W. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man and Howard Hawk’s Bringing Up Baby both can be classified as comedies. The Thin Man was produced four years before Bringing Up Baby, and is less over-the-top as a way to ease audiences into the quickly approaching screwball comedy genre. Both derive a lot of their comedy from double entendres in dialogue, and both use these double entendres as a way to mock the Motion Picture Production Code, which was a system of regulating Hollywood movies to give them a better moral image. Basically, there was a lot of pressure for movies to be censored in order to please audiences, but filmmakers still found subtle ways to work around this. For example, there is a scene in The Thin Man where Gilbert calls his father a sexegenerian, meaning he is sixty years old. The line is an innuendo, and the men around him are shocked that he would say that and respond with “We can’t put that in the paper! You know how they are. Sex?”. The men don’t understand that Gilbert is referring to his father’s age, which is what makes the exchange funny. The men discussing the newspaper’s rules and censorship is a subtle way for Van Dyke to comment on the Motion Picture Production Code he had to work under. The Thin Man was produced in 1934, which is when the code began to be strictly enforced. In Bringing Up Baby, there’s a line that should have been censored at the time, but somehow was not. When Aunt Elizabeth questions David about wearing women’s clothes, he jumps up and shouts “Because I just went gay all of a sudden!”. This line was improvised, and was certainly intended to be an overt reference to homoseuality. In 1938, while the code was still being enforced, the fact that this made it into the final cut of the film is remarkable. The line, and more specifically the use of the word gay to mean homosexual, was probably kept in for audiences to laugh about how shocking it is. Overall, both The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby were produced under the restrictions of the Motion Picture Production Code, but jokes were still slipped into the dialogue. These jokes came out of the restrictions, contributing to the comedic effect of essentially mocking the censorship the filmmakers were subjected to.
The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby are similar through their narratives, specifically the building block of characters/characterization. They both feature “odd couples” and rely on relationships between characters for the story to progress. This is how the mystery is solved in The Thin Man, and the scene that epitomizes this is the dinner party scene at the end. This is at the end of the movie and is the point in the narrative when all the different story branches are being brought back together. Throughout the film the information spreads from person to person through telephone calls and characters visiting each other. Even though Nick and Nora are the main people solving the mystery, they solve it through character relationships. It is all about who knows who and the information is a lot of he-said-she-said. When it is revealed that MacCaulay did it, everyone is shocked because he had gained their trust. So, characters and their relationships are vital to forming a narrative, as shown clearly in The Thin Man, where it might be the most important building block. While The Thin Man is a mystery and Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy, it still relies on character relationships to build the narrative. A scene that illustrates this is the jail scene. Again this is a scene where all the characters, who have been separated in their own narrative branches, come together. The characters try to explain to the police that they know each other, then they (Susan) pretend to be other people who know each other, then they get out of jail because Aunt Elizabeth comes and proves that she knows them. Essentially the narrative progression all relies on communication and character relationships. In The Thin Man, phone calls and house visits are what reveal information between characters and solve the mystery. In Bringing Up Baby, character relationships are ruined (Huxley and Miss Swallow, Huxley and Peabody) and others are created (Huxley and Susan and Baby). Overall in both films the narratives are built by intertwining characters and how they communicate with one another, whether it is to solve a mystery or to create humor or even romance.
Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby is classified as a screwball comedy, whereas W. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man is classified as a comedy-mystery film, meaning they are comedies in their own regard. The comedy in Bringing Up Baby is more obvious, seen within the first few minutes of the film during the scene in which Dr. David Huxley meets Susan Vance at the golf course. Their interaction is an obvious comedic one, as the audience is introduced with the airhead personality of Susan and the logical Huxley. The actions of the characters add to the comedic value of the scene as the audience can immediately see how Susan affects Huxley, the end of the scene being Susan driving off with Huxley on the car. The Thin Man being a comedy mystery, has a more subtle comedic aspect, most of it coming from Nick and Nora Charles. Their relationship allows them to poke fun at each other in a loving way. One scene in particular, the party scene, highlights the comedic side of the film as well as the odd relationship between Nick and Nora. The drunken man crying about his mother is an obvious sign of comedy, but the interaction between the Charles’ after Nora walks into a meeting between Dorothy Wynant and her husband. Instead of overreacting as most would expect her to, she remains calm and even jokes with Nick about her. The relationships portrayed in both films highlight the comedic value of the film, despite The Thin Man having a more subtle way of presenting it.
