Why Wartime Screwball Comedies Are “Nothing to Be Sneezed At” (92884)
Session Chair: Mandy Elliott
Saturday, 14 June 2025 10:15
Session: Session 1
Room: Live-Stream Room 2
Presentation Type:Live-Stream Presentation
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To Be or Not To Be (Lubitsch, 1942) begins with everyone onscreen standing at attention and vigorously saluting as Hitler walks into frame. He slowly raises his arm and responds, “heil myself.” We then hear an offscreen voice yell “cut,” and we realize we’ve been watching a play. The producer, Dobosz, berates Bronski, who plays Hitler, for improvising. Bronski responds, “but it’ll get a laugh!” Dobosz insists, “but I don’t want to laugh here!” Another actor, Greenberg, then approaches and notes that “a laugh is nothing to be sneezed at.” This scene sets the stage, so to speak, for the film’s point that laughter can be an effective defense against tyranny, even when it seems misplaced. While censors, including The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther, disagreed, media scholar Brandon Webb notes Lubitsch’s desire to get to the heart of fascism’s popular appeal and uncover its mythology. Similarly, Wes D. Gehring reminds us that the world needed a way to deal with the irrationality of war, and screwball comedy fit the bill. This is important when considering the recent spate of far-right election wins in the West and the horror many feel at their implications. My paper will discuss wartime screwball comedies including To Be or Not To Be, His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940), and The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (Sturges, 1944) and how we can look to them to help us parse the increasing threat of fascism in our own context.
Authors:
Mandy Elliott, Booth University College, Canada
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Mandy Elliott is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Booth University College in Canada
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