Gypped: A Study and Implementation of the Screwball Comedy


Gypped: A Study and Implementation of the Screwball Comedy
Jesse Newman Lindorf
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television
at
The Savannah College of Art and Design
© May 2012, Jesse Newman Lindorf
The author hereby grants SCAD permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic
thesis copies of document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.
Signature of Author and Date _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________/____/____
Professor Lubomir Kocka
Date
Committee Chair
________________________________________________________________________/____/____
Professor Christopher Auer
Date
Committee Member
________________________________________________________________________/____/____
Professor Burton Sears
Date
Committee
Member
Gypped: A Study and Implementation of the Screwball Comedy
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Film and Television Department
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Fine Arts
Savannah College of Art and Design
By
Jesse Newman Lindorf
Savannah, Georgia
May
2012
Table of Contents
1. List of Images..…………….……………………………………………………………….. 1
2. Thesis Abstract…………….……………………………………………………………….. 2
3. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 3
4. History of the Genre……………………………………………………………………….. 3
5. Elements of Film Language in the Screwball Comedy……………………………………. 5
6. Reverse Class Snobbery in It Happened One Night………………………………………. 6
7. Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby……………...……………….……………………….. 7
8. Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot…………………………………………………………… 10
9. Gregory La Cava’s My Man Godfrey………………………………………………….. 12
10. Anti-heroes and Ritualistic Humiliation of the Male in The Lady Eve……………….. 13
11. Implementation of the Screwball Genre in Gypped……………………………………….
• Figure 11.1……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.2……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.3……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.4……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.5……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.6……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 11.7……………………………………………………………………………
15
16
16
17
18
18
18
18
12. Analysis of Gypped: Strengths and Weaknesses………………………………………….
• Figure 12.1……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 12.2……………………………………………………………………………
• Figure 12.3..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.4..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.5..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.6..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.7..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.8..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.9..…………………………………………………………………………..
• Figure 12.10…………………………………………………………………………..
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
21
21
22
22
13. Conclusion…………………………………………….………………………………….. 23
14. Bibliography…………………………………………………..……………….…………. 24
15. Filmography…………………………………………….....……………………………… 25
1
List of Images •
Figure 11.1
A police woman gropes Tom. Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.2
An enamored waitress lays a kiss on Tom. Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.3
“A pretty little thing like you could get lost in these parts.” Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.4
A strip club replaces the typical nightclub. Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.5
A large crowd chases Tom down the street. Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.6
Excited women make Tom dance for money. Gypped Still
•
Figure 11.7
Tom hides in a dumpster. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.1
A standoff ensues with Tom as the prize. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.2
A jealous boyfriend witnesses the kiss. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.3
A dizzy waitress experiences vertigo. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.4
Tom and homeless lady enter background. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.5
Scene lacks energy with static blocking. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.6
A mild reaction is uncharacteristic of genre. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.7
Papers fall to reveal Tom’s mistake. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.8
Tom immediately reacts in embarrassment. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.9
Male gas station clerk flirts with Tom. Gypped Still
•
Figure 12.10
Tom reacts too soon to build comedy. Gypped Still
2
Gypped: A Study and Implementation of the Screwball Comedy
Jesse Newman Lindorf
May, 2012
This thesis provides an analysis of the conventions and film language of the screwball genre and
compares my thesis film with five successful films of the genre. The effective cinematic techniques
and comedic tools used in the films are evaluated and applied to the production of Gypped.
3
Introduction
As a filmmaker, it is important to understand the relationship between film language and
genre in both in conceptualization and production of a film. The conventions of a genre are
time-tested and appeal to a wide group of people. The audience has certain expectations when
they see a genre film and it is important to leave your audience satisfied by meeting or exceeding
their expectations.
My goal in directing my thesis film, Gypped, has been to create a successful comedy. To
do so, I studied the conventions and techniques of the screwball comedy genre. The screwball
genre faded during the Second World War, but despite a near drop off of the genre, screwball
comedies have resurfaced throughout the years. Some Like It Hot (1959), W hat’s Up, Doc
(1972), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Notting Hill (1999), A merican Sweethearts (2001), and
Bringing Down the House (2003) can all be considered screwball comedies.