While both films "Bringing Up Baby"(1938) and "The Thin Man"(1934), contain comedic elements, their styles of comedy are quite different from one another. "Bringing Up Baby", which is labeled as a "screwball comedy" features scenes and instances so ridiculous they borderline unbelievable. The actions of characters and the consequences of those actions, while truly hilarious, could almost never occur in real life. For example, in one of the first scenes in the film, when David meets Susan on the gold course, the two engage in a hilarious dialogue plight with misunderstandings and interruptions. This snappy style of writing is what gives the film its humor, however this style of talking in very improbable. On the other hand, the movie "The Thin Man" presents its humor in a much more subtle and nuanced way. While remaining funny, the two main characters, Nick and Nora, are far more realistic and believable than David and Susan. Unlike "Bringing Up Baby", the film contains many more moments of seriousness and drama. For example, the scene in which Nick and Nora are visited by a man wielding a pistol is far more tense and serious than "Bringing Up Baby" ever dares be. It is thus through the different writing styles of the two films that their differences arise.
The Thin Man (1934, dir. WS Dyke) and Bringing Up Baby (1938, dir. Howard Hawks), though they share some elements, are two extremely different films. For example, Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy that contains romantic elements, and The Thin Man, while still classified as a comedy, is also classified as a mystery/crime film. As a result of being primarily a comedy film, Bringing Up Baby places a heavier emphasis on comedy than any other element, where The Thin Man’s humor is more nuanced and subtle, and less of an overall focus in the film. The difference in genres is especially seen during the conflict resolution of either film.
In The Thin Man, the conflict resolution comes at the dinner party Nick hosts, where he reveals the killer. This scene focuses on heightening the tension as Nick, and the audience, works to figure out who is the murderer. This is done through multiple medium shots of the guests’ faces as they speak and react to the situation, with the occasional long shot. By using mostly medium shots, the reactions of the characters are easy to identify, and the occasional use of long shots signifies breaks the pattern of medium shots and heightens the drama, as well as invokes a general sense of helplessness. The same is true of close-ups - the most major use of a close-up (and, in turn, the most major breaking of a pattern) is the cut from a medium shot of Nick to a close-up of the gun the killer is holding, adding to the overall suspense and increasing the sense of helplessness. The overall pace of the scene is fairly quick, so there are multiple cuts between multiple guests, increasing the uncertainty of the situation. Though there are jokes, they are framed and treated the same as the rest of the dialogue, and thus moved on from very quickly, instead of being lingered on - the main focus is on the mystery element.
In Bringing Up Baby, the conflict resolution comes when Susan and David get out of jail, find Baby, and successfully jail the wild leopard. These sequences rely more on visual comedy - for example, the medium long shots of the policeman talking as Susan escapes through the window. This creates some tension as to whether or not Susan will be caught, but is mainly played for humor in that it is absurd that no one noticed she was leaving. In general, the majority of the shots are medium long shots, which allows emphasis on actions and thus an emphasis on physical/visual comedy. Like The Thin Man, there are occasionally long shots, but unlike The Thin Man, the long shots are also played for comedy - they are used to reveal things in the frame that other characters do not notice, such as the long shot where the everyone enters the jail and, unbeknownst to them, they are followed by Baby and Asta. Even arguably the most dramatic moment, where Susan catches the wrong leopard, is mainly played for laughs - medium shots of the leopard resisting Susan (placing an emphasis on the absurdity of the situation rather than the danger she is in), the medium-to-long shot of the other characters running away when Susan initially enters (again, heightening the absurdity instead of using multiple cuts to heighten the drama), the overlaying of multiple sound effects and dialogue (unlike the eerie silent background of The Thin Man, which added to suspense, the overwhelming sound effects used here play on the chaotic nature of the situation instead of the danger). In general, this scene focuses on the comedic drama rather than the life threatening drama, which is what separates it from The Thin Man - though the two films share elements, Bringing Up Baby is, at its core, meant to play up the comedic value of things, where The Thin Man has more subtle inclusion of humor, and does not place it at the core of the climax.
