Screwball Comedies Trivia Quiz

Answer: His Girl Friday

"His Girl Friday" is a wacky 1940 Howard Hawks comedy starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The film was adapted from the Broadway hit "The Front Page", by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. The plot revolves around newspaper editor Walter Burns and his ex-wife Hildy Johnson (whose gender changed for the film). Hildy is a former investigative reporter who Walter is trying to lure back to the paper.

They wind up dealing with a convicted murderer who may be innocent, and the machinations are hysterical.

Answer: My Man Godfrey

The 1936 movie "My Man Godfrey" is the epitome of the screwball comedies which started appearing around the years of the Great Depression. It gave audiences a chance to forget their troubles and laugh at the silly misadventures of (usually) rich people.

In this movie, rich socialite Irene (Carole Lombard) is trying to win a scavenger hunt and needs "a forgotten man". She finds Godfrey (William Powell) in a dump and hires him as a butler. Antics ensue, lessons are learned and love begins to flourish.

Answer: The Lady Eve

Two of my favorite actors, i.e. Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, star in Preston Sturges' 1941 comedy "The Lady Eve". Jean Harrington (Stanwyck) is a con artist who lines up rich but naive target Charles Poncefort Pike (Fonda). Her 'con' doesn't work so she disguises herself as Lady Eve Sidwich, an affluent passenger aboard the ship Charles is on.

The trouble is that Jean has already fallen in love with her "mark", and the interactions between the two are priceless.

Answer: Topper

If you are old enough, you may have seen the TV series "Topper" (1953-1955) about a bank executive who winds up with two ghosts (and their alcoholic dog) as house guests. The series was based on Hal Roach's 1937 movie "Topper". It seems a happy young couple, George and Marion Kirby, are killed in an auto accident (not funny so far).

When they discover they haven't done enough good deeds to get into heaven, they decide to help their former boss, the uptight Cosmo Topper, bring a little fun into his life. Of course, Topper's wife is completely unaware of it.

Answer: Some Like It Hot

Billy Wilder provided us with a much later version of the screwball comedy. His 1959 movie gave us gangsters, music, cross-dressing and love. It seems that musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) have just witnessed a Mafia 'hit' in Chicago. To escape their pursuers, they disguise themselves as women and join an all-female jazz band heading to Florida.

In the meantime, Joe falls in love with one of the actual band members, i.e. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, played by Marilyn Monroe. The gender-bending aspects provide for much of the comedy.

Answer: Sullivan's Travels

"Sullivan's Travels" is another film by director Preston Sturges. Released in 1941, the movie is about a spoiled director of fluff films, John L. Sullivan, who disguises himself as a hobo and goes on the road to find out what life is really like. Joel McCrea, usually seen in westerns, admirably portrays Sullivan in his attempts to understand the trials and suffering of the disadvantaged, until he finally becomes one of them. Of course, along the way, he finds love with "The Girl", played by Veronica Lake.

Answer: Top Hat

Disdain, annoyance and mistaken identity are all part of the black and white 1935 movie "Top Hat", featuring the team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The plot involves American dancer Jerry Travers going to London to star in a show. There Jerry meets wealthy Dale Tremont who is at a hotel on vacation. Jerry is immediately 'smitten', but Dale (who was awakened by Jerry's dance steps on the floor above) is annoyed, and mistakes him for the wife of the show's producer. Do they work it out? Do they dance together? What do you think?

Answer: It Happened One Night

Frank Capra's 1934 movie "It Happened One Night" was the first film to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. It stars Claudette Colbert as Ellie Andrews, a wealthy heiress who has jumped off her father's yacht, and is running away from her family.

She meets up with reporter Peter Warne, played by Clark Gable. Peter offers to help her get back to her new husband in exchange for an 'exclusive'. But, in the course of their travels, they begin to fall in love.

Answer: Unfaithfully Yours

If Cary Grant was the King of the screwball comedy actors, Preston Sturges may be one of its major directors, along with Billy Wilder and Frank Capra. Our third Sturges film is "Unfaithfully Yours", from 1948. It features a pre-Henry Higgins Rex Harrison as symphony conductor Sir Alfred De Carter, and Linda Darnell as his young wife, Daphne.

While on tour, Alfred asks his brother-in-law to keep an eye on Daphne. When infidelity is suspected, Alfred fantasizes ways of extracting revenge.

Answer: One, Two, Three

In the most recent of this quiz's screwball comedies, we have another Billy Wilder film from 1961, i.e. "One, Two, Three". James Cagney plays ambitious Coca Cola executive C.R. MacNamara, who moves to West Berlin (during the Cold War) with his wife Phyllis (Arlene Francis), hoping for further advancement. 'Mac' even takes on the task of watching his boss' daughter, Scarlett, while she is in Europe.

However, when he discovers that Scarlett has married an anti-establishment 'communist', he sees his chances for a promotion fizzling out.