Stephen Farber writes on evolution of Hollywood romantic comedies in the NYT:
When "It Happened One Night" swept the Oscars in 1934, it established a new kind of romantic comedy, one that depended on a battle of wits between two strong-willed lovers. In that movie, Claudette Colbert played a runaway heiress, and Clark Gable was a cynical newspaper reporter who didn't let on that he knew her real identity. In other words, their relationship was marked by suspicion and deception as well as an undercurrent of desire, and that mixture of attraction and repulsion is what some of the best romantic movies possess. (emphasis mine.)
This specific excerpt suddenly clicked with me - so this is where i get my idea of screwed up romance. I keep trying to Kathryn Hepburn and keep casting my lovers in the Cary Grant roles. I guess it's time to reform.
I also liked this bit of observation on the problems with most Hollywood crap:
Movies have grown darker over the decades, but they've also grown more insecure. Filmmakers and studio executives no longer trust such niceties as dialogue, characterization, style or even movie star charisma to involve viewers in lovers' conflicts. Instead, today's filmmakers feel the need to pump up the volume and ramp up the firepower to make sure they hold the interest of impatient audiences.
I miss witty dialogue and covert tension. Sigh.
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