The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby are both considered to be comedy films but TTM is considered a comedy/mystery where BUB is considered a screwball comedy. Both films are about a couple who goes on an "adventure", the difference here is that TTM is more serious when it comes to the adventure where it is just a couple investigating a murder, where as BUB is about a couple bringing a leopard to a sanctuary, as you can see is it much less believable. As seen by the way the movies play out TTM is much more focused on the mystery part of its film basing most of what happens off of that, unlike in BUB where the comedy is the most important part.While both are considered comedy the comedy in TTM is only from the banter between Nick and Nora where as in BUB the comedy is not only from banter but also is from the situations theyre put in.
Both “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) and “The Thin Man” (1934) have comedic elements to them. The former would be described more as a screwball comedy, while the latter has elements of crime fiction and mystery. As just previously stated they both are comedic in some regard, and both films focus on the comedy between the two main actors. In the case of “Bringing Up Baby” these are Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, while in the case of “The Thin Man” these are William Powell and Myrna Loy. The cinematic elements present in each film help convey the comedic aspects of both films. For examples in each film, I will use the scene in “Bringing up Baby” in which Susan confronts David at the very end and causes the dinosaur to fall and the scene in “The Thin Man” in which Nick is firing his gun at the tree. In both scenes, there is a distinct pattern of shots. We have an action, such as the gun firing or Susan rocking back and forth, and then an unknowing or uncaring response. The way these scenes are edited/ directed is what makes them distinctly funny. With the scene in “The Thin Man” every time the gun fires, we get the same react: slow blinking and eye rolls; action and nonaction. In “Bringing Up Baby” there is the same editing pattern. We have a shot of Susan rocking precariously back and forth, and then a shot of David rocking back and forth safely on this scaffolding. Action and nonaction, back and forth. This contrast created by the editing is what makes these scenes so funny.
W. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man (1934) and Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby (1938) are both considered comedies, but at opposite ends of the genre. Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy, whereas The Thin Man is a sort of comedy/mystery hybrid, differentiated through the varying writing styles. Screwball comedy is characterized by having absurd, ludicrous situations that wouldn’t most likely occur in daily life, typically brought to life by the lively but argumentative lead couple. One scene that displays this writing style in Bringing Up Baby is when Susan is trying to explain to a man that her tiger has ended up on his roof. She says how she is trying to sing to the tiger in order to coax it down, which the man of course doesn’t believe because she sounds completely crazy. Audience members know that Susan is telling the truth, but at the same time understands the homeowner’s perspective over the insanity of this predicament. The Thin Man shows comedy through a much more understated and nuanced writing style. A lot of the humor of this film comes the direct dialogue, rather than situations surrounding it. Since the movie is a mystery, the subject matters tend to be tense, or at the least serious, an area of focus Bringing Up Baby never really approaches. The multiple scenes of confrontation and brandishing of guns support the drama aspect of The Thin Man, very different from the writing styles used in Bringing Up Baby of an alternate genre.
W.S. Van Dyke’s “The Thin Man” (1934) and Howard Hawk’s “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) are both similar on the basis that both are comedies, however they differ in many specific ways specific to the genre itself. For instance, the style of comedy is extremely different between the two, with “Bringing Up Baby” falling under the umbrella of a “screwball comedy”, and “The Thin Man” serving as a “comedy mystery”. Each form of comedy has defining qualities, with screwball comedies generally following absurd situations and also deals with relationships in which a woman takes charge. For example, in “Bringing Up Baby”, the couple are seen having to take care of a tiger, which is not a realistic situation in any means. The comedy lies in this absurdity, with one scene in which Susan is forced to coax the aforementioned tiger from a roof. Within this scene, Susan is forced to explain to the owner of the house that she must sing to get the tiger down. Of course, the homeowner does not believe a word of what she is saying, instead choosing to call the police. This presents a dramatic irony of sorts, as the audience is privy to the information which the homeowner cannot fathom, thus creating an absurd and comedic situation. “The Thin Man” on the other hand creates comedy through dialogue as opposed to absurdism, making the comedy much less physical and situational. In fact, “The Thin Man” can be seen as much more serious film, as it often builds tension to heighten the mystery behind who commited the murder. This can be seen in the resolution of the film, in which Nick sits down to dinner to reveal the guilty party. This scene is built to be less comedic and more tense, with Nick remaining vague about who the killer is till the final moments. By doing so, the audience is left on the edge of their seats, forced to wait to find out who commited the gruesome crime.
Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby and W.S. Van Dyke’s The Thin man are two films that occupy the screwball comedy genre. Both of these films implement elements of the genre, from the flamboyant costumes worn by the female characters such as the costumes worn by Nora and Susan. However a staple of these films is the fast pace dialogue that explodes on the screen. In Bringing Up Baby, the scene where Susan is trying to explain to her mother who David is which is a fast pace series of dialogue between Susan, her mother, David, and the dog. The result is a hilarious moment of comedy and confusion that is one of my favorite moments in the movie. In The Thin Man, there is a scene near the end of the movie where Nick has gathered all of the murder suspects and what follows is a fast paced scene where Nick dissects everyone’s claims and alibis, and it all end in an exciting moment where he stops an assassination attempt on himself. An incredibly exciting scene with awesome dialogue.
Both “Bringing up Baby” and “The Thin Man” were American comedy films in the 1930’s, and had similar genre elements. Both films heavily relied on bright lighting to show that the film was light hearted, despite the underlying serious tone. Two scenes to compare would be the scene in “Bringing Up Baby” in which David trapped the wild leopard in a jail cell and the scene in “The Thin Man” in which Nick tackled MacCaulay to stop him from shooting anyone. Both scenes were darkly lit, and went by fairly quickly, as they were tense and immediate situations that removed the largest threat to the characters from a position where they could do harm.
"Bringing up Baby" and "The Thin Man" are similar in many ways. Both are comedies that fall in different sub-categories. Bringing up Baby relies on more visual comedy, as seen with the dress scene when David was trying to cover Susan's ripped dress. This style of comedy is heavily relied on pace and funny movements of characters. The interactions could be laughed at with the audio turned off. The Thin Man relies more on audio based comedy, especially with dialogue. This can be seen when Nick was trying to figure out who the killer was by asking everybody what there alibi's were. Both films are lit so that they give off an upbeat and comedic vibe throughout there durations and even though both films have there own plots, the comedic aspect seems to take over more often at times.
W. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man and Howard Hawk’s Bringing Up Baby both can be classified as comedies. The Thin Man was produced four years before Bringing Up Baby, and is less over-the-top as a way to ease audiences into the quickly approaching screwball comedy genre. Both derive a lot of their comedy from double entendres in dialogue, and both use these double entendres as a way to mock the Motion Picture Production Code, which was a system of regulating Hollywood movies to give them a better moral image. Basically, there was a lot of pressure for movies to be censored in order to please audiences, but filmmakers still found subtle ways to work around this. For example, there is a scene in The Thin Man where Gilbert calls his father a sexegenerian, meaning he is sixty years old. The line is an innuendo, and the men around him are shocked that he would say that and respond with “We can’t put that in the paper! You know how they are. Sex?”. The men don’t understand that Gilbert is referring to his father’s age, which is what makes the exchange funny. The men discussing the newspaper’s rules and censorship is a subtle way for Van Dyke to comment on the Motion Picture Production Code he had to work under. The Thin Man was produced in 1934, which is when the code began to be strictly enforced. In Bringing Up Baby, there’s a line that should have been censored at the time, but somehow was not. When Aunt Elizabeth questions David about wearing women’s clothes, he jumps up and shouts “Because I just went gay all of a sudden!”. This line was improvised, and was certainly intended to be an overt reference to homoseuality. In 1938, while the code was still being enforced, the fact that this made it into the final cut of the film is remarkable. The line, and more specifically the use of the word gay to mean homosexual, was probably kept in for audiences to laugh about how shocking it is. Overall, both The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby were produced under the restrictions of the Motion Picture Production Code, but jokes were still slipped into the dialogue. These jokes came out of the restrictions, contributing to the comedic effect of essentially mocking the censorship the filmmakers were subjected to.
