The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Such movie directors as Frank Capra, George Stevens and Preston Sturges attempted to portray romance from a woman's point of view; It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town are examples of their now-classic formula. "Depression-era romantic film comedies starring Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert . . . and Barbara Stanwyck are enthrallingly appraised here," said PW. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Kendall's 1990 volume examines the screwball comedies that flourished during the 1930s as a means of countering the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Many of those films featured women either married or betrothed who revolt against the men in their lives, with their stories at the core of such hits as It Happened One Night, The Awful Truth, and other Hollywood gold. The text is supported by numerous monochrome portraits of the stars and some behind-the-scenes shots.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; 1st Cooper Square Press Ed edition (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815411995
• ISBN-13: 978-0815411994
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #540,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When women were smart, sexy and funny, June 26, 2009

By	J. Churchland (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Kendall's book analyzes a very specific and short-lived period of classic hollywood movies, coinciding in large part with the great depression. Many of the great movies of this era are notable for the strong, nuanced and mature representation of women that they portray, as distinct from films that came both before and after. Kendall explains this as a product of both the individuals (directors and actors) involved in forming these movies, and the effect the prevailing social conditions had on audience taste. Among the films that Kendall discusses in detail are 'Ladies of Leisure', 'It happened one night', 'Alice Adams', 'Swing Time', 'Mr Deeds goes to Town', 'My Man Godfrey', 'Stage Door', 'The Awful Truth', 'Love Affair', 'Penny Serenade', 'The Lady Eve' and 'The Palm Beach Story'. This is an interesting and thought provoking read about a wonderful period of movies, and it gave me some great ideas of movies I have not seen to seek out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great study on one of the greatest periods for movies, May 8, 2002

By	Scott Ross (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Along with Marjorie Rosen's "Popcorn Venus" and Brendan French's "On the Verge of Revolt," this is one of three superb feminist film books published in the '70s and '80s. Witty, engaging, and intelligent without lapsing into jargon-studded academic verbiage or theoretical pretention.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book on the subject, January 27, 2003

By	Glen Engel Cox "www.engel-cox.org" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ever since the Battelle Film Club's showing of Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story, I've been on a screwball kick. Screenplays, biographies, non-fiction, what-have-you about that lunatic genre of film greatly interest me. This book by Kendall isn't solely about screwball, but rather an overview of the larger film genre that it falls under, the romantic comedy. Sturges is only the last chapter here. The majority of director coverage goes to Frank Capra and Leo McCarey, and the book goes even more into the lives of the major actresses of the period, Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Claudette Colbert, who the author asserts were co-creaters of the classic romantic comedy films. The argument goes like this: due to the depression and the unusual success of particular directors (men, and I use the term correctly in this case, who were able to fulfill the cathartic needs of the public going through this rough period), these directors were given extremely free reign. They used it to explore collaborations with their favorite subjects, these independent women. Movies before and after delegated women more to the supporting roles (with notable exceptions, but only as exceptions), but in these romantic comedies of the 30s the women were the lead and often the most sympathetic and fleshed-out characters.</p>

While the descriptions of the making of the movies was quite interesting, it is the concise biographies of the people involved--directors, actors, actresses, and writers--that help you understand this moment in cinema history. An excellent book on its subject.