Books in French are on www.livres-cinema.info
Genre-Busting Dark Comedies of the 1970s
Twelve American Films
(0 vote)Average rating:
| 0 | rating |  = We can do without |
| 0 | rating |  = Good book |
| 0 | rating |  = Excellent book |
| 0 | rating |  = Unique / a reference |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
This examination of dark comedies of the 1970s focuses on films which concealed black humor behind a misleading genre label. All That Jazz (1979) is a musical…about death—hardly Fred and Ginger territory. This masking goes beyond misnomer to a breaking of formula that director Robert Altman called “anti-genre.” Altman’s MASH (1970) ridiculed the military establishment in general—the Vietnam War in particular—under the guise of a standard military service comedy. The picaresque Western Little Big Man (1970) turned the bluecoats vs. Indians formula upside-down—the audience roots for the Indians instead of the cavalry.
The book covers 12 essential films, including Harold and Maude (1971), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Being There (1979), with notes on A Clockwork Orange (1971). These films reveal a compounding complexity that reinforces the absurdity at the heart of dark comedy.
About the Author:
Wes D. Gehring is a distinguished professor of film at Ball State University and associate media editor for USA Today magazine, for which he also writes the column “Reel World.” He is the author of 40 film books, including biographies of James Dean, Carole Lombard, Steve McQueen, Robert Wise, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin.
Press Reviews:
"Gehring remains supreme in film comedy scholarship"—Choice.
See the publisher website: McFarland & Co
> From the same author:
Kinds of American Film Comedy (2024)
Six Core Genres and Their Literary Roots
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Charlie Chaplin and A Woman of Paris (2021)
The Genesis of a Misunderstood Masterpiece
Subject: One Film > A Woman of Paris
Hitchcock and Humor (2019)
Modes of Comedy in Twelve Defining Films
Subject: Director > Alfred Hitchcock
Buster Keaton in His Own Time (2018)
What the Responses of 1920s Critics Reveal
Subject: Director > Buster Keaton
Movie Comedians of the 1950s (2016)
Defining a New Era of Big Screen Comedy
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Chaplin's War Trilogy (2014)
An Evolving Lens in Three Dark Comedies, 1918–1947
Subject: One Film > Shoulder Arms, The Great Dictator, Monsieur Verdoux
Forties Film Funnymen (2010)
The Decade's Great Comedians at Work in the Shadow of War
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Mr. Deeds Goes to Yankee Stadium (2004)
Baseball Films in the Capra Tradition
Subject: On Films > Film selections
> On a related topic:
Tears of Laughter (2006)
Comedy-Drama in 1990s British Cinema
by Nigel Mather
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
The Drop Dead Funny '70s (2023)
American Film Comedies Year by Year
by Dan Lalande
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
The Oxford Handbook of Screen Comedy (2025)
Dir. Peter C. Kunze and William V. Costanzo
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Comedy in Literature and Popular Culture (2024)
From Aristophanes to Saturday Night Live
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Hollywood Sex Comedies, 1953–1964 (2024)
A Critical Analysis of 25 Films
by Hal Erickson
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Film, Environment, Comedy (2024)
Eco-Comedies on the Big Screen
by Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Haunted Laughter (2024)
Representations of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Holocaust in Comedic Film and Television
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Inside Comedy (2023)
The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Back