Within a historical context, this study provides an in-depth analysis of five films of the
screwball comedy, detailing the tropes that brought the genre much success in the 1930s and
1940s and continue to live on in comedies today. This study compares the five successful films
to my thesis film, Gypped, which is heavily influenced by the screwball genre. It compares the
use of elements in the successful films with the use of the same elements in Gypped. Finally,
this study analyzes a strong scene in Gypped, as well as a weak scene, in regards to the
successful implementation of comedic techniques and elements.
History of the Screwball Genre
The Screwball Comedy first became a genre in 1934 with two films made in that year.
Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night and Howard Hawks’ 20th Century are considered the two
4
prototypes of the genre.1 Both films contain the elements that make up a screwball comedy,
including a dizzy dame, a likeable but befuddled hero, and witty dialog.2 Fast and polished
insults in dialog and actual violence are also main tropes in screwball comedies.3
In 1934, America was five years into the Great Depression, which began with the stock
market crash in 1929. Despite the countrywide slump of financial hardship, people continued to
go to the movies to escape the tough reality they were faced with. However, the consistent
attendance in the movie theaters was not enough to keep the studios from the effects of the
Depression. If it were not for the success of It Happened One Night, Columbia Pictures likely
would have failed.4
Films that portrayed the problems of the depression, yet had the protagonists overcome
those problems succeeded in drawing audiences to the theaters. In It Happened One Night, a
privileged and wealthy woman must travel across the country with no money. She becomes a
better person emotionally and spiritually because of her experience. This resonated with
audiences and made them feel better about their own financial situations.5
During World War II, screwball comedies largely disappeared to become little more than
an influence on the broader romantic comedy genre. The public seemed to adopt more of a
serious attitude during this period in time and they expected the same from the movies they
1
McDonald,
Tamar J. Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre. (Great Britain: Wallflower Press, 2007), 18.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.,
20.
4
Ibid.,
21.
5
McDonald,
Romantic
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 22.
5
watched in the theaters. Films that attempted to mix screwball comedy with a war setting failed
to draw audiences to the theaters and were not financially successful.6
Elements
of
Film
Language
in
the
Screwball
Comedy
In screwball comedies, certain thematic characteristics, as well as visual and aural
elements, hold true throughout. Characters are eccentric and act unpredictably. The dialog and
action is fast-paced with an overlap in delivery and a perfected and witty script, blending
sophistication with slapstick. One man or woman chases the other in love, and the films end in a
mutual agreement, both neither winning nor losing.7 The screwball comedy embraced elegant
settings, beautiful people, and escapist themes so that audiences could forget the trying times of
the Depression.8 The genre also usually includes slapstick elements such as chases and pratfalls
and features male and female protagonists who often start with a fight and end up in love.9
There is also a “reverse class snobbery” inherent in the films. To be wealthy is to be out
of touch and to be street-smart is better than being book-smart.10 Usually, a protagonist’s world
is turned upside-down as they go from rich to poor, poor to rich, or other subversion of
normality.11 It is usually the male protagonist whose world goes topsy-turvy by the hand of a
woman.
6
Ibid.,
18.
7
Ibid.,
23.
8
Gehring,
Wes D. Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy. (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2002), 4.
9
McDonald,
Romantic
10
Ibid.,
23.
11
Ibid.,
24.
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 21.
6
Another trope of the subgenre is the battle of the sexes with the male usually losing. An
aggressive, often predatory female is the heroine and is often triumphant in the end.12 In addition,
role-play is utilized as characters pretend to be someone else and adopt a disguise or accent.13
Reverse
Class
Snobbery
in
It
Happened
One
Night
The screwball comedy It Happened One Night contains elements of “reverse class
snobbery.” Ellie Andrews is a spoiled heiress, about to marry an industrialist of whom her father
does not approve. On her father’s yacht, she throws a tantrum, knocks over a food tray, and
jumps ship to find her fiancé in a cross-country journey. On the way, she teams up with Peter
Warne, a middle class man who teaches her the real value of money and how to get by in the real
world. When Ellie runs out of money, Peter steals some carrots for her to eat. He eats a carrot
while waiting for a car to show Ellie how to hitchhike. The lack of traffic prompts Ellie to say,
“Well you’ve given me a very good example of the hiking. Where does the hitching come in?”
