Icons Of Screwball Comedy, Vol. 1
Frustrated over his loveless engagement and a board of directors that ignores him, a wealthy auto magnate (Herbert Marshall) agrees to pose as the husband of an unemployed chef (Jean Arthur) so they can apply as a married butler-and-cook duo for a mobster (Leo Carrillo). Marshall gets tips from his own butler but trouble arises when he learns that Arthur is a disaster in the kitchen, in If You Could Only Cook (1935). Then, Arthur has Too Many Husbands (1940), starring as a young woman who finds herself the object of affection of two men:her current hubby (Melvyn Douglas) and the man (Fred MacMurray) she believed was dead. Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair star as sisters who move from Ohio to New York City to succeed as a writer and stage actress, respectively, coming across a succession of wacky characters in the process, in My Sister Eileen (1942). Brian Aherne co-stars. And, Russell stars in She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945), a delightful comedy about a fiercely independent psychiatrist who insists she has no need for romance until she's charmed by one of her patients (Lee Bowman), a shell-shocked combat artist. Standard; Soundtrack: English; bonus short Ain't Love Cuckoo (1946). Two-disc set.

Icons Of Screwball Comedy, Vol. 2
First, Theodora Goes Wild (1936) is a classic screwball comedy with Irene Dunne as the writer of a steamy best-seller who uses a pen name so she doesn't rile the residents of her small town. Sophisticated Manhattan artist Melvyn Douglas takes a liking to her, joining her at home, where he poses as a gardener, then in the Big Apple, where he must face his politician father and estranged wife. Next, thrown together by chance, medical school teacher Ray Milland and would-be novelist Loretta Young play at being married, only to discover they'd like to try it for real, in the frothy comedy The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940). Brian Aherne and Young star in the comedic whodunit A Night to Remember (1943) about a mystery writer who tries his hand at romance novels, but gets the sleuthing bug once again when a corpse turns up in his backyard. Finally, Together Again (1944) stars Dunne as the mayor of a small Vermont town whose burgeoning romance with a big-city sculptor (Charles Boyer) is threatened by everything from local gossip to Dunne's daughter (Mona Freeman) who believes Boyer is interested in her. Standard; Soundtrack: English; bonus short Screen Snapshot, Vol. 18, #10 (1938). Two-disc set.