedy. ...
Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)
Articles and other writings about comedies can be found in many publications. We don't have journals that look exclusively at comedies. However, you can use Film & Television Literature Index to find relevant articles or the search box at the top of the page.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about this genre.
Web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
A selected list of comedy films
To find more comedy films, search the library's online catalog.
50/50 by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #13989Inspired by personal experiences, an original story about friendship, love, survival, and finding humor in unlikely places. Two best friends' lives change when one of them is diagnosed with cancer.
About a boy by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #18633ISBN: 9780783274478Will is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is to avoid any kind of responsibility. So he decides to invent an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms. Will gets a lesson about life from a bright but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you are never too cool to grow up.
Alfie by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #922ISBN: 9780792171621A wild and ribald comedy, filled with sex and sin, about a successful London playwright who is also a shallow womanizer trying to figure out what life is all about.
Born yesterday by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #921ISBN: 9780767821674A corrupt millionaire junk dealer, embarrassed by his girlfriend's lack of social sophistication, arranges to have her trained in a crash course in "culture." He is surprised and outraged when after becoming aware of her role as pawn in his crooked business deals, she refuses to cooperate.
EDTV by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #17464ISBN: 9780783236445Ed Perkurny is just a regular guy who feels he has nothing to lose by agreeing to be a star of a new reality-based TV show. Almost overnight, the program becomes a hit, and suddenly this goofy but engaging video clerk is a national celebrity!
The Hudsucker proxy by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #4721ISBN: 9780790740775When Waring Hudsucker, head of a successful company commits suicide, the board of directors has a plan to make a lot of money, so they decide to appoint a moron to run the company. Mailroom clerk Norville Barnes is exactly what Hudsucker is looking for to be president. They hope that as soon as the stock falls low enough, the director and his friends will buy them up cheaply, take over the company and they will be successful again. However, a tough reporter is suspicious and decides to investigate Hudsucker.
Muriel's wedding by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #1410ISBN: 9780788814952No one ever paid much attention to Muriel and her humdrum small- town life, so she and her best friend Rhonda decide to leave it behind and head for the big city ... where they end up having the exciting adventure of their lives! What's more, soon everyone takes notice when Muriel becomes engaged to a handsome and popular sports hero!
Comedy Film Festival(s)
- Chicago Comedy Film FestivalChicago Comedy Film Festival is committed to bringing independent comedy to the screen. Their mission is to support comedy filmmaking as a vital and influential art form. Comedy allows filmmakers to explore subject matters in a way that no other genre can or will. They can say the things the audience wishes the world would say. Comedy is fearless in a fear based world.
- LA Comedy Film FestivalThe LA Comedy Film Festival began in 2001 and is their longest running festival under the LA Film Festivals umbrella! Over the years they have had the privilege to work with hundreds of filmmakers who have told wonderfully hilarious and moving stories. Past LA Comedy Film Festivals have featured thousands of performers and hundreds of films from LA and around the world. Their dual emphasis is on “discovering” great comedic talent with the purpose of promoting it to both the entertainment industry and the LA public, as well as, showcasing the works of seasoned professionals and well known stars. ...
Internet resource(s)
- Best comedy short films from Short of the WeekThe search results comedy in the Short of the Week site.
- Comedy films from filmsiteComedy films are "make 'em laugh" films designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse, entertain, and provoke enjoyment. The comedy genre humorously exaggerates the situation, the language, action, and characters. ...
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.