Obviously hungry, Ellie asks Peter what he is eating. When she finds out it is a raw carrot she
scoffs at it. “Why didn’t you get me something I could eat?” she pouts, reinforcing Peter’s
opinion that she is a spoiled brat. “Oh that’s right, the idea of offering a raw carrot to an
Andrews,” Peter says sarcastically.
The scene plays out in mostly two-shots of Peter and Ellie bickering. This allows the
performance of the actors to unfold without being interrupted by cuts. Peter is confident, but fails
again and again to flag someone down. He laughs at Ellie for wanting to give it a try, but she is
immediately successful when she raises her dress to flash her leg at the next passing car. The
following is a reaction shot from Peter who stands up in disbelief. Next, a close up shot of her
12
Ibid.,
20.
13
Ibid.,
24.
7
leg cuts to a close up of a foot slamming on the brakes followed by a shot of the parking brake
lever being pulled and a shot of a tire screeching to a halt.
These well-timed, quick secession of shots transitions brilliantly into the next scene with
a shot of the front of the car driving down the road with the two hitchhikers in the back seat.
Later on, she accepts the carrots, making up for her waste of food in the beginning. Just before
she marries her fiancé, she realizes her empty life of riches with him is a mistake. She flees the
ceremony and reunites with Peter to be with him instead, rejecting her empty life in high
society.14
Howard
Hawks’
Bringing
Up
Baby
The protagonists of Bringing Up Baby (1938) are both of the same social class.
However, the male and female protagonists are separated by their choice of lifestyles. The film
displays a disapproval of David’s stuffy values when events unfold to release him of his former
lifestyle.15 It is in this contempt that the theme of reverse snobbery holds true. The male
protagonist is a sexually repressed archeologist named David who is engaged to an equally stuffy
fiancé. It is up to a carefree and boisterous woman named Susan to turn David’s world upside
down, teaching him how to have fun and helping him to realize his sexual desire.16
In the typical screwball genre, it is usually a female protagonist who affects change and
makes the protagonist male’s world go topsy-turvy in a subversion of normality. She is his
opposite, so while he may be repressed, she is there to break him out of his stuffy, sexless
pursuits. Violent acts delivered upon the stuffy male are a necessity to free him. In Bringing Up
14
McDonald,
Romantic
15
Ibid.,
26.
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 25.
16
McDonald,
Romantic
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 26.
8
Baby, Susan foils both David’s career and his wedding in deceitful ways. However, her methods
are acceptable since they are for his own good.17
An example of this is a scene where Susan, the dizzy dame, manipulates the likeable yet
befuddled hero, David, by leading him to believe a leopard has attacked her. Prior to this, David
had explained to his fiancé, Alice, that he does not want another woman meddling in his life.
“It’s fatal,” he exclaims. Immediately after he gets off the phone with Alice, he gets a call from
Susan who asks for his help in finding a home for a leopard. David refuses to help, but when
Susan makes a ruckus by accidentally tripping over the phone cord, he believes a leopard has
attacked her. Realizing his concern for her, she screams into the phone to manipulate him into
coming to her rescue.18
This scene also serves to visually show the contrast between Susan and Alice. In
similarly composed shots, each woman is in turn shown on the phone with David. They sit in the
middle of the frame, looking left in the same position, yet they are dressed in contrasting attire.
Alice’s wardrobe and hairstyle is conservative and her surroundings are bland. Alice wears a
bland suit, buttoned to the neck. Her hair is pinned up and her posture is rigid. There is a
similarity between Alice and David, who also dresses conservatively, has an uptight posture, and
sits in a bland room. In contrast to Alice, Susan’s wardrobe is elegant and sensual, her hair is let
down, and her apartment is visually striking and more open.19 In addition, her room is brightly
lit, contrasting Alice’s darker room.
17
Ibid.,
27.
18
Ibid.,
29.
19
McDonald,
Romantic
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 29.
