“Welcome to another world – of sleeping cars and porters, automobiles that start with handles and stop without warning; of starlit ocean liners, long-distance buses and auto camps. Luggage, purses, clothing, memories, identities and minds will be lost. Almost everyone can render popular tunes in close harmony and dance, but almost nobody can safely carry a tray – crockery and silverware will be dropped. The books here have titles such as Why Snakes Are Necessary and archaeologists post each other bones that don’t exist. Telephones are vaguely monumental, ring as loud as fire bells, and are ignored. Even face-to-face communication is confused. This may be in part because three or four people will often talk at once and at speeds that are medically ill-advised. There could also be animals around. And a great deal of falling – over logs and feet and sofas, into ditches, into water, into love.”

A great article about screwball comedies and the women in them, from The Guardian‘s archives.

Screwball comedies were, in their own way, a sort of fantasy. Which probably explains why I like them so much.