Thecomedy of remarriage is a subgenre of Americancomedy films of the 1930s and 1940s. At the time, theProduction Code, also known as theHays Code, banned any explicit references to or attempts to justifyadultery and illicit sex. Thecomedy ofremarriage with the same spouse enabled filmmakers to evade this provision of the Code. The protagonistsdivorced, flirted, or even had relationships, with strangers without risking the wrath ofcensorship, and then got back together.
Thegenre was given its name by the philosopherStanley Cavell[1]in a series of academic articles that later became a 1981 book,Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Cavell argues that the genre represented Hollywood's crowning achievement, and that beneath all theslapstick andinnuendo is a serious effort to create a new basis formarriage centered on mutual love – religious and economic necessity no longer applying for much of theAmerican middle class.
In response to Cavell's article, scholar David R. Shumway claims it is possible "to make too much of the remarriage 'genre'". He points out that "only two of Cavell's seven comedies deal with characters who we actually see interacting as husband and wife for any length of time" and points out that all seven films fit into thescrewball comedy genre.[2]