9
The ritualistic humiliation of the male is evident in the scene where Susan delays
David’s departure by having him take a shower and then sending his clothes to be cleaned. He
has already sustained several other humiliating moments and now must wear a particularly
effeminate negligee. Each humiliating incident adds to the humor as David becomes
increasingly aggravated in his attempt to create order while Susan makes order impossible.20 In
David’s transition from competent to incompetent, David is forced to answer the door to Susan’s
aunt wearing only the negligee. In response to her inquiry as to why he is wearing the gown, he
flails his arms in the air and shouts, “I went gay suddenly.”21
By the end of the film, Susan has kidnapped David, dressed him in women’s clothing,
made him pretend to be someone else, and landed him in jail. Despite all this, she wins him over
from the bland fiancé by giving him the most fun night of his life. When he admits his love for
her, he is freed from his constraints of his prior, stuffy life. This inversion is typical in screwball
comedies as are the elements of role-playing, class snobbery, and a mixture of slapstick elements
with elegant sets and costumes.22
In many screwball films, romance is downplayed in favor of comedy. The screwball
genre does not emphasize the affection the couple has for one another throughout the film, but
rather expresses it through aggression. Whereas romantic comedies have a focus on love,
screwball comedies focus on humor.
The screwball films, My Man Godfrey (1936) and Some Like it Hot (1959) are good
examples of this characteristic of the genre. My Man Godfrey is more concerned with punishing
20
Gehring,
21
Braudy,
Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 4.
Leo. Great Film Directors. P-N. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 459.
22
McDonald,
Romantic
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 29.
10
and embarrassing the love interest rather than flattering them. It is not so much “love” that the
female protagonist feels for the male protagonist, as it is sexual attraction. This is the case with
many screwball comedies. In the 1959 screwball hit, Some Like It Hot, two male musicians hide
from the mob dressed as women and each, in turn, attempt to trick a pretty woman into bed with
them.
Billy
Wilder’s
Some
Like
It
Hot
The American Film Institute voted Some like It Hot the best comedy of all time. The
film, directed by Billy Wilder, showcases all of the typical elements of the screwball genre,
including role-playing, as the two male leads must dress in drag to escape gangsters. The film
also showcases fast, witty dialog, an anti-heroic world, farcical situations, elegant settings,
slapstick humor, and a dizzy dame, played by Marilyn Monroe.
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play Joe and Jerry, two musicians who witness a mob hit
and must flee Chicago, disguised as women with an all-girl jazz band traveling to Florida. The
anti-heroic nature of the two main characters changed the way protagonists in comedies were
written and performed and became the fundamental base of protagonists in comedies to follow.23
Much of the comedy comes out of the struggle of Joe and Jerry, disguised as Josephine
and Daphne, as they attempt to pass themselves off as women. The plot places the characters in
farcical situations, but the humor would not work if the other characters were not so oblivious to
the guise. This allows for a lingering male quality to Josephine and Daphne that the other
women never pick up on.24
23
Gehring, Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 114.
24
Scott,
Andrew. Comedy: the New Critical Idiom. (New York: Routledge, 2005), 68.
11
The two men first commit to the role-playing charade in the scene where they follow the
jazz band onto the train. Dressed convincingly as women, they struggle to walk in high heels
and have second thoughts as they walk toward their train at the station. In a close up of Joe, we
see that he is making an honest yet unconvincing attempt to conduct himself like a woman. Jerry
sees this and mimics Joe. The camera tracks behind the pair in a comedic shot that
communicates the men’s poor attempt to walk in heels. “How do they walk in these things?”
Jerry asks. “It must be the way the weight is distributed,” Joe replies. “It is so drafty. They must
be catching colds all the time,” Jerry complains.
It is not until they witness the graceful ease in which Marilyn Monroe’s character, Sugar,
conducts herself that the men realize it will take more than a convincing disguise to pass as
women. They learn that their femaleness depends on the quality of their performance.25
Mimicking Sugar, the two introduce themselves to Sweet Sue of ‘Sweet Sue’s Society
Sycopators’ and are welcomed aboard. They do such a good of a job of acting like ladies that
Sweet Sue says to the band’s manager, “You better tell the other girls to watch their language.”
Role-playing is used in other places in the film as well. By the time they reach Florida,
Joe has fallen in love with Sugar and in an attempt to woo her he adopts another disguise as Shell
Jr., owner of the Shell Oil Company. Later, when the gangsters catch up to them, Jerry disguises
himself as a bellhop while Joe disguises himself as a man in a wheelchair. Their cover is blown
when Jerry forgets to lose the high heels. A chase ensues, full of pratfalls, and the heroes make
their escape.
