Comedy case studies

This page is in addi­tion to the page about Comedy Recipes and the one on Tele­vi­sion Comedy because you can’t have too many comedy clips, right? Seri­ously though, it’s another way of looking at the subject: as different broad-based comedy genres, ranging from films that rely on verbal dexterity to the ones that use prat­falls to get their laughs.

The best examples from each camp demon­strate, if we weren’t already aware of it, the inclusive nature of comedy. High brow and low brow, slap­stick or satire. Whatever species of comedy: if it is well crafted, it can have a surprising amount in common.

Phys­ical comedy

Film began its life as a purely visual medium. Once the audi­ence had got over its awe at the sheer spec­tacle of moving images, its hardly surprising that comedy became a staple form of entertainment.

Phys­ical comedy or clowning is the oldest and purest kind of comedy and it trans­lated easily to the screen. Even today there is an allure and charm to it that crosses the barriers of language and culture. This is why Mr Bean, Basil Fawlty and Benny Hill have a global following far greater than many more soph­ist­ic­ated Holly­wood stars.

The Great Dictator 1940

If any Chaplin film justi­fied W.C. Fields sour descrip­tion of him as a “goddamn ballet dancer” then it’s this one. As with any Chaplin film, there’s a mixture of graceful and inspired comedy moments with some really hokey stuff but it’s heartfelt.

Chaplin admit­tedly is a special case. The spell he casts, when it works, is unique; even jaded cinema-goers can fall under it. That’s why Preston Sturges had to use a Chaplin film played to a chain gang in Sullivan’s Travels to get his point about comedy across (although unfor­tu­nately he was later forced to replace it with a Mickey Mouse cartoon).

The World’s Greatest Lover 1977

Gene Wilder includes a dedic­a­tion to Fellini in the credits of this film and its broad­ness is some­thing the old master would undoubtedly have liked.

There are some great sequences in this film that are unashamedly molto troppo and the zany style of the movie feels abso­lutely right for the period. You can take it at face value or as loving pastiche and enjoy it either way.  Person­ally I feel that the few films Wilder made outshine many of his mentor Mel Brooks – partic­u­larly some of the later and weaker movies.

Romantic comedy

The ups and downs of romance have been a comedy staple since Shakespeare’s day. It’s a perfect setup for the kind of non-abrasive comedy that has the broadest audi­ence appeal. Love is ridicu­lous and painful in equal meas­ures but everyone feels a certain indul­gence and empathy for lovers.

The bench­mark  for this comedy is spark­i­ness. Since Bene­dict and Beatrice a couple that begin as spar­ring part­ners but end up in blissful accord have scored highest with an audience.

Ninotchka 1939

One of the best known ‘cold war’ comedies, Greta Garbo plays a stiff and conven­tional commissar on a cultural mission to Paris who is seduced by a light-hearted Parisian playboy.

The inter­play between these two seeming polar oppos­ites is combative but good humoured. When Garbo gets drunk on cham­pagne she lets her guard down for the first time in this witty scene where love comes to the fore.

Ball Of Fire 1941

In this neat reversal of Snow White directed by Howard Hawks,  Barbara Stanwyk plays a tough talking dame hiding out from the mob with a bunch of professors writing a dictionary. They are fascin­ated by her slangy dialogue, espe­cially Gary Cooper, a head-in-the-clouds academic, who is, of course, slow to realise the attrac­tion between them.

Social and cultural differ­ences between couples, like the mismatch here, is a staple in romantic comedy. (Think of Trading Places 1983 and Pretty Woman 1990). Like­wise the comic device of a disruptive outsider entering a closed community of some kind (as in Sister Act 1992 )

Incon­gruous comedy

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Passion Fish 1992

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The President’s Analyst 1967

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Taking Off 1971

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