Romantic Comedy: From Carole Lombard to Julia Roberts
In-person – Monday 3:10 pm – 4:50 pm
Sept. 18, Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 (No Class on Sept. 25)
Romantic comedies have been in decline in recent years, but for much of Hollywood history it was one of the most popular genres. We take a look at romantic comedy from Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard to Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. Some of the best and most popular films in Hollywood history fall into this category and a few of them have been honored with best picture Oscars including It Happened One Night and Annie Hall. While we wait for the next romantic comedy renaissance, now is the perfect time to study and savor many wonderful classics of the genre.
- Week 1: The Golden Age – 1930s-1940s. Stars of the genre. It Happened One Night wins best picture Oscar
- Week 2: The war years – the genre continues to gain popularity with contemporary romantic comedies such as The More the Merrier with Jean Arthur
- Week 3: Post-war years – Genre declines with aging of key stars like Claudette Colbert and Jane Russell. Resurgence in the 1950s and 1960s with arrival of Doris Day and Audrey Hepburn.
- Week 4: 1960s-1970s – male stories dominate, but there are glimmers of hope in the Neil Simon comedies, Paul Mazursky and Diane Keaton emerging in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.
- Week 5: 1980s-1990s start of a new golden age with modern classics like Tootsie, Moonstruck and Bull Durham with emerging romantic stars such as Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan.
- Week 6: New century and new audience leads to another decline, but cable and streaming tap interest with Sex and the City, movies and Hallmark.
Joe Meyers is Director of Programming for the Focus on French Cinema film festival in Connecticut. He is co-host of the Spotify podcast Now a Major Motion Picture!. Meyers has written features about movies, theater and books for more than 30 years for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group and other publications. In the 1970s, Meyers ran the first (and only) art house on the Delmarva Peninsula—the Lewes Cinema. In 2012, he won the Ellery Queen Award from the Mystery Writers of America.