25
Ibid.,
67
12
Gregory
La
Cava’s
My
Man
Godfrey
My Man Godfrey is an excellent example of the protagonist’s world turned topsy-turvy
by a female’s hand. Godfrey, played by William Powell, goes from being homeless to living in a
luxurious mansion as a butler by the hand of the heroine. Reverse class snobbery is present as
the rich are shown as empty-headed and selfish eccentrics exploiting the homeless as pawns in a
scavenger hunt.26 The rich and spoiled heiress, Irene Bullock, wins the scavenger hunt after
bringing in Godfrey, a levelheaded man of the people.27
Carole Lombard as Irene is as dizzy a dame as Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby
and just as madcap. In fact, whole family is made up of screwballs.28 This is evident in the
scene where the father, Alexander, delivers the news that the family is out of money. He starts
by tossing Carlo, the mother’s “protégé” and family mooch, out of the window. This is heard
and not seen, as the action happens after the two men round a corner. This gag is more
successful than showing the action because it leaves it up to the audience to imagine the incident.
When asked where Carlo went, Alexander states, “He left very hurriedly through the side
window.”
Up until this point, the head of the household was shown in a weak position, allowing his
family to walk all over him. This was in keeping with the lack of male power the genre follows.
Alexander sits the family down and explains the family’s financial situation adding, “If I do end
up in jail it’ll be the first peace I’ve had in twenty years.” At this, Godfrey steps in to save the
day, revealing that he bought most of the family’s stock that was dumped on the market and
26
McDonald,
Romantic
Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, 32.
27
Ibid.,
30.
28
Gehring,
Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 15.
13
endorsed it over to Alexander’s name. He offers it as a repayment for the help he was given by
the family. He shares a lesson he learned in humility and the fallacy of false pride and then parts
ways with the family, failing to say goodbye to Irene who finds her family in tears. “What’s the
matter with everybody?” she asks. “He’s gone,” her mother tells her. “And Carlo’s gone out of
the window. Everybody’s gone!” she cries.
Anti‐heroes
and
Ritualistic
Humiliation
of
the
Male
in
The
Lady
Eve
A perfect example of the anti-heroic world of screwball comedy is Preston Sturges’ 1941
film, The Lady Eve. Made late in the initial screwball movement, the film combines all of the
essential tropes of the genre, including fast, witty dialog, escapist themes, elegant settings, class
issues, plotlines involving courtship, slapstick humor, and anti-heroes.29 There are four
components to the anti-heroic world of the screwball comedy. These include professorial leisure
time, childlike nature, male frustration, and a propensity for physical comedy.30
In The Lady Eve, the anti-hero is Charles “Hopsie” Pike, played by Henry Fonda.
Similar to the professorial quality of David in Bringing Up Baby, Charles is an ophiologist
returning home on a ship after a year in Africa. On the boat ride home, he falls in love with Jean
Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck) who learns he is heir to his father’s fortune. Jean is an
aggressive and predatory woman bent on cheating the innocent and gullible man-child out of his
money.31 The anti-hero in any story starts off capable and transitions to incompetent.32 Once
Charles meets Jean, he gradually becomes a stumbling fool, who has lost himself to the
seduction of Jean. She has full control over him, keeping him in a weak position. He is often
29
Gehring,
Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 19.
30
Ibid.,
53.
31
Ibid.,
44.
32
Ibid.,
4.
14
frustrated with Jean and exclaims, “You have the darnedest way of bumping a fellow down and
bouncing him up again.” When he becomes wise to her game, she adopts an English accent and
disguises herself as Eve Sidwich to fool him once more. Similar to the 1941 film, Two-Faced
W oman, Jean is able to convince Charles that she is two different women.33
Charles first meets Eve at a party at his father’s mansion. This scene delivers plenty of
physical comedy. At first, he believes Eve is Jean, but then doubts himself and literally falls for
her tricks once more. Distracted by Eve, Charles falls over a sofa that his father points out has
been there for years. Charles, unable to keep his eyes off Eve, proceeds to trip and pull down a
curtain from a doorway. Later, Eve’s dress gets caught under a chair and he unsnags it for her.
