We’re finally back with a series so big it’s spanned three years! This spring, the Park Ridge Public Library Classic Film Series resumes (and concludes) its “Legends of Laughter” trilogy with a look back at the great screwball comedies of the 1930s and early 1940s. The screwball comedy was a more madcap version of the romantic comedy, often featuring strong heroines matching wits– and verbally sparring with– their male counterparts. These films typically revolved around a “battle of the sexes.” Their themes also highlighted class division in which a character from one social class enters another, usually as a poseur. There was always an emphasis on slapstick with plotlines more outlandish than your typical romance. In essence, the screwball genre turned traditional courtship on its head.
“Comedies have always been a successful component of what we do at the Park Ridge Public Library,” explains series host Matthew C. Hoffman, who programmed a series of British comedies in 2018. “LOL 3 is a powerhouse line-up of the biggest films and stars of the era, including The Philadelphia Story (May 12), which won James Stewart an Academy Award for Best Actor.”
It Happened One Night opens Legends of Laughter 3 on March 3.
Certain Hollywood legends are more associated with screwball comedy, particularly Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert, all of whom thrived in the genre. Colbert excelled as a comedienne and will kick off Opening Night on March 3 with the Academy Award-winning It Happened One Night. In this film, she plays a runaway heiress who meets up with reporter Clark Gable. Another dynamic comedienne was Carole Lombard, who had opened our pre-pandemic version of this series in 2020 with My Man Godfrey. We will see her in Week 2 in her breakthrough role in Howard Hawks’ Twentieth Century, which stars the great John Barrymore. Lombard also co-stars with Fredric March in Nothing Sacred (March 24). Another actress with great comedic timing was Irene Dunne, whom we honored in 2014 with a visit from her granddaughter. Dunne stars in The Awful Truth (March 31), a comedy about remarriage, as well as My Favorite Wife (April 28)—both opposite Cary Grant.
The incomparable Cary Grant will appear in nearly half of the films shown, including two of the better known: Bringing Up Baby (April 7) and His Girl Friday (April 21). Directors such as Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey, and Preston Sturges made some of their most famous films in the genre. LOL 3 features two back-to-back films by Sturges to wrap up the series: The Lady Eve (May 19) with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda and The Palm Beach Story (May 26) with Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea.
Join us Thursday nights this spring for a wild ride of misadventures featuring spoiled heiresses, fast-talking reporters—and a pet leopard named Baby.
Films begin at 7:00 p.m. with a special introduction by program host
Matthew C. Hoffman. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The screenings at the library are free but seating is limited to 50. Come early and enjoy the documentaries and shorts that are screened prior to 7:00 p.m.
March 3: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) *Newly added to 2022*
March 10: TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934) *Newly added to 2022*
March 17: EASY LIVING (1937)
March 24: NOTHING SACRED (1937)
March 31: THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937)
April 7: BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
April 14: MIDNIGHT (1939)
April 21: HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
April 28: MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)
May 5: Book Sale
May 12: THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
May 19: THE LADY EVE (1941)
May 26: THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942)
John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in Twentieth Century (1934).
