Book description
A wide-ranging survey of the subject that celebrates the variety and
complexity of film comedy from the 'silent' days to the present, this
authoritative guide offers an international perspective on the popular
genre that explores all facets of its formative social, cultural and
political context
- A wide-ranging collection of 24 essays exploring film comedy from
the silent era to the present
- International in scope, the collection embraces not just American
cinema, including Native American and African American, but also
comic films from Europe, the Middle East, and Korea
- Essays explore sub-genres, performers, and cultural perspectives
such as gender, politics, and history in addition to individual works
- Engages with different strands of comedy including slapstick,
romantic, satirical and ironic
- Features original entries from a diverse group of
multidisciplinary international contributors
Andrew Horton
is the Jeanne H. Smith Professor of Film and Media Studies at the
University of Oklahoma, USA. An award-winning screenwriter, he is also
the author of twenty books on film, screenwriting and cultural studies,
including Screenwriting for a Global Market
(2004), Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay
(2nd edition, 2000), and The Films of Theo Angelopoulos
(2nd edition, 1999). His screenplays include Brad Pitt's first feature
film, The Dark Side of the Sun
(1988), and the award-winning Something in Between
(1983), directed by Srdjan Karanovic. He has led screenwriting
workshops around the world as well as across the United States.
Joanna E. Rapf is Professor of English and Film & Media
Studies at the University of Oklahoma, USA. She writes regularly about
film comedy, with recent essays on Woody Allen, Jerry Lewis, Roscoe
Arbuckle, Harry Langdon, and Marie Dressler, and has edited books on a
range of subjects including Sidney Lumet, On the Waterfront,
and Buster Keaton.