ReplyDeleteThe Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby are similar through their narratives, specifically the building block of characters/characterization. They both feature “odd couples” and rely on relationships between characters for the story to progress. This is how the mystery is solved in The Thin Man, and the scene that epitomizes this is the dinner party scene at the end. This is at the end of the movie and is the point in the narrative when all the different story branches are being brought back together. Throughout the film the information spreads from person to person through telephone calls and characters visiting each other. Even though Nick and Nora are the main people solving the mystery, they solve it through character relationships. It is all about who knows who and the information is a lot of he-said-she-said. When it is revealed that MacCaulay did it, everyone is shocked because he had gained their trust. So, characters and their relationships are vital to forming a narrative, as shown clearly in The Thin Man, where it might be the most important building block. While The Thin Man is a mystery and Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy, it still relies on character relationships to build the narrative. A scene that illustrates this is the jail scene. Again this is a scene where all the characters, who have been separated in their own narrative branches, come together. The characters try to explain to the police that they know each other, then they (Susan) pretend to be other people who know each other, then they get out of jail because Aunt Elizabeth comes and proves that she knows them. Essentially the narrative progression all relies on communication and character relationships. In The Thin Man, phone calls and house visits are what reveal information between characters and solve the mystery. In Bringing Up Baby, character relationships are ruined (Huxley and Miss Swallow, Huxley and Peabody) and others are created (Huxley and Susan and Baby). Overall in both films the narratives are built by intertwining characters and how they communicate with one another, whether it is to solve a mystery or to create humor or even romance.
ReplyDeleteHoward Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby is classified as a screwball comedy, whereas W. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man is classified as a comedy-mystery film, meaning they are comedies in their own regard. The comedy in Bringing Up Baby is more obvious, seen within the first few minutes of the film during the scene in which Dr. David Huxley meets Susan Vance at the golf course. Their interaction is an obvious comedic one, as the audience is introduced with the airhead personality of Susan and the logical Huxley. The actions of the characters add to the comedic value of the scene as the audience can immediately see how Susan affects Huxley, the end of the scene being Susan driving off with Huxley on the car. The Thin Man being a comedy mystery, has a more subtle comedic aspect, most of it coming from Nick and Nora Charles. Their relationship allows them to poke fun at each other in a loving way. One scene in particular, the party scene, highlights the comedic side of the film as well as the odd relationship between Nick and Nora. The drunken man crying about his mother is an obvious sign of comedy, but the interaction between the Charles’ after Nora walks into a meeting between Dorothy Wynant and her husband. Instead of overreacting as most would expect her to, she remains calm and even jokes with Nick about her. The relationships portrayed in both films highlight the comedic value of the film, despite The Thin Man having a more subtle way of presenting it.
ReplyDeleteWhile both films "Bringing Up Baby"(1938) and "The Thin Man"(1934), contain comedic elements, their styles of comedy are quite different from one another. "Bringing Up Baby", which is labeled as a "screwball comedy" features scenes and instances so ridiculous they borderline unbelievable. The actions of characters and the consequences of those actions, while truly hilarious, could almost never occur in real life. For example, in one of the first scenes in the film, when David meets Susan on the gold course, the two engage in a hilarious dialogue plight with misunderstandings and interruptions. This snappy style of writing is what gives the film its humor, however this style of talking in very improbable. On the other hand, the movie "The Thin Man" presents its humor in a much more subtle and nuanced way. While remaining funny, the two main characters, Nick and Nora, are far more realistic and believable than David and Susan. Unlike "Bringing Up Baby", the film contains many more moments of seriousness and drama. For example, the scene in which Nick and Nora are visited by a man wielding a pistol is far more tense and serious than "Bringing Up Baby" ever dares be. It is thus through the different writing styles of the two films that their differences arise.
ReplyDeleteThe Thin Man (1934, dir. WS Dyke) and Bringing Up Baby (1938, dir. Howard Hawks), though they share some elements, are two extremely different films. For example, Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy that contains romantic elements, and The Thin Man, while still classified as a comedy, is also classified as a mystery/crime film. As a result of being primarily a comedy film, Bringing Up Baby places a heavier emphasis on comedy than any other element, where The Thin Man’s humor is more nuanced and subtle, and less of an overall focus in the film. The difference in genres is especially seen during the conflict resolution of either film.
ReplyDeleteIn The Thin Man, the conflict resolution comes at the dinner party Nick hosts, where he reveals the killer. This scene focuses on heightening the tension as Nick, and the audience, works to figure out who is the murderer. This is done through multiple medium shots of the guests’ faces as they speak and react to the situation, with the occasional long shot. By using mostly medium shots, the reactions of the characters are easy to identify, and the occasional use of long shots signifies breaks the pattern of medium shots and heightens the drama, as well as invokes a general sense of helplessness. The same is true of close-ups - the most major use of a close-up (and, in turn, the most major breaking of a pattern) is the cut from a medium shot of Nick to a close-up of the gun the killer is holding, adding to the overall suspense and increasing the sense of helplessness. The overall pace of the scene is fairly quick, so there are multiple cuts between multiple guests, increasing the uncertainty of the situation. Though there are jokes, they are framed and treated the same as the rest of the dialogue, and thus moved on from very quickly, instead of being lingered on - the main focus is on the mystery element.
