Screwball comedies are a sub-genre of romantic comedies that were made during the 1930's and 1940's. They were developed in response to the implementation of the Hayes Code and the social and econmical changes of the 1930's in America. The code imposed a level of morality that was imposed by the censors and led to film makers telling stories in different ways.
At the heart of screwball comedies is romance between a man and a woman set against a battle of the sexes and in different financial or social classes. WHat this did lead to was strong female characters who were assertive and generally challeneged the man's view of the world.
The other main charcteristics of screwball comedies are the fast paced, witty dialogue as the two protagonists spar against each other and then there is the physical comedy, that often is slapstick and brings an almost absurbd level of comedy to the films.
The first film that is generally consiered to be a screwball comedy is Frank Capra's 1934 film It Happened One Night. The three films that went on to define the genre are generall considered to be Bringing Up Baby (1938, Howard Hawkes), His Girl Friday (1940, Howard Hawkes) and The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges).