“Glad it’s not my fault this time,” he says before knocking over a platter of tea as he stands back
up. The heroine is once again the source of the ritualistic humiliation of the male.34
The genre tends to keep males in a weak position, balancing any display of male strength
with one of weakness.35 There are four qualifiers for a male to have power. One option is to
create additional men who are dominated by females. Jean keeps her father, played by Eugene
Pallette, in check when he tries to cheat Charles out of 30,000 dollars. In My Man Godfrey, the
female-dominated father, also played by Eugene Pallette, counters displays of power from
Godfrey. Godfrey turns out to be wealthy, living on the streets by choice. To counterbalance
this, Godfrey is initially shown in a weak position, as a homeless man and later as a servant.36
33
Gehring,
Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 44.
34
Ibid.,
43.
35
Ibid.,
52.
36
Ibid.,
52‐53.
15
Any victory the male might have is often overshadowed by a victory by the female.
Godfrey teaches the whole family a lesson, but Carrol Lombard’s character wins in the end when
she makes Godfrey marry her. In cases like His Girl Friday (1940), the roles are reversed and it
is up to the male to save the female from a stuffy life.37
Implementation
of
the
Screwball
Genre
in
Gypped
Comedies today use many of the screwball elements that have stood the test of time and
resonate with audiences such as farcical situations, anti-heroes, role-play, and slapstick humor.
Some elements have largely faded with the genre such as the fast-talking dizzy dames who
instigate the subversion of normality of the male. From inception to completion, I strove to
implement the styles and tropes of the screwball genre into my thesis film in homage to films
like Bringing Up Baby and Some Like It Hot. Gypped implements most of the elements of the
screwball genre, save for the likable hero and the somewhat outdated practice of fast-talking
dialog.
Instead of class issues, Gypped tackles the issue of sexual harassment. In the film, I set
up a farcical situation where a Gypsy curses a chauvinistic man to a day of sexual harassment
from women he encounters. This subversion of normality turns the stereotypes of gender roles
on its axis. In a string of humiliating instances, the man is taken advantage of, groped, catcalled,
and harassed in ways that are generally associated with deviant male behavior. He enters a
world of eccentric women who adopt the worst qualities of male behavior. Under the gypsy’s
spell, some of the women act more feminine as dizzy dames, unable to concentrate on anything
but Tom. Others are more masculine and are aggressive, predatory, and bent on getting their
way.
37
Gehring, Romantic Vs. Screwball Comedy, 53.
16
Figure 11.1
Figure 11.2
A police woman gropes Tom.
An enamored waitress lays a kiss on Tom.
Role-playing is an element used in Gypped. An urge to act like stereotypical chauvinistic
men is foisted upon the women Tom encounters. It is a comedic contrast with the fundamental
femaleness of the women.
The comedy follows many of the same rules as in Some Like It Hot, which finds comedy
in the unnaturalness of the main characters’ attempt to act female.38 They fool the characters on
the screen, but their maleness is obvious to the audience. As the dizzy dame, Marilyn Monroe
plays a perfect stereotype for Joe and Jerry to mimic, as she acts sexy and vulnerable and wears a
form-fitting dress. The stereotype is easily recognized, easy to mimic, and therefore, easy to
make jokes around that will get laughs from the audience. For example, Josephine and Daphne
talk with their hands raised in front of them with limp wrists. In Gypped the women say or do
rude things that the stereotypical male chauvinist pig is known for. An example of this is when
Tom is surrounded by women in an alley and one of them says, “A pretty little thing like you
could get lost in these parts.”
38
Scott, Comedy: the New Critical Idiom, 68.
17
Figure 11.3
“A pretty little thing like you could get lost in these parts.”
The main character is attracted to a few women, but no romantic interest is pursued. An
effort was made to focus on basic sexual attraction rather than romance. The insults and
violence acted upon the main character run the course of the film in a ritualistic humiliation of
the male. Once he apologizes and the gypsy sees that her daughter has fallen under the spell, she
removes the curse and the battle of the sexes ends in a mutual agreement.
In Gypped, it is up to the women to save Tom from his ignorant, chauvinistic way of life.
They are the source of the ritualistic humiliation of the male. Tom is initially shown in a weak
position as he is at the mercy of the mechanics. It only gets worse for him until he decides to
apologize for his behavior.
