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Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard Film Studies) Paperback – January 15, 1984

by Stanley Cavell (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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During the ’30s and ’40s, Hollywood produced a genre of madcap comedies that emphasized reuniting the central couple after divorce or separation. Their female protagonists were strong, independent, and sophisticated. Here, Stanley Cavell names this new genre of American film―“the comedy of remarriage”―and examines seven classic movies for their cinematic techniques and for such varied themes as feminism, liberty, and interdependence.

Included are Adam’s Rib, The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, The Lady Eve, and The Philadelphia Story.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    296 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    January 15, 1984
  5. Dimensions
    6.12 x 0.7 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    067473906X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674739062
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The great achievement of…Pursuits of Happiness is that it finally provides a solid framework for the serious discussion of the great dialogue comedies of the thirties and forties, perhaps the most revived and loved movies of Hollywood’s golden period.”―Al LaValley, American Film

“This just must be, in its close readings and its stunning associations, one of the most compelling accounts of its kind. The fact is, it just is its kind.”―Geoffrey Hawthorn, London Review of Books

“This is a voice like no other in philosophy, today or ever.”―Arthur C. Danto, October

“No book about the art of Hollywood I have ever read can make its readers stop and think more effectively than this one.”―S. S. Prawer, Times Literary Supplement

“Stanley Cavell’s book succeeds brilliantly… The individual ‘readings’ of the films and the general conceptual plan in which they are embedded are both so rich and rewarding that…‘brilliant’…seems an understatement.”―Gerald Mast, Journal of Aesthetic Education

From the Back Cover

Each of the seven chapters that follow contains an account of my experience of a film made in Hollywood between 1934 and 1949.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press (January 15, 1984)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 067473906X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674739062
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.7 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

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Stanley Cavell

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Orson Welles
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading for p. 12 alone
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
The chapters on the films are insightful, but the introduction is incredible, especially page 11-13.
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Ike C
5.0 out of 5 stars Creating genres
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
Cavell puts forward a category of films at the start of the Talkies called the "comedy of remarriage." These films would otherwise be placed in the broader genre of the screwball comedy. Cavell's goal in defining this genre is partly philosophical and political, and fans of "The World Viewed" will recognize further developments of his ideas.

I think the films that he chose for the genre do not fit a neat mold (after all, "It Happened One Night" and "The Lady Eve" don't have couples that get "remarried"), but at least, they are titles that he genuinely loves, which is what makes the book so interesting.

A good companion piece to this book is "In Praise of Love" by Alain Badiou.
2 people found this helpful
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Chris Kang
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2015
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It's a analysis book of several classic romantic comedies.
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Liz from Austin
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2018
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An important, well-written, and suggestive study.
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George H. Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars A joyous, brilliant, unique work of film criticism
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2010
This is an extraordinary book, with an extraordinary personality. Its subject is the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, and it is first and foremost a serious work of film criticism, full of literary insight and philosophical speculation (the author is a well-known Harvard philosophy professor, now retired). But it is also full of fun. Laughter lurks everywhere, bubbling continually beneath the surface of the discourse, and Cavell's love of the films (and, not incidentally, his love of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and Rosalind Russell and Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert) is all but palpable. The result is a marriage of the serious and the playful that is, in my opinion, unique -- I know of no other work of literary or film criticism that so joyously celebrates its subject. In the years since the book was originally published in 1981, Cavell's phrase "comedy of remarriage" -- signifying a romance in which a made-for-each-other couple becomes estranged and then finds their way back to a deeper understanding of both themselves and their relationship -- has become standard filmcrit terminology. That's as it should be, because Cavell makes a brilliant case for his thesis, all the time (in a phrase from Emerson that serves as the book's epigraph) carrying the holiday in his eye. Bravo.
17 people found this helpful
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Ian David Golder
4.0 out of 5 stars Screwball Comedy is my favorite movie genre
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2018
Screwball Comedy is my favorite movie genre, and that is entirely because of this book.

As a bonus, for some reason this book is #1 in Books > Textbooks > Engineering > Mechanical Engineering! Seriously! So read this book, watch The Lady Eve, and construct a bridge!
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

David A. Greenhalgh
1.0 out of 5 stars Over rated and pretentious to its core
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2010
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I looked forward to reading this book because it covers a high point of romantic comedy. But the text obfuscates the subject with its pseudo philosophical interpretations. You will learn barely nothing from Cavell's study of some great films.
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