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Top 25 Comedies20 lists (resources listed at bottom of page) were aggregated to create this list of the top 25 comedy films of all time. 1. Airplane! (1980) 2. Some Like It Hot (1959) 3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 4. Duck Soup (1933) 5. Blazing Saddles (1974)
6. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
11. Annie Hall (1977)
16. The Producers (1967)
21. The General (1927) Resources:
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| Some Like It HotReleased: March 29, 1959 Studio: United Artists Genre: comedy/romance Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 25.00 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 437.70 Worldwide: ? |
Directing: Billy Wilder Screenwriting: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown, George Raft Review:“Billy Wilder was at the height of his powers when he made this uproarious” TV and “expertly constructed farce.” ML The “wonderfully-satirical, funny comedy” FS is “sensational from start to finish, with dazzling performances by Lemmon and Curtis, a memorably comic turn by Monroe as Sugar Kane, and Oscar-winning costumes by Orry-Kelly.” LM The movie was “deliberately shot in black-and-white to avoid the pitfalls of camp or transvestism.” T95 Because it “featured cross-dressing and homosexuality” MSN it “was released without receiving a certificate of approval of the Production Code Administration, which enforced the Motion Picture Production Code of moral guidelines. The code was decreasing in importance at the time because of increased social tolerance. Because of its success, Some Like It Hot was considered to be a main catalyst for the code to completely be abandoned.” MSN Joe (Curtis) and Jerry (Lemmon) are two unemployed jazz musicians who accidentally witness the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. To escape Chicago hitmen, led by “dime-flipping, spats-wearing ringleader Spats Columbo (Raft),” FS they dress in drag and join an all-girl band headed to Florida. “They’re a couple of goners” A07 when they meet “luscious, voluptuous singer Sugar Kowalczyk (Monroe)” FS “(‘Look how she moves! It’s like Jell-O on springs!’).” A07
To attract her attention, Joe, in a “dead-on lampoon of Cary Grant,” TV also dresses as a wealthy, yacht owner. “Daphne (impressed with his own new sexy image) distracts the real millionaire – a smitten, oft-wed Osgood Fielding III (Brown).” FS The latter leads to “the greatest fade-out line in film history:” FS “Brown’s bland ‘Nobody’s perfect’ when his fiancee (Lemmon) finally confesses that she’s a he.” TO’95
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Oscars:Wins: 1, Best B/W Costume Design Nominations: 6 – including Best Director, Best Actor (Lemmon), Best Screenplay Other Lists/Honors:
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| It Happened One NightReleased: February 22, 1934 Studio: Columbia Genre: comedy/romance Box Office (numbers in millions):Domestic: 4.36 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation:Domestic: 190.70 Worldwide: ? |
Directing: Frank Capra Screenwriting: Robert Riskin Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly Review:“Frank Capra’s sparkling, legendary, madcap, screwball romantic comedy” FS “is considered one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time.” MSN It was the first to win all five major Oscars. It would be another 40 years before it happened again with 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The movie is based on “Night Bus,” a story by Samuel Hopkins, FS which was originally published in Cosmopolitan. LM Ellie Andrews (Colbert) is the high-society daughter of a millionaire (Connolly) who “is trying to escape her wealthy life to find true happiness.” VD While traveling incognito by bus, she meets “a sexy, brusque, dumb-but-loveable, out-of-work news correspondent (Gable).” FS “A steamy battle of the sexes begins” VD as “the antagonistic couple have a series of hapless adventures and comic misunderstandings, leading them to the realization that they were made for each other.” FS The movie contains legendary scenes such as the “Walls of Jericho” (a blanket dividing their beds) and her show-some-leg hitch-hiking technique which still “remain fresh and delightful.” LM Sources:
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Awards/Honors/Lists:
Dave’s Movie Database Lists:
Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:
Awards:
Oscars:Wins: 5 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gable), Best Actress (Colbert), Best Adapted Screenplay Nominations: 5 Other Lists/Honors:
Critics’ Picks: |
