Sophisticated Comedy

A sophisticated comedy (also known as "high comedy") portrays the trials and tribulations of upper-class life. Often these films examine the conflicts caused by social rules that hamper the individualist desires and needs of their protagonists. The emphasis in a sophisticated comedy, as with comedy of manners and more refined examples of satire, is on witty dialogue and ironic situational gags rather than physical humor. Filmmakers of the 30s and 40s such as Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, Trouble in Paradise), George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story,Adam's Rib), Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve) and sometimes Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) were the chief artists of this approach. Woody Allen and Whit Stillman, with their focus on the sexual predicaments of the Upper Class in New York, have kept this talky tradition of filmmaking alive.

new releases

See All

significant works

movies