Examining the evolution of American film comedy since the beginning of the sound era (c. 1930), Christopher Beach focuses on how language, class, and social relationships in early sound comedies by the Marx Brothers, the screwball comedies of the 1930s by Capra, Sturges and others, and 1950s comedies of Frank Tashlin and Vincente Minnelli, and contemporary films by Woody Allen, Whit Stillman, and the Coen brothers. Beach argues that sound and narrative expanded the semiotic and ideological potential of a film, providing moments of genuine social critique and also mass entertainment. Christopher Beach teaches at the University of California, Irvine, and has taught at the University of Montana and Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of three books on American poetry, including Poetic Culture (Northwestern, 1999). This is his first book on film.
Class, Language, and American Film Comedy
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a solid text that should be appealing to most humorists, film critics, linguists, rhetoricians, educators, and a general public interested in the history of film comedy." - Humor, William B. Covey, Slippery Rock University
Book Description
Christopher Beach examines the evolution of American film comedy through the lens of language and the portrayal of social class, highlighting the importance of class in the development of sound comedy as a cinematic form. Though an analysis of the films of the Marx Brothers, Frank Capra, Woody Allen, and the Coen brothers, among others, Class, Language and American Film Comedy traces the history of Hollywood from 1930s to the present while offering a new approach to the study of class and social relationships through linguistic analysis.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet.
|
|||
|
Video reviews
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
Although Hollywood films of the Depression era would never take the vanguard of social critique, they exerted a powerful influence on the way Americans perceived their place within an increasingly divided society. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
postwar comedies, screwball genre, status panic, postmodern comedy, linguistic habitus, sound comedy, comedian comedy, success ethic, film comedy, screwball comedy, cable guy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Marx Brothers, New York, Broadway Bill, Duck Soup, The Girl, The Lady Eve, Deeds Goes, Animal Crackers, The Palm Beach Story, Horse Feathers, Miss Totten, Woody Allen, Peter Warne, Sir Alfred, Dan Brooks, Desert Inn, Father of the Bride, Frank Capra, Jerry Lewis, Monkey Business, New Jersey, Preston Sturges, Raising Arizona, Mandrake Falls, Nathan Arizona New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Although Hollywood films of the Depression era would never take the vanguard of social critique, they exerted a powerful influence on the way Americans perceived their place within an increasingly divided society. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
postwar comedies, screwball genre, status panic, postmodern comedy, linguistic habitus, sound comedy, comedian comedy, success ethic, film comedy, screwball comedy, cable guy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Marx Brothers, New York, Broadway Bill, Duck Soup, The Girl, The Lady Eve, Deeds Goes, Animal Crackers, The Palm Beach Story, Horse Feathers, Miss Totten, Woody Allen, Peter Warne, Sir Alfred, Dan Brooks, Desert Inn, Father of the Bride, Frank Capra, Jerry Lewis, Monkey Business, New Jersey, Preston Sturges, Raising Arizona, Mandrake Falls, Nathan Arizona New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 97
books:
See all 97 books this book cites
7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- The Lady Eve by Preston Sturges on 14 pages
- Christmas in July by Preston Sturges on 5 pages
- Annie Hall by Woody Allen on 4 pages
- Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success by Joseph McBride on 4 pages
- Stardust memories by Woody Allen on 4 pages
See all 97 books this book cites
- Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film by Anne L. Bower on page 267, and page 279
- Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film by Anne L. Bower on page 267, and page 279
- American Literature and Culture 1900-1960 (Blackwell Introductions to Literature) by Gail McDonald in Back Matter
- The Cambridge Introduction to Twentieth-Century American Poetry (Cambridge Introductions to Literature) by Christopher Beach in Front Matter
- Hollywood Comedians, The Film Reader (In Focus) by Frank Krutnik on page 198
See all 7 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
