Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
white-telephone comedy

white-telephone comedy

9.9
A light, elegant Italian film from the 1930s and 1940s about rich people's romantic and funny lives
  • noun
translation icon : comedia de teléfono blanco
  • The museum is hosting a retrospective on classic white-telephone comedy films from the prewar era.

Examples

  • Many critics consider the white-telephone comedy to represent escapism during a turbulent period in Italy.

  • Her film collection includes several masterpieces from the white-telephone comedy tradition.

  • I love watching white-telephone comedies on lazy Sundays.

  • Have you seen any white-telephone comedies recently?

  • Many critics believe that white-telephone comedy films capture the elegance of Italian society in the 1930s.

  • The film festival showcased a variety of classic white-telephone comedy films, highlighting their romantic themes.

  • I enjoy the lighthearted plots of white-telephone comedy, which often depict the lives of the wealthy.

Synonyms

white-telephone farce
vswhite-telephone comedy
9.9

A light, silly comedy set among rich people that often includes white telephones as a sign of luxury

focuses on the romantic lives of upper class characters rather than general comic situations

Surface Forms

white-telephone comedy singular
white-telephone comedies plural

Morphology

white-telephone + comedy

This term names a culturally and historically specific film genre (1930s–40s Italian films) whose meaning -- the symbolic use of white telephones to signal upper-class settings -- cannot be derived from the literal parts. A B1 learner who knows 'white', 'telephone' and 'comedy' would likely interpret it as a comedy involving a white telephone rather than a recognized genre, so the overall sense is not compositionally predictable.

Etymology

White-telephone comedy is named for the small, elegant white telephone often shown in rich people's homes in Italian films of the 1930s and 1940s. These films focused on the 'upper class' with romantic and funny stories that let viewers 'escape' hard times, so the name now means that light, glamorous film style.