Listmania!
My Twenty-Five Favorite Comedies
By an Amazon.com customer
Animal CrackersAnimal Crackers
Buy used from: $12.28
Contains as many classic one-liners and skits as any film ever made. If only they'd eliminated the awful romance and art theft elements.
Blazing Saddles (30th Anniversary Special Edition)Blazing Saddles (30th Anniversary Special Edition)
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $1.87
Mel Brooks shatters every racial and cultural taboo in telling the story of a black sheriff who wins the heart of a town in the Wild West.
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $14.80
A box office failure at the time, time has proven BRING UP BABY to be one of the truly great comedies. "Baby," by the way, is a leopard. Hepburn and Grant at the top of their game.
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition)Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition)
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $4.09
Both one of the funniest films ever made and a devastating anti-war film, this has lost little of its subversive message over the years.
Duck SoupDuck Soup
Buy used from: $21.06
Finally! A Marx Brothers film that eliminated the unwanted romance, and the result is their finest film and their last with Zeppo.
His Girl FridayHis Girl Friday
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $5.95
May contain more words per minute than any film ever made. The lightning fast and constant verbal exchanges are as funny as they are rapid. Cary Grant was never better than in this gem.
It Happened One NightIt Happened One Night
Buy new: $18.99 / Used from: $8.49
A truly classic comedy that earned Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress for Claudette Colbert, Best Actor for Clark Gable, and best Director for Frank Capra.
The Miracle of Morgan's CreekThe Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $5.49
This hysterical comedy has one of the most unusual plots ever: a young girl gets accidentally drunk with outgoing soldiers, may have married one, and finds herself pregnant and in need of a husband
Monkey BusinessMonkey Business
Buy used from: $11.33
The Marx Brothers make havoc on an ocean liner and then get mixed up with rival gangsters. Contains many superb skits, including the famous Maurice Chevalier imitation.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.68
Many Americans complain they don't "get" British humor, but I don't see what's not to get. A great movie that is basically a collection of great and subsequently famous skits.
Mr. Deeds Goes to TownMr. Deeds Goes to Town
Buy used from: $4.40
A lovely film about a non-nonsense Vermonter who inherits a fortune and refuses to be exploited by the falsity he finds there. Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur are delightful in the leads.
My Man Godfrey - Criterion CollectionMy Man Godfrey - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $32.49 / Used from: $21.99
As much as I love the THIN MAN films, this is my favorite William Powell film. Carole Lombard is film's greatest comedienne, and she shows why here.
Raising ArizonaRaising Arizona
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $4.23
A perfect cast graces the Coen Brothers bizarre story about an ex-con who kidnaps a baby for his ex-cop wife. More odd scenes than any other recent film comedy.
Sullivan's Travels - Criterion CollectionSullivan's Travels - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $27.99 / Used from: $18.99
Should famed comic director make ANTS IN YOUR PANTS OF 1939 or OH BROTHER BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? as his next film? (Yes, that's where the Coen Brothers got their title.)
The ApartmentThe Apartment
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $2.74
Brilliant performances by Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine with a great script by director Billy Wilder make this an almost perfect film.
The Awful TruthThe Awful Truth
Buy new: $15.49 / Used from: $10.79
One of the great comedies and one of Cary Grant's finest. Mr. Smith is played by Asta himself and also appeared as George in BRINGING UP BABY.
The Lady Eve - Criterion CollectionThe Lady Eve - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $35.99 / Used from: $19.59
Perhaps my favorite comedy, Barbara Stanwyck plays a bad girl who wants to be good, while good boy Henry Fonda won't let her. But she'll get her revenge.
The Palm Beach StoryThe Palm Beach Story
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $3.67
One of Preston Sturges's finest. Claudette Colbert tries to save her husband's career by leaving him to marry a rich person. My favorite bits are The Weenie King and the Ale and Quail Club.
The Philadelphia Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)The Philadelphia Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy used from: $2.06
Though famous through the thirties, this was at the time a rare box office success for Hepburn. Contains 7 or 8 superb performances, though the Oscar should have gone to Henry Fonda.
NinotchkaNinotchka
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $6.78
Another masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch, he blends a great script by Billy Wilder, Greta Garbo (in her only comedy), and Melvyn Douglas into something truly special.
This Is Spinal Tap - Criterion CollectionThis Is Spinal Tap - Criterion Collection
Buy used from: $37.75
The first mockumentary, its true distinction is being hysterically funny is a completely dead pan way. I'm amazed at how many of my friends have missed this one.
To Be or Not to BeTo Be or Not to Be
Buy used from: $13.88
Jack Benny's only great screen appearance, Carole Lombard's last, and another outstanding effort by Ernst Lubitsch, perhaps the finest of all directors of comedies.
Trouble in Paradise - Criterion CollectionTrouble in Paradise - Criterion Collection
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $22.98
A sophisticated sex comedy the likes of which only the great Ernst Lubitsch could create. Dishonor among thieves.
Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century
Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $5.35
Howard Hawks established three genres, the gangster film, the modern Sci-fi film, and screwball comedy. Barrymore and Lombard are extraordinary here.
When Harry Met SallyWhen Harry Met Sally
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $1.75
Can men and women truly be best friends? Or do best friends make the best lovers? Either way, a truly excellent film. BTW, my two best friends are women.