An academic study of one of the most popular, profitable and persistent genres in British cinema. It seeks to redraw the map of British film history by arguing that comedy was the most succesful, and perhaps the most important genre of the 1930s, and that the very qualities which ensured that comedy film's low status are also its particular strengths. In the process it uncovers a whole tradition of popular cinema which criticism has relegated to the sidelines of history. The book looks in detail at the work of a number of key stars, includuding George Formby, Gracie Fields, The Crazy Gang, Cicley Courtneidge and Ernie Lotinga, revealing the wide range of comic styles and meanings they produced in seemingly formulaic films. It unearths a host of previously forgotten but notable films, and an important tradition in British popular culture, tracing the roots of the genre to its music-hall beginnings.