In Bringing Up Baby, the conflict resolution comes when Susan and David get out of jail, find Baby, and successfully jail the wild leopard. These sequences rely more on visual comedy - for example, the medium long shots of the policeman talking as Susan escapes through the window. This creates some tension as to whether or not Susan will be caught, but is mainly played for humor in that it is absurd that no one noticed she was leaving. In general, the majority of the shots are medium long shots, which allows emphasis on actions and thus an emphasis on physical/visual comedy. Like The Thin Man, there are occasionally long shots, but unlike The Thin Man, the long shots are also played for comedy - they are used to reveal things in the frame that other characters do not notice, such as the long shot where the everyone enters the jail and, unbeknownst to them, they are followed by Baby and Asta. Even arguably the most dramatic moment, where Susan catches the wrong leopard, is mainly played for laughs - medium shots of the leopard resisting Susan (placing an emphasis on the absurdity of the situation rather than the danger she is in), the medium-to-long shot of the other characters running away when Susan initially enters (again, heightening the absurdity instead of using multiple cuts to heighten the drama), the overlaying of multiple sound effects and dialogue (unlike the eerie silent background of The Thin Man, which added to suspense, the overwhelming sound effects used here play on the chaotic nature of the situation instead of the danger). In general, this scene focuses on the comedic drama rather than the life threatening drama, which is what separates it from The Thin Man - though the two films share elements, Bringing Up Baby is, at its core, meant to play up the comedic value of things, where The Thin Man has more subtle inclusion of humor, and does not place it at the core of the climax.
The Thin Man and Bringing Up Baby are both considered to be comedy films but TTM is considered a comedy/mystery where BUB is considered a screwball comedy. Both films are about a couple who goes on an "adventure", the difference here is that TTM is more serious when it comes to the adventure where it is just a couple investigating a murder, where as BUB is about a couple bringing a leopard to a sanctuary, as you can see is it much less believable. As seen by the way the movies play out TTM is much more focused on the mystery part of its film basing most of what happens off of that, unlike in BUB where the comedy is the most important part.While both are considered comedy the comedy in TTM is only from the banter between Nick and Nora where as in BUB the comedy is not only from banter but also is from the situations theyre put in.
ReplyDeleteBoth “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) and “The Thin Man” (1934) have comedic elements to them. The former would be described more as a screwball comedy, while the latter has elements of crime fiction and mystery. As just previously stated they both are comedic in some regard, and both films focus on the comedy between the two main actors. In the case of “Bringing Up Baby” these are Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, while in the case of “The Thin Man” these are William Powell and Myrna Loy. The cinematic elements present in each film help convey the comedic aspects of both films. For examples in each film, I will use the scene in “Bringing up Baby” in which Susan confronts David at the very end and causes the dinosaur to fall and the scene in “The Thin Man” in which Nick is firing his gun at the tree. In both scenes, there is a distinct pattern of shots. We have an action, such as the gun firing or Susan rocking back and forth, and then an unknowing or uncaring response. The way these scenes are edited/ directed is what makes them distinctly funny. With the scene in “The Thin Man” every time the gun fires, we get the same react: slow blinking and eye rolls; action and nonaction. In “Bringing Up Baby” there is the same editing pattern. We have a shot of Susan rocking precariously back and forth, and then a shot of David rocking back and forth safely on this scaffolding. Action and nonaction, back and forth. This contrast created by the editing is what makes these scenes so funny.
