By the numbers...

In preparation of the upcoming screwball comedy tourney, I thought I would share some stats about some of the stars and directors competing.

Cary has the most films in competition by far...

Most films by an actor competing in tourney: Cary Grant (8) - Bringing Up Baby, Topper, The Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife, His Girl Friday and Holiday.

Stick with me Coop and I'll teach you everything about

screwball comedies....

Most films by an actress: Claudette Colbert (5) - It Happened One Night, The Gilded Lily, Midnight, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, and The Palm Beach Story.

Mr. Lubitsch with his customary cigar....

Most films by a director: Ernst Lubitsch (4) - Ninotchka, Trouble in Paradise, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, and To Be Or Not To Be.

Kate and Cary..what a pair

Most films by a pair: Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn (3) - Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, and Holiday.

Side note:

I could have easily expanded this tourney to 64 films but I knew I would not have sufficient time what with the holidays and work. So a lot of notable films did not make the cut: such as Nothing Sacred, Vivacious Lady, No Time For Comedy and Design For Living among others. Maybe for my next tourney, I will make it much more bigger to include a lot more films. Anyway, the fun begins in two more days.

Brackets for Favorite Screwball Comedy Film Tourney

I have made the selections for the 32 films that will be competing in my Favorite Screwball Tourney. I have four brackets which I have named in honor of four of the most honored directors of the genre: Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, and Howard Hawks. Two of the brackets action will take place here on Screwball Cinema while the other two will take place on my other blog, All Good Things. I already had posted about what films would be the top four seeds in each respective bracket, so now comes the other 28 films. And I used my cards in a basket trick to pull out titles randomly to see where each film would land, bracket wise. And looking at some of the matches, we will have some barn burners.The Sturges and Lubitsch brackets will be held here while All Good Things will host Capra and Hawks. So here are the match-ups which are scheduled to begin Sunday.

PRESTON STURGES BRACKET

1 BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

VS

8 BOMBSHELL (1933)

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4 MIDNIGHT (1939)

VS

5 THE GOOD FAIRY (1935)

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2 TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)

VS

7 THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (1941)

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3 THEODORA GOES WILD (1936)

VS

6 TOPPER (1937)

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ERNST LUBITSCH BRACKET

1 TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932)

VS

8 MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)

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4 THE LADY EVE (1941)

VS

5 NINOTCHKA (1939)

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3 LIBELED LADY (1936)

VS

6 THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942)

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2 THE THIN MAN (1934)

VS

7 HOLIDAY (1938)

The Favorite Screwball Comedy Tourney Top 4 Seeds

I am still working on the details of Screwball Cinema's favorite screwball comedy tourney, whittling down the list of films to 32 that will be competing. But I have figured out the top four films of each respective bracket and wanted to share that with everyone now. I will have four brackets with 8 films in each one and I named the brackets after a famous writer/director of screwball comedies. They are Ernst Lubitsch, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Here are the four films that will be the top four seeds in the tourney:

BRINGING UP BABY (1938) - You can't think screwball comedies and not think of Baby. It's just not possible.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) - The biggest Oscar winning screwball film of all time..nabbing 5 Oscars. So it brings some prestige to this event.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932) - One of the earliest of the screwball comedies and it deserves it's top ranking.

MY MAN GODREY (1936) - Kind of a template for all those society type screwball films that was all the rage during this time period.

The one thing I noticed that the films are separated by two years. Which I thought was kind of cool. I will post the total list of films by the end of the week and kick off the tourney on Sunday, December 2nd. It will be a fun way to spend the holidays with the best screwball comedies of all time.

The Favorite Screwball Comedy Tourney begins next month

Odds are good that perennial screwball star Cary Grant

will have a few films competing....

I have been back and forth about whether to do a tourney to decide the favorite screwball comedy here on Screwball Cinema. I finally decided to do one and what better time than during this holiday season. I am still working on the particulars, as it looks like it will involved the top 32 screwball comedies of all time. I have done some research to select those 32 based on recognition, popularity, awards won, etc. I will focus on the peak period of screwball comedies, which ran from the mid 30's to the early 40's. So this tourney will be very specific. So if the film is not regarded as a true screwball comedy, say for instance, Some Like It Hot or  Pillow Talk, they won't be in the mix. Maybe next year I can hold a tourney focusing on all classic comedies. But for now this is it. I will hold the tourney here and it's sister blog, All Good Things. Two brackets here and two brackets over there. I will be posting the list of films that made the cut within a few days. This sure be so much fun.