The comedy of remarriage is a subgenre typical of American cinema in the 1930's and 1940's. At the time, the Production Code (aka Hays Code) banned any explicit references to or attempts to justify adultery and illicit sex. The comedy of remarriage enabled filmmakers to evade this provision of the Code. The protagonists divorced, flirted with strangers without risking the wrath of censorship, and then got back to each other. This typical pattern often generated great tension between the characters, for the greatest pleasure of the audience.

Famous comedies of remarriage

• The Awful Truth (1937), d. Leo McCarey (starring Cary Grant & Irene Dunne)
• The Philadelphia Story (1940), d. George Cukor (starring Cary Grant & Katharine Hepburn)
• His Girl Friday (1940), d. Howard Hawks (starring Cary Grant & Rosalind Russell)
• That Uncertain Feeling (1942), d. Ernst Lubitsch (starring Melvyn Douglas & Merle Oberon)

Further readings

• Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard Film Studies, 1981) by Stanley Cavell.

Comedy | Film genres