Great screwball comedies

By: Doinel

From the classic period. Just what constitutes a classic screwball? Like noir, you just kind of know one when you see one but I’d start the classic period with “It Happened One Night” and you’d have trouble finding good examples that didn’t deal with social class or marriage or both. I suppose I could include the Astaire-Rogers films but I’ll leave those as musicals. Neo-screwball like “Annie Hall” would qualify but I’m sticking to the classic 30’s and 40’s.
Basic human stuff, for the ages. A pretty firm list in no particular order. Lot of Carole Lombard, though.

• 01
  The Lady Eve
  Preston Sturges
• 02
  Easy Living
  Mitchell Leisen
• 03
  Bringing Up Baby
  Howard Hawks
• 04
  To Be or Not to Be
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 05
  The Awful Truth
  Leo McCarey
• 06
  The Palm Beach Story
  Preston Sturges
• 07
  My Man Godfrey
  Gregory La Cava
• 08
  His Girl Friday
  Howard Hawks
• 09
  The Philadelphia Story
  George Cukor
• 10
  It Happened One Night
  Frank Capra
• 11
  Mr. & Mrs. Smith
  Alfred Hitchcock
• 12
  The Thin Man
  W.S. Van Dyke
• 13
  Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
  Frank Capra
• 14
  Arsenic and Old Lace
  Frank Capra
• 15
  Roman Holiday
  William Wyler
• 16
  Twentieth Century
  Howard Hawks
• 17
  Libeled Lady
  Jack Conway
• 18
  Trouble in Paradise
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 19
  My Favorite Wife
  Garson Kanin
• 20
  The Shop Around the Corner
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 21
  Mr. Blandings Builds HIs Dream House
  H.C. Potter