ReplyDeleteW. S. Van Dyke’s The Thin Man (1934) and Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby (1938) are both considered comedies, but at opposite ends of the genre. Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy, whereas The Thin Man is a sort of comedy/mystery hybrid, differentiated through the varying writing styles. Screwball comedy is characterized by having absurd, ludicrous situations that wouldn’t most likely occur in daily life, typically brought to life by the lively but argumentative lead couple. One scene that displays this writing style in Bringing Up Baby is when Susan is trying to explain to a man that her tiger has ended up on his roof. She says how she is trying to sing to the tiger in order to coax it down, which the man of course doesn’t believe because she sounds completely crazy. Audience members know that Susan is telling the truth, but at the same time understands the homeowner’s perspective over the insanity of this predicament. The Thin Man shows comedy through a much more understated and nuanced writing style. A lot of the humor of this film comes the direct dialogue, rather than situations surrounding it. Since the movie is a mystery, the subject matters tend to be tense, or at the least serious, an area of focus Bringing Up Baby never really approaches. The multiple scenes of confrontation and brandishing of guns support the drama aspect of The Thin Man, very different from the writing styles used in Bringing Up Baby of an alternate genre.
ReplyDeleteW.S. Van Dyke’s “The Thin Man” (1934) and Howard Hawk’s “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) are both similar on the basis that both are comedies, however they differ in many specific ways specific to the genre itself. For instance, the style of comedy is extremely different between the two, with “Bringing Up Baby” falling under the umbrella of a “screwball comedy”, and “The Thin Man” serving as a “comedy mystery”. Each form of comedy has defining qualities, with screwball comedies generally following absurd situations and also deals with relationships in which a woman takes charge. For example, in “Bringing Up Baby”, the couple are seen having to take care of a tiger, which is not a realistic situation in any means. The comedy lies in this absurdity, with one scene in which Susan is forced to coax the aforementioned tiger from a roof. Within this scene, Susan is forced to explain to the owner of the house that she must sing to get the tiger down. Of course, the homeowner does not believe a word of what she is saying, instead choosing to call the police. This presents a dramatic irony of sorts, as the audience is privy to the information which the homeowner cannot fathom, thus creating an absurd and comedic situation. “The Thin Man” on the other hand creates comedy through dialogue as opposed to absurdism, making the comedy much less physical and situational. In fact, “The Thin Man” can be seen as much more serious film, as it often builds tension to heighten the mystery behind who commited the murder. This can be seen in the resolution of the film, in which Nick sits down to dinner to reveal the guilty party. This scene is built to be less comedic and more tense, with Nick remaining vague about who the killer is till the final moments. By doing so, the audience is left on the edge of their seats, forced to wait to find out who commited the gruesome crime.
ReplyDeleteHoward Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby and W.S. Van Dyke’s The Thin man are two films that occupy the screwball comedy genre. Both of these films implement elements of the genre, from the flamboyant costumes worn by the female characters such as the costumes worn by Nora and Susan. However a staple of these films is the fast pace dialogue that explodes on the screen. In Bringing Up Baby, the scene where Susan is trying to explain to her mother who David is which is a fast pace series of dialogue between Susan, her mother, David, and the dog. The result is a hilarious moment of comedy and confusion that is one of my favorite moments in the movie. In The Thin Man, there is a scene near the end of the movie where Nick has gathered all of the murder suspects and what follows is a fast paced scene where Nick dissects everyone’s claims and alibis, and it all end in an exciting moment where he stops an assassination attempt on himself. An incredibly exciting scene with awesome dialogue.
ReplyDeleteBoth “Bringing up Baby” and “The Thin Man” were American comedy films in the 1930’s, and had similar genre elements. Both films heavily relied on bright lighting to show that the film was light hearted, despite the underlying serious tone. Two scenes to compare would be the scene in “Bringing Up Baby” in which David trapped the wild leopard in a jail cell and the scene in “The Thin Man” in which Nick tackled MacCaulay to stop him from shooting anyone. Both scenes were darkly lit, and went by fairly quickly, as they were tense and immediate situations that removed the largest threat to the characters from a position where they could do harm.
ReplyDelete"Bringing up Baby" and "The Thin Man" are similar in many ways. Both are comedies that fall in different sub-categories. Bringing up Baby relies on more visual comedy, as seen with the dress scene when David was trying to cover Susan's ripped dress. This style of comedy is heavily relied on pace and funny movements of characters. The interactions could be laughed at with the audio turned off. The Thin Man relies more on audio based comedy, especially with dialogue. This can be seen when Nick was trying to figure out who the killer was by asking everybody what there alibi's were. Both films are lit so that they give off an upbeat and comedic vibe throughout there durations and even though both films have there own plots, the comedic aspect seems to take over more often at times.
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