To close out our Summer of Comedy celebration, The Paris Theater is proud to present Punch Up: Uppercuts to the Upper Crust. This two-week lineup of biting comedies (which runs August 1-11) takes a raised-eyebrow look at the monocled, the snooty, the entitled, and the privileged.  
 

From gently chiding to viciously satiric, these movies remind us of the silliness of the aristocracy and the obliviousness of the obscenely wealthy. From the always-delightful Marx Brothers’ reveling in the silliness of high society in A Night at the Opera, to the downright vicious takedowns of Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, there are several modes of brutality suited for all tastes. Also in the program is Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, which so upset the French aristocracy, legend has it that an audience member threatened to set fire to the theater during the film’s premiere. From lighthearted send-ups of the wealthy elite like screwball comedies Holiday and The Philadelphia Story, to darkly comedic satires where the well-to-do consider murder to hold onto their status (Kind Hearts and Coronets, A New Leaf, Divorce Italian Style), to an outright bloodbath among the intolerable yuppie class of Wall Street (American Psycho), the films in Punch Up make it clear that the class struggle has resulted in some of the most memorable screen comedies of all time.

Punch Up includes 35mm showings of Arthur, Divorce Italian Style, The Landlord, and The Philadelphia Story.