Whereas most screwball comedies take place in glamorous settings like nightclubs and
mansions, Gypped is taken in the opposite direction. My thesis film takes place in unglamorous
settings like a mechanic shop, a low-end diner, an alleyway, and a strip club. I wanted to place
the main character in dirty and unwelcoming settings that are discomforting to both Tom and the
audience. While these settings are not glamorous, they are treated with the same grandiose and
18
adventurous feel as in most screwball comedies. The strip club is lavishly lit and very colorful,
the rural street he runs down is filled with people chasing him and the mechanic shop is filled
with mysterious gypsy items.
Figure 11.4
Figure 11.5
A strip club replaces the typical nightclub.
A large crowd chases Tom down the street.
The pratfalls and slapstick humor keeps with the ridiculous situations and energy of the
genre. When Tom is bullied into dancing onstage by a female pimp, the vast amount of women
watching his every move makes the absurdity of the situation humorous. Tom’s facial
expressions and sight gags such as Tom jumping into a dumpster are essential to the genre.
Figure 11.6
Figure 11.7
Excited women make Tom dance for money.
Tom hides in a dumpster.
In the spirit of screwball comedies, my film takes place in expansive locations and the
shot design shows off the space using wide and normal lenses. Historically, screwball comedies
take place in glamorous and elaborate settings like mansions or nightclubs. There are no
glamorous settings in my film because I felt like the subject matter of sexism is not glamorous. I
19
instead portray a dirty town that Tom is traveling through. This is a metaphor for his mental
state of mind. He sees his world as dirty and filthy. I do, however, include an expansive strip
club that makes Tom feel small and exposed while he is dancing for the entertainment of a large
group of women.
Analysis
of
Gypped:
Strengths
and
Weaknesses
The scenes in Gypped that follow the screwball genre tend to be stronger than the ones
that lack screwball elements. The scene where Tom hides from the policewoman in the
restaurant has high energy and the comedy plays well. The humiliation that Tom endures is
humorous and abundant. Not only is he discovered by the policewoman he was hiding from, a
waitress hits on him, her boyfriend chases him away, and he runs into a homeless woman who
tries to take off his pants. The stakes are raised in quick succession and keep the energy up. The
eccentric screwball characters maintain the energy and serve the comedy well.
Figure 12.1
Figure 12.2
A standoff ensues with Tom as the prize.
A jealous boyfriend witnesses the kiss.
The waitress serves as the dizzy dame in this scene. She is beside herself, enamored with
Tom. She makes her claim to Tom by laying a surprise kiss on him, despite his struggle to get
free. The slapstick humor is employed when the waitress’ boyfriend chases him out of the
restaurant and Tom jumps into an open dumpster. Reveals are used effectively as payoffs to
jokes set up earlier on. For example, while the waitress and her boyfriend are arguing in front of
20
a window inside the restaurant, Tom enters the frame outside on the sidewalk with the homeless
woman attempting to take off his pants.
Figure 12.3
Figure 12.4
A dizzy waitress experiences vertigo.
Tom and homeless lady enter background.
One of the weaker scenes is the one where Tom angers the mechanics to the point where
he is cursed and chased off with a shotgun. This scene serves to set up the characters and the
plot of the film, but it falters in the execution. The pacing is slow and the static shots do not
provide much energy. The only character who has movement in their blocking is the gypsy’s
daughter who walks off after getting a taro card reading from her mother. The other actors are
blocked in a way that leaves them standing in one place for much of the scene.
Figure 12.5
Figure 12.6
Scene lacks energy with static blocking.
A mild reaction is uncharacteristic of genre.
The screwball elements are not introduced until the inciting incident happens two minutes
into the film. Without eccentric characters and slapstick humor, the only comedy the scene has
to offer are a few reaction shots and the humiliation of the main character as he makes things
21
worse for himself by continuously angering the only people who can help him. A few reaction
shots of Mom and Pop are humorous but their seemingly mild reactions to Tom’s disrespectful
nature are not threatening enough to carry the humor.
The visual storytelling is effective where Tom sees a picture of the family and makes the
connection that the women he had made sexual remarks about are actually the mechanics’
daughters. These visual gags are effective, but do little to move the story forward until the
inciting incident happens and the gypsy curses Tom.
Figure 12.7
Figure 12.8
Papers fall to reveal Tom’s mistake.
Tom immediately reacts in embarrassment.
