10 Great Hollywood Comedy Films

By: SM. Mehdi Hassan

Film is a great source entertainment and comedy is a great source of fun. I think all the English movie lovers have seen at least one short film of THREE STOOGES or at least one movie of Charlie Chaplin. Comedy, from the beginning of Hollywood, is a major film genre and till now, the industry has produced numerous hit comedy movies. Today, I am going to talk about some of all time great Hollywood comedy movies.

Of course, this kind of list often creates controversy and my list may not satisfy many people as they will feel disappointed and even angry that their favorite movies are not in this list. So, I apologize in advance for it. I have just made the list from my own research and you don’t have to agree with the list.

It Happened One Night:

Image link: It Happened One Night

Released in 1934, It Happened One Night is a screwball type comedy, which were very popular in the 1930s and 40s. The movie won Academy awards for Best leading actress and actor, best picture and best director. Clark Gable and Lily Claudette Chauchoin, two of the most popular film stars of that time starred in this movie. Claudette played the character of Ellie Andrews, a spoiled daughter of a rich man and Gable played Peter Warne, an out of job reporter. Ellie was running away from her father and ran across Peter. Although they were from two different worlds, they fell in love.

Some Like It Hot:

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In 2000, the American Film Institute listed Some Like it Hot as one of the best comedies of all time. The story is based on two musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), who were caught between a gang fight and witnessed a killing. The gang leader came to know about them and ordered his men to find and kill them. They decided to move out from Chicago. They disguised themselves as women and joined a women’s band. The story ends when the gang members found Jerry and Joe in a hotel and again they escape from their clutch and took shelter in a millionaire’s yacht. Marilyn Monroe, Sex Goddess of Hollywood, starred in this movie also.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb:

Image link: Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and love the Bomb

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, this dark comedy film is ranked number three on the list of “100 Years, 100 Laughs” by the American Film Institute. The movie actually satirizes the cold war. Famous English comedian Peter Sellers starred in this movie and played three roles: Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove. U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper orders air strike on USSR as he suspects a conspiracy by the Soviet. On the other hand, Soviet Russia has a "Doomsday Machine” that would destroy the earth if it is hit by a nuclear bomb. At the end, the movie shows that the nuclear explosion takes place and destroys the earth.

Monty Python's Life of Brian:

Image link: Monty Python’s life of Brian

This 1979 British comedy film was written by a famous British comedy group “Monty Pythons.” Graham Chapman here plays the central character, Brian. The story of the movie is related with Christian religion. On the day Jesus was born, three wise men came from different parts of the world to see Jesus. Unfortunately, in a near by stable, another baby named Brian was born and those three wise men thought he was Jesus. The Jews hated the Romans and looking for signs and they came across Brian. Brian tried to convince them that he was not Messiah but they did not listen. The movie was released in North America in August, 1979 and it collected $ 140,034 in the first week. That year, it was the highest grossing British film in North America.

National Lampoon's Animal House:

Image link: National Lampoon’s Animal House

This movie is about a group of college students who are disliked by all. The dean of the college is desperate to get them off the campus. This 1978 comedy can be referred as a “Genre definer.” It depicts the culture of American college. Still now, the movie is very popular and college and university students use dialogues from the movie. Another interesting fact about this movie is that it introduced and popularized the idea of “Toga party.” From 1978 till now, the movie collected $ 200 million. In 2000, Total Film magazine ranked Animal House the 19^th greatest comedy film of all time.

City Lights:

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City Lights was directed, written and starred by comedy legend, Charlie Chaplin. He even composed the music for this movie. This silent film was made when talkies has already taken over Hollywood. Because of his influence and power, it was possible for Charlie Chaplin to make City Lights a silent film. The story revolves around the Chaplinian “Tramp.” He comes across this blind girl, who sells flowers on the street. The girl takes her as a rich person. Chaplin does not reveal his real identity. He collects money for the girl’s operation but at the eleventh hour, he is caught by the police and sent to jail on the charge of theft. The story ends when the girl recognizes the “Tramp” after touching his hand. The ending scene of the movie is one of the most memorable scenes of all time and imitated in other movies like: Manhattan, Magnolia, and La Dolce Vita.

American Graffiti:

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Directed by George Lucas, American Graffiti was nominated for the Academy Award in five categories. The movie is based on the commemoration of George Lucas’s own past experiences. The story of the movie is based on four American young men who are about to start their college life. The four young men are Curt, Steve, Terry and John. All of them possess some individual characters. On the basis of the last night of their summer vacation they are involved in some interesting incidents. This movie was placed on the 48^th position in the list of “100 Funniest Movies” by Bravo. Universal Studio distributed the movie.

City Slickers:

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Starred by famous comedy actor Bill Crystal, City Slickers was ranked 73 on the list of the “100 Funniest Movies” by Bravo. The movie is about three men who are in their mid-life crises. Mitch Robins, Ed and Phil decide to go for a cattle drive on their vacation. All of their crises are related to family matters. Going to the cattle drive they met a person named Curly. This man taught them about real life matters.

For his performance as Curly, Palance won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The movie was directed by Ron Underwood. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Good Morning, Vietnam:

Image link: Good Morning, Vietnam

Good Morning, Vietnam is full of humor and has been ranked 36^th on the list of’100 Funniest Movies’ by Bravo. The movie is based on the Vietnam War. The movie tells the life story of a disc jockey of armed force radio station named Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams). He was assigned for this post to entertain the soldiers through radio programs. Later on, he realizes the dangerous situation of the battle field. For his performance, Robin Williams was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award. The movie was directed by Barry Levinson.

Private Benjamin