Some dispute my designation of This Is Spinal Tap as the funniest movie of all time in yesterday’s LinkSwarm. So let’s have a poll:
I tried to include a wide range of classic movie comedies from different eras, from silent to modern, in roughly chronological order. Feel free to add any favorites not listed in the comments below.
Tags: A Night At The Opera, Airplane, Animal House, Arsenic and Old Lace, Blazing Saddles, Bringing Up Baby, Caddyshack, comedy, Dodgeball, funny, Hot Fuzz, Modern Times, Monty Python, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, movies, Office Space, reader poll, Some Like It Hot, Spinal Tap, The General, Young Frankenstein
“Son, fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life”
Animal House wins, it has to.
Nothing wrong with Spinal Tap and I liked that too, but c’mon man, you can’t go against Animal House.
I called it for Caddyshack, but I have to admit there are a lot of close contenders in that list.
The Marx Brothers’ “Duck Soup”.
Number 2 would be “Blazing Saddles”.
Hmm, poll not working for me – all I get is is “here’s how to make a quiz”.
But the correct answer is Young Frankenstein.
Uncle Buck
Didn’t put in a vote for it, but SpaceBalls deserves a hearing.
Also, Billy Wilder’s “One, Two, Three” ranks up there with Political Comedy with some firmly delivered slaps against the love of Communism espoused in those days by the proto-Wokeists of the 1960s.
Honorable mentions: “The In-Laws” (Peter Falk as a CIA agent)
“Disorganised Crime”
Your list doesn’t contain “Groundhog Day” which is, was and always will be Bill Murray’s funniest movie ever. And, if it’s not the funniest movie ever made by America’s funniest comedian then how can it fail to qualify as the Greatest Comedy of All Time?
Existentialist/Buddhist humor rules. From Caddyshack, “There won’t be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness. So I got that going for me…”. “Groundhog Day’s” Puxatawney Phil is also the funniest furry rodent ever cast in any comedy live or illustrated.
This is an analysis similar to how one concludes that “Gimme Shelter” is the all time greatest song of the all time greatest rock band and it therefore qualifies as the best rock song ever. Especially when considering that it’s a duet sung with a great Chicago singer, Merry Clayton.
Blazing Saddles.Hands down. Some come close, but Brooks and Pryor kill it.
“1 2 3”, with James Cagney, followed by “The Producers” with Zero Mostel.
Kurt
@Ray Clutts
Good to find another Grand Funk Railroad fan. Their version of Gimme Shelter, especially the one from their live album, is indeed the best.
Kurt
Any suggestion of best comedy has to include
Safety Last by Harold Lloyd
One Week by Buster Keaton (or Cops or The General, or or or)
City Lights by Charlie Chaplin. (or The Kid, or The Gold Rush)
The General is the first item on the list. It was either that or Sherlock, Jr., which is more notable for the brilliance of the optical effects.
Our regular movie group watched Safety Last recently, and the last third of the film is every bit as brilliant as its reputation, but the first two-thirds drags a bit.
@DMO, Kurt
I remember seeing “One, Two, Three” in the movies at age ten (just to give away my advanced age her) and laughing myself silly. I also found it online about two years ago and saw it again. It was as fresh as it was in 1960, and Jimmy Cagney was fantastic. But I still won’t drink Coke because of what it has become since then.
What’s Up, Doc?
I already did the quiz but I forgot “Taming of the Shrew”. Sorry if it’s to heavy but basically my life in a way..Had to explain it to the wife once. Damn that was hard.
Which version?
Bill Murray is a good comedian, but Gene Wilder is better.
Leland: Gene Wilder is superb. In high school I was an usher at the Glenwood Theatre in Glenwood, Illinois and I’d stand in the back of the auditorium during multiple showings of both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein laughing spastically at the same lines again and again and again… “Is it twue what they say about your people? Oh, it’s twue it’s twue…” That’s about as non-PC as movie dialogue gets.
Kurt: Understand that circa 1971-1975 while attending HFHS, I’ve seen Uriah Heap, Grand Funk, Deep Purple (twice) and Led Zepplin (the night before Bono broke his hand in 1975) at the International Ampitheatre and therefore qualify as an original head banger. Still, respectfully, the Stones version of “Gimme Shelter” is the riot inducing original. Accept no substitutes.
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Sad to say, but going by the only film that made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe, Disney’s animated THE JUNGLE BOOK (which I saw at the age of eight) still holds pride of place. “Hey! Who’s drivin’ this flyin’ umbrella?!” continues to make me giggle.
Classic funny: No Time for Sergeants
runner up classic funny: One, Two, Three (especially the interrogation scene)
The Lady Eve, Preston Sturgis’ classic from the 40s. I’ve seen it perhaps a couple dozen times, a record, and each time is like the first viewing. A bit of everything, from slapstick to romance to innuendo. Almost hard to believe people were once capable of writing screenplays like that.
Dr. Strangelove belongs on the list.
Dr. Strangelove
Please consider: The Gods Must Be Crazy, written and directed by Jamie Uys, 1980.