Gypped misses out on some commonly used slapstick shtick such as the late take and the
double take that Laurel and Hardy first implemented in their slapstick films of the 1930s.39 Cary
Grant is known for his use of the double take; however, in Bringing Up Baby, it is the supporting
characters that use the gag. A drunk gardener does a double take when he sees the leopard and
the chief of police is so easy to get off subject, he makes several late takes. In one instance, the
chief is questioning David behind bars and does not realize David’s cell is open until David
walks out and reenters with the chief in arm.
39
Moss,
19.
Marilyn Ann. Giant: George Stevens, A Life on Film. Madison: (The University of Wisconsin Press, 2004),
22
In Some Like It Hot, Joe and Jerry agree that their aliases will be Josephine and
Geraldine, but when they get dressed up and meet Sweet Sue, Jerry introduces himself as
Daphne. Joe seems unbothered by this until he gets Jerry alone. “Daphne?” he growls at Jerry
through clenched teeth. The comedy builds on the delayed reaction that the audience knows is
coming.
In Gypped, The reveal of the picture of the mechanic and his daughters is the joke, but if
Tom had made a double take after seeing the photograph it would have made the reaction
humorous as well. A late take would have worked well in the scene of where the male gas
station attendant puts his hand on Tom’s hand in a flirtatious manner. As it is now, the attendant
brings Tom’s hand up to his lips to kiss it, making Tom immediately react and drawing his hand
away. The situation is humorous, but it could have been executed in a more humorous way if I
had Tom do a double take before he removes his hand or if the attendant’s hand lingered on
Tom’s hand and I cut to a close up of Tom for a late take. This would let the audience see the
transition on Tom’s face from untroubled to horrified. The audience would be expecting Tom to
react and they would be rewarded when Tom realizes the clerk’s intentions.
Figure 12.9
Figure 12.10
Male gas station clerk flirts with Tom.
Tom reacts too soon to build comedy.
23
Conclusion
A filmmaker can make a stronger career move by better understanding the relationship
between film language and the conventions of a genre. Studying film language and genre
conventions adds tools to the filmmaker’s style and if implemented correctly, can help tell the
story and raise production value. Because one of the goals is to make a profit, the wider appeal,
the better. Furthermore, it is important to study the film language of a genre in order to
effectively communicate the meaning of each shot. In comedy this often means designing shots
to best serve the humor. To withhold information for a humorous reveal the filmmaker might cut
from a tight shot to a wide shot or pan to reveal the joke that was hiding out of frame. Studying
the screwball genre has helped me to understand and implement comedic conventions and film
language into my thesis film and it is much stronger because of it. I will continue to research
genre styles as I begin my film career and I strongly urge all filmmakers to do similarly in their
careers.
24
Bibliography
Armstrong, Richard. Billy W ilder, A merican Film Realist.
Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000.
Bordwell, David. On the History of Film Style. Cambridge:
Havard University Press, 1997.
Braudy, Leo. Great Film Directors. P-N. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1978.
Gehring, Wes D. Romantic V s. Screwball Comedy. Lanham:
Scarecrow Press, 2002. Print.
McDonald, Tamar J. Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets
Genre. Great Britain: Wallflower Press, 2007.
Moss, Marilyn Ann. Giant: George Stevens, A Life on Film. Madison: The University of
Wisconsin Press, 2004.
Scott, Andrew. Comedy: the New Critical Idiom. New York:
Routledge, 2005.
Winokur, Mark. A merican Laughter. 1st ed. New York: St.
Martin, 1996.
25
Filmography
•
It Happened One Night (USA, Frank Capra, 1934)
•
20th Century (USA, Howard Hawks, 1934)
•
Some Like It Hot (USA, Billy Wilder, 1959)
•
W hat’s Up, Doc (USA, Peter Bogdanovich, 1972)
•
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (USA, Frank Oz, 1988)
•
Notting Hill (USA, Roger Michell, 1999)
•
A merican Sweethearts (USA, Joe Roth, 2001)
•
Bringing Down the House (USA, Adam Shankman, 2003)
•
Bringing Up Baby (USA, Howard Hawks, 1938)
•
My Man Godfrey (USA, Gregory La Cava, 1936)
•
The Lady Eve (USA, Preston Sturges, 1941)
•
His Girl Friday (USA, Howard Hawks, 1940)