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Australian Book Retailer of the Year 2021
Wes D. Gehring
Tracing a rambling lineage from Ben Franklin to Mark Twain to Bob Hope to Steve Martin, the author presents a genealogy of glib antiheroes blowing raspberries at the world.
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All students of the Great Man’s'career will have to rely on this work… . Perhaps Gehring’s greatest contributio here is his discussion of 23 sketches that Fields copyrighted that are…
This book presents a combined biographical, critical, and bibliographical estimate of Laurel & Hardy’s significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons.
With the cooperation of Benchley family members, and using diaries and correspondence and much archival material, Gehring has written a fresh and lively biography of humorist Robert Benchley.
Traditionally identified with screwball comedies, Frank Capra has seldom been considered a conduit for populist concerns and issues. In this book, Gehring examines the influence of both Will Rogers and…
From Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Gehring presents a compelling theory of the black comedy film genre. Placing the movies he discusses in a historical…
This study presents a historical overview of major figures in the genre, including W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Woody Allen.
Part Deux (1993) and Scream (1996). This examination of parody will appeal to scholars and students of American film and film comedy, as well as those interested in the specific…
Wes D Gehring
I find myself always being drawn into Wes’ comedic research and storytelling by its insights into the history, politics and sociology of the period explored. In that context, his gift…
Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris (1923) was a groundbreaking film which was neither a simple recycling of Peggy Hopkins Joyce’s story, nor quickly forgotten. Through heavily-documented period research, this…
The author grew tired of misleading throwaway references to the director’s comic relief. This book examines what should be obvious: Hitchcock systematically incorporated assorted types of comedy - black humour…
Film director Frank Capra was a central architect of the ‘feel good’ movie genre now known as populism, which celebrates people, families, second chances and other traditional American icons such…
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The 1930s are routinely considered sound film’s greatest comedy era. Though this golden age encompassed various genres of laughter, clown comedy is the most basic type. This work examines the…
Will Cuppy (1884-1949) is dark comedy that flirts with nihilism. Whether Will Cuppy directly derails man or lesser creatures on the evolutionary chain, there is always a generous helping of…
The book examines Chaplin’s evolving perspective on dark comedy in his three war films, Shoulder Arms (1918), The Great Dictator(1940), and Monsieur Verdoux (1947). In the first he uses the…
This examination of dark comedies of the 1970s focuses on films which concealed black humour behind a misleading genre label. The book covers 12 essential films, including Harold and Maude…
Before Groucho Marx and W.C. Fields American comedy was innocent. After they left their hilarious smudges on the genre, comedy was anything but. Here in a captivating book comparing and…
This first full-length biography of a legendary and award-winning Hollywood writer, producer, and director (Duck Soup, My Favorite Wife, An Affair to Remember, Going My Way, andThe Bells of St…
A biography of Irene Dunne, one of the most versatile actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age. A recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors award in 1985, Dunne’s acting highlights include five…
Examines twelve classic comedy films which are distinguished by an equal number of defining comic performances. Ranging from The Great Dictator to A Southern Yankee, each film focuses on the…
This examination of 1950s film clowns suggests the decade was the 20th century’s most volatile for the genre. Besides McCarthyism and TV and their potential for the dumbing down of…
If you thought you knew Buster Keaton’s silent features, think again. By keying on 1920 period texts one sees how a popular but yet cult star (yes, cult star )…
Introducing Joe E Brown’s likeable features that commanded attention on the screen, this work enables the reader to learn of Joe’s challenging childhood and how it prepared him for later…
The second section is concerned with the influences of the Marx Brothers as icons of anti-establishment comedy, as contributors to developments in American comedy, as early examples of saturation comedy…
This study demonstrates how screwball and romantic comedy are two distinct genres, and it highlights pivotal social and artistic changes that have impacted both genres. It includes over 60 titles…
In the style of Stuart Kaminsky, Wes D. Gehring of Ball State University has written an intriguing murder mystery involving a lost Chaplin film and a host of nefarious characters…
