Special Subject - Stanley Cavell’s Pursuits of Happiness + THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937), HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) & ADAM'S RIB (1949)

There's Sometimes a Buggy

This Special Subject is something extra-special: we discuss philosopher Stanley Cavell's idiosyncratic classic of film criticism, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage and three classic comedies that are the subjects of essays in that book, Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth, Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday, and George Cukor's Adam's RIb. What is Cavell's "comedy of remarriage," and is it really a genre? What does "marriage" mean to Cavell, and what does it have to do with America and democracy? Why does divorce make marriage more romantic? Are the conversations we're having about film in North America getting better or worse? Why should you take an interest in your experience? Join us as we take an interest in our experience of Stanley Cavell and work through these and more questions!

Time Codes:

0h 00m 45s: Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage by Stanley Cavell (published in 1981)

0h 40m 31s: THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) [dir. Leo McCarey]

1h 06m 58s: HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) [dir. Howard Hawks]

1h 23m 18s: ADAM’S RIB (1949) [dir. George Cukor]

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* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring

* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

* Read Elise’s piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”

* Check out Dave’s Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!

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