Romantic comedy remains among the most popular and vital of Hollywood genres. The Proposal (2009), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), and Her (2013) testify to its continuing success. While romantic comedy strives to incorporate new developments in courtship and culture in order to speak to its audience about contemporary experience, at the same time, the experience of the past exercises its influence. The screwball films produced in Hollywood between 1934 and 1942 are among the most celebrated cycles in the history of romantic comedy movies. These films continue to evoke fond memories, solicit repeated viewings, and inspire new work. Contemporary comedy incorporates the outrageous and the grotesque, striving to push the boundaries of humor into surprising territory. The spirit of Preston Sturges, so open to shifts in tone, so ready to press against the proper, and so thrilled to find laughter in the unexpected, is an inspiration for the romantic comedy of today.

Sturges wrote and directed two screwball comedies, The Lady Eve (1941) and The Palm Beach Story (1942), late in the screwball cycle. The 1941 release date of The Lady Eve falls within screwball's temporal parameters, while The Palm Beach Story was released months after the US entry into World War II. Closer inspection, however, reveals that Sturges was already working on The Palm Beach Story in the weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack, with the final screenplay draft completed in early November 1941. Shooting began on November 24. Thus, though the production was not finished until January 1942, and the US release was delayed until December 11, 1942, The Palm Beach Story was conceived and largely executed before Hollywood production felt the impact of the war. The Lady Eve is an acknowledged screwball classic; The Palm Beach Story is a crazy outlier, a mannered instance of an expiring legacy. The two films offer a rich counterpoint of sophisticated harmony and off-balance lunacy.

THE SCREWBALL MODEL

A review of key elements of screwball comedy establishes the perspective we need to evaluate Sturges's contribution. Nineteen thirty-four was a turning point in the history of Hollywood romantic comedy. It Happened One Night was released to popular acclaim and went on to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress.