Funny movies are often considered a secondary genre but sometimes it isn’t. There are must see movies even in the funny movie category. A classic funny movie doesn’t drift on the changing tides of time. From slapstick to great comedies of all time, from American comedies to classics of Italian comedy, from zany parodies to French comedies. The art of laughter is among the noblest and also the most difficult. It is not at all easy to shoot a high-level funny film, much more difficult than other genres considered more important: the failed gag is a risk that can cause the whole story to collapse in a single scene.
Funny movies vary significantly from country to country, city to city, generation to generation. Some funny movies are more universal without feeling the weight of time, but the comedy is often tied to culture. Funny movies are less long-lasting, and the laughs may not be the same half a century after the initial release. However, entertaining films that span the years remaining effective are truly unique. Funny movies rarely win prestigious awards, and most actors may have the ambition to star in films they think are more important. But the best funny movies stay longer and are reviewed more regularly than any other type of movie. Two hours of irrepressible laughter, at times, is just what it takes at the end of the day.
The General (1926)
When Western & Atlantic Railroad train designer Johnnie Gray arrives in Marietta, Georgia, he meets Annabelle Lee, between the two loves of his life. The other is the “The General” locomotive. The American Civil War has broken out and Annabelle’s brother and her father join the military. To please Annabelle, Johnnie rushes to enlist, but is rejected. Annabelle informs Johnnie that she won’t talk to him until she sees him in uniform.
The movie of Buster Keaton was influenced by Great Locomotive Chase, the telling of a story that really happened during the American Civil War. At the time of its first release it was not well received by the public and mostly crushed by film critics, with poor ticket sales. Due to the $ 750,000 budget Keaton lost his self-sufficiency as a director and had to start dealing with the studio’s huge addictions. The general has actually been gradually reassessed and is currently perceived as one of the best movies ever made. The General is among the most popular funny movies ever made, with its gray-toned photography, its eye for strong lines, its awesome action connection. A comic masterpiece not to be missed.
Charlie Chaplin – Short Films
Charlie Chaplin makes himself known around the world with short films of his character Charlot, motivated by his life experience, created in 1914. A tramp with sturdy shoes contributes to the comedy films of the time the poetry of the fantastic film Teatro. Charlie Chaplin’s shorts, often less well known than his most popular feature films, are true pearls of the world of cinematic and entertaining art.
The Kid (1921)
A very poor woman abandons her little child hoping that he will be discovered by someone who can raise him in well-being. The tramp Charlot finds it and doesn’t hold back, he takes it as a really important target. Charlie Chaplin writes, produces and directs his first feature film, a work of art in history of cinema that after a century keeps its charm completely intact.
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Safety Last! (1923)
In this funny movie Harold Lloyd plays a character a boy next door who ends up in hair-raising danger. His strategy of encouraging an athletic associate to scale the exterior of a skyscraper as a promotional gimmick backfires, so Harold personally takes care of the dangerous climb. Meet annoying pigeons and a clock face in a sensational, perfectly constructed set that produces big thrills.
The Gold Rush (1925)
Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp is dedicated to the Alaskan Gold Rush in this famous film, whose surreal development, as in the scene where he eats the boots for hunger, has actually made the history of cinema. Likewise, the romantic parts and her falling in love work very well, contributing to the beauty of this Chaplin film. A great film, to be seen especially in the first silent version.
Zero for Conduct (1933)
The holidays are over and it’s time for the kids to go back to the horrible boarding school, run by conformist and obtuse tutors, unable to cultivate the development of any spirit of flexibility and imagination. Between works of art in the history of cinema on youth style and on social and scholastic conditioning on younger generations. A hymn to freedom and imagination, a drive to free ourselves totally from the imperceptible prisons in which they try to lock us up. A work of art by the genius of Jean Vigo.
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Children of the Desert (1933)
Eccentric Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy do the double act of the most beloved funny film and it is believed that these are their best 68 minutes. The two run away from their wives and everything goes terribly wrong with their plans activating a whole series of gags with great comic timing as the 2 poor guys end up hiding in their attic. Short, fun and delicious.
Duck Soup (1933)
What to say when a film approaches the age of a century but still looks as subversive and current as when it was launched? Perfect film by the Marx brothers, Duck Soup takes them out of their New York music hall environment, into a sort of remembrance of immigrants penetrated from central Europe and from fairy tales, where the struggle is brewing between the smug Freedonia individuals and cryptofascists from nearby Sylvania. With a much lighter touch than Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, the film teases not just fascism, but patriotism and politics as a whole – a sharp and clever satire in every scene.
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Marx Brothers in their first anarchist experience, settings in jazz and in the world of the upper class that include their most memorable gags. The story, in which Groucho is expected to witness a struggling opera enterprise, stages puns, tricks and linguistic tornadoes. Chico makes Italian-style jokes, while Harpo’s energetic slapstick accomplishments continually impress.
Way Out West (1936)
Way Out West by Laurel and Hardy is the film that reaches the maximum. Having managed to deliver a house deed to a bar owner, their efforts to apologize include a flying ass, an ill-fated piano, and lots of laughs. All of this plus various decidedly remarkable old-fashioned pieces of music and Ollie’s memorable gag using his thumb as a lighter. Artwork.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
A funny and romantic that shines like gold, The Philadelphia Story is one wonderful comedy of misconceptions and misbehavior. Which of the 3 males will win the heart of Katharine Hepburn’s icy heiress on the eve of her wedding? Her millionaire ex-husband Cary Grant, meddlesome journalist James Stewart or her partner and entrepreneur John Howard? In the end you may believe that she has chosen the wrong man, however you cannot deny that this funny and charming film is a near-perfect American comedian.
The Great Dictator (1940)
Charlie Chaplin’s brave 1940 film sees him parodying Adolf Hitler as the fictional despot Adenoid Hynckel. The popular scene where she dances with a plastic world is an excellent gag about the ostentation of megalomania, although there is also a murderous impulse in Hynkel’s habits, and the prescient “prison camp” speech. In general, it is more of a arthouse movie about power than just a funny movie.
His Girl Friday (1940)
The double-edged cynicism of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s Broadway comedy The Front Page couldn’t be more contemporary. Director Howard Hawks had the enthusiastic intuition to transform the male character Hildy, the protagonist of the novel, into an ardent woman played by Rosalind Russell in the film, sparking one of the most incendiary and entertaining war fights between men and women in the history of cinema.
Arsenic and old lace (1944)
The classic of black humor. Pleasant Hollywood movie of the golden age full of evil, in which some elderly women practice murder with the exact same calm and peace with which they prepare a cup of tea. Equally horrifying though nonviolent, the poison killings are discovered by a formidable Cary Grant.
The holidays of Monsieur Hulot (1953)
It is difficult to make a list of the best funny movies without including Jacques Tati, among the best directors ever, an extraordinary burlesque star, the French equivalent of Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot is exceptional. Its shape and its particular style make the master the ideal hero to observe with all lightness the sweet absurdity of summer stays by the sea on an extremely windy coast.
There is actually no story in the movie. The dialogue is minimal and is used only for useless and absurd things that the tourists of the summer season pronounce. Sounds of all kinds end up being firecrackers, thrown with comic impact. The film is among the best collections of visual gags ever seen, however it is the context in which they are placed and the environment of the film that takes it to the next level. The central character is a spectacular amalgam of confusion in the modern world, and every effort he makes to fit in during his beach vacation devastates the order of things.
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
This funny movie directed by Mario Monicelli is normally considered one of the funniest Italian moies. The strong point is the characters. “I Soliti Ignoti” is a “satire” based on the French opera “Rififi”, published years earlier. “Rififi” focuses on the historic and legendary 30-minute burglary scene. I soliti ignoti was a film of stars, many of whom were not yet famous in the cinema; these are the cases of Claudia Cardinale, Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman, who later became legendary and iconic actors of Italian cinema.
Cosimo (Memmo Carotenuto) is a gangster who was jailed after trying to steal a car. While in prison, he creates a plan that he thinks would make him rich for the rest of his life, then calls his lawyer and wife to ask to call someone who would admit the theft of the vehicle. That individual is Peppe (Vittorio Gassman), who authorizes him to answer for the theft he did not commit. Instead of being released, they both remain in prison. Understanding the plan, Peppe deceives Cosimo by making him confess his strategy.
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Funny B-Movie frome the king of horror movies Roger Corman, filmed in 1959. One night, after hearing the words of a poet recite at The Yellow Door, the waiter Walter Paisley returns home to create a sculpture of the cat that houses the hostess Carla, but inadvertently kills the feline. Shot in record time of 5 days with a spending plan of just $ 50,000. Roger Corman, besides being the king of the gods b-movies is also the king of low-cost films.
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Simon of the Desert (1965)
Simón, a long-bearded mystic, lives on a column in the middle of the desert, without eating. The inhabitants of the area praise him as a Messiah. Fun and surreal film of the highest level by the surrealist genius of Luis Bunuel. Born as a short film, Simon is one of the most famous characters of the Spanish director. In the initial Spanish variant, the holy man’s way of speaking is grotesque and amusing, something totally lost in the dubbing.
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Divorce Italian Style (1961)
Oscar-winning, Pietro Germi’s film tells an exceptional story with many really clever and funny scenes. The film has a lot of really remarkable camera movements in addition to the fantastic direction by Germi and an outstanding lead role by Marcello Mastroianni.
Mastroianni plays Ferdinando Cefalù, a boy tired of his wife, so much so that he wants to kill her. He wants to marry Angela, an innocent woman who returns his love. Convinced that his plan will undoubtedly work, he begins to imagine how he will benefit from it. Ferdinando’s madness and eccentricity are often represented by nervous tics that Mastroianni performs perfectly throughout the film. Although it was launched in 1961, the film is quite different from the entertaining films normally made at the time. His best minutes remain in the character of Mastroianni and in the cynical and evil aspect of his character.
The Pink Panther (1963)
The first of a collection of 5 funny movies about Peter Sellers’ clumsy unfaithful pseudo-French investigator, Chief Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther is also among the most determined , refined and lazy of the series. While extremely funny, Sellers’ character only mattered from the second film, A Shot in the Dark, onwards.
Bedazzled (1967)
The remake of this funny movie starring Brendan Fraser and Liz Hurley was a disappointment. The previous Bedazzled is a classic of funny movies and likewise Dud’s best cinematic movie. Dudley Moore is an unfortunate cook who goes in search of a waitress (Eleanor Bron), while Peter Cook plays the devil. What follows is a Faustian collection of gags – some funny, some flamboyant, some a little aged – that provide many possibilities for the comedic duo’s unique talent.
Stanley Moon works as a cook in a restaurant and is obsessed with the waitress, Margaret Spencer, however, he has no confidence in himself and is too shy to approach her. Desperate, he attempts suicide by hanging himself, but is interrupted by a man who claims to be the devil, a guy named George Spiggott. George provides Stanley with a “test dream”. Stanley wants a raspberry popsicle and George takes him to buy one from a nearby store. Spiggott wants to be the first to collect 100 billion souls. He will be readmitted to Heaven if he does. He also commits vandalism assisted by his 7 deadly sins staff.
Le Distrait (1970)
Before becoming a big star in the 80s in a duet with Gérard Depardieu in the films of Francis Veber, Pierre Richard showed his skills comedy in entertaining films where he shone with the natural humor that sets him apart: the character’s awkwardness, the poetic message behind his comic power. Le Distrait is a fun movie that the star directed himself.
Pierre Malaquet is a creative, weird, out of this world person who goes into comic circumstances all the time. He dealt with a large advertising agency “Jerico” on the advice of his mother. Focus on strange marketing ideas, his commercials appear like horror movies; death, violence and black humor exist in all of his works. He is convinced that “sensational” advertisements are more effective. His actions annoy his colleagues, however, to their surprise, the owner of the agency, Mr. Guiton, forgives him for all the oddities: he has a secret relationship with Malaquet’s mom, Glycia.
Frankenstein Junior (1974)
Because it’s also a love letter to classic 1930s Frankenstein films, Mel Brooks’ refined comedy is a hilarious parody. As the old Baron’s nephew (Gene Wilder) brings the monster back to life, Brooks pushes the story to absurdity when Wilder performs a song and dance duo in a tuxedo to prove that his monster (Peter Boyle) is creative. The initial of a long series of copies.
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
Eleven years after A Shot in the Dark, Edwards and Sellers returned to the Clouseau franchise. With Christopher Plummer now the gem hunter Sir Charles and Catherine Schell fight to maintain a respectable image. Concerned manager Herbert Lom and ninja butler Burt Kwouk overdo it with their hands but Sellers’ French vowels remain splendid.
Fantozzi (1975)
Fantozzi’s films are some of the most important Italian funny movies ever and are full of idioms and words that are currently part of the Italian language. They tell the story of Ugo Fantozzi, a mediocre Italian employee, a character who embodies the habits and routines of the Italian petty bourgeoisie. Huge cult scenes: Fantozzi and his partner Filini playing tennis, Fantozzi jumping from the balcony of his house onto the ring road to take the bus to work on time, the parody of the battleship Potemkin …
Animal House (1978)
The National Burlesque Project, a wild group of teenagers, misfits and playboys are in danger of being expelled by the university principal. If this story sounds familiar it is most likely due to the fact that this funny film was influenced by a whole series of college films, from American Pie to Zac Efron’s Bad Neighbors. But none of them have the same courageous energy brought by John Belushi’s cast members.
Blues Brothers (1980)
Blues singer and criminal Jake Blues is released from prison after serving 3 years and is taken by his brother Elwood in his Bluesmobile, a former battered police vehicle. Elwood shows off his skills by jumping over an open drawbridge. The brothers explore the Catholic orphanage where they grew up and learn from Sister Mary Stigmata that it will be closed unless $ 5,000 in property taxes are collected. During a preaching by Reverend Cleophus James at Triple Rock Baptist Church, Jake has an idea: they can reform their band, the Blues Brothers, which broke up when Jake went to jail, and raise the money to save the orphanage.
The Blues Brothers is a fun movie with a wonderfully upbeat story, punchy script, and a riot of cars that keep you busy whenever Belushi and Aykroyd’s robberies are a little excessive. Of course, the heart of the film remains in its music: Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown. It’s Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” that makes you tremble in your chair.
Airplane! (1980)
A funny movie that makes you laugh to tears even after numerous visions, this was the 2nd film by Jim Abraham and the Zucker brothers. It’s a whimsical and playful parody of 1970s disaster movies and stars Robert Hays as a struggling ex-pilot who needs to land an airliner when the real pilot dies from diarrhea. Leslie Nielsen is the ship’s doctor.
The Marquis of Grillo (1981)
Played by Alberto Sordi, this entertaining film is set in nineteenth-century Rome and tells the story of Onofrio del Grillo, a marquis who spends his days in total idleness and enjoys playing tricks on the population. His life changes when he meets Gasperino, a poor man who greatly resembles him, offering him the possibility of being the Marquis.
Rome, 1809. Pope Pius VII with his ministers and cardinals exercises the spiritual and temporal power of the Papal State in Italy. The Marquis Onofrio del Grillo is among his favorites, but also the worst of all the nobility. As a protected and fortunate noble, Onofrio does not hesitate to play tricks on citizens without worrying about the consequences. He addresses the people with repulsive speeches, declaring that his nobility allows him to do what he wants, which they, being poor, cannot do.
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Tim Burton’s funny movie could be proof that the director is much better off with low-budget projects, as long as he has a strong collaborator. Starting with a famous soundtrack by Danny Elfman, the story culminates with a satire on espionage. Pee-Wee is a road movie in which a hyperactive boy ends up being a prophet who lights up the lives of wanderers and rebellious souls. Burton’s signature style is everything in this film. It is the character of Paul Reubens who makes the film still relevant and captures the essence of youth.
The Three Amigos! (1986)
This hilarious Hollywood movie sees 3 forgotten actors from the silent film era take a trip to Mexico to appear at a warlord’s birthday party only to end up leading the riot of a farmer. It’s all deeply frenetic, most of the lines come from whimsical accents, The role of Alfonso Arau as the terrifying El Guapo is a surprise, as is Randy Newman’s shocked cameo.
Mortacci (1989)
In a cemetery the dead meet every night. They are predestined not to enter the next stage of immortality, until the death of the last living human being who remembers them. The various characters exist with the memory of their lives: Alma, a movie star (Carol Alt) who every night witnesses the futile effort of her former fan (Malcolm McDowell) to commit suicide on her grave; Angelo, a womanizer (Andy Luotto) who died of shame; Felice and Giggetto, 2 beggars (Eraldo Turra and Luciano Manzalini) who quickly leave the group as the last woman (Mariangela Melato) who remembers them dies while visiting their burial place. The story is interrupted by the arrival of Lucillo (Sergio Rubini), a soldier who was actually thought to be dead in Lebanon, an event appreciated by his fellow villagers because they built a myth of a popular hero on him. The cemetery guardian Domenico (Vittorio Gassman) is unaware of whatever happens.
Festival in Cannes (1999)
Cannes, 1999. Alice, an actress, wants to make a independent film and looking for sponsors. She meets Kaz, a talkative businessman, who guarantees her $ 3 million if she works with Millie, a French star who no longer finds attractive roles. Alice tells the story of the film to Millie and the actress falls in love with the project. Rick, a famous producer who works for a large Hollywood studio, asks Millie for a small part in a mainstream movie, otherwise she will lose her celebrity, Tom Hanks. Is Kaz a real producer or is he a cheat? Rick isn’t actually as rich as he once was and he definitely needs to get Alice to leave Millie to close the big deal with Tom Hanks.
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Hollywood Dreams (2007)
Enthusiastic actress Margie Chizek seeks fame in Hollywood. She is rejected by the film industry, she falls in love, she finds the deception behind the world of marketing and advertising. Saved from destruction by a kind producer, Margie manages to enter the world of Hollywood and falls in love with a young star, who is consolidating his career by posing as gay. Hollywood Dreams engages the audience thanks to the remarkable performance of Tanna Frederick and her character as a neurotic and tormented actress.
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Chasing Butterflies (2009)
Nina runs away from home hours before her wedding. In order not to delay the wedding event, her mother makes the groom believe that she is Nina and celebrates the wedding. Not long after, the mother and the groom together begin the search to discover Nina and bring her back: Nina’s partner is afraid she doesn’t like him anymore. A bizarre fifteen-year-old boy meets Nina on the street and attempts to impress her with his father’s Corvette. A rebellious girl and her newly escaped man meet the boy and steal his Corvette, wreaking havoc with a series of thefts as they head to Canada in search of a better life.
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Adorable Friends (2012)
3 friends in their fifties are welcomed on the occasion of the wedding of Philippe, a common ex-boyfriend of their youth, who after many love experiences seems to have discovered the perfect woman , Tasha. Chantal is single and the odd job of marketing and advertising a bitter chocolate is a catastrophe. Gabrielle is among her friends, spontaneous and libertine, encouraged by the fact that having sex is the only way to not get old. Nelly is a suspicious and cold woman, or so it seems. All 3 have had a flirtation with Philippe in the past and don’t want to see him again. Yet interest wins. The trip is also a pretext to take stock of thirty years of life, of the ties with men, of the daily frustrations, of the disappointments at work. Likewise it is an opportunity to change your life.
