Stage Door is one of the most revered movies in the high canon of classic Hollywood comedies, deservedly. Probably the most utopian, non-heterosexist story produced by Hollywood by that time. Read as queer, it works. Read as women’s friendship and solidarity, it works, too. As critique of the whole infrastructure of romantic comedy, also works.Continue reading “Stage Door (1937)”
Category Archives: Katherine Hepburn
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
At this moment, I consider Howard Hawks’s Bringing Up Baby the greatest comedy Hollywood ever produced. I may change my mind. I haven’t always been that fond of it. Each time I watched it in the past (there have been many) I saw something iffy, and it was always something different — chunky pacing, stuffyContinue reading “Bringing Up Baby (1938)”
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Philadelphia Story is in a class of its own. If you tried to construct a canon of Hollywood high comedy of manners, it might be the only member. Lubitsch is satirical about that genre to the point of camp. There are several British films that fit the category but American producers insisted that thereContinue reading “The Philadelphia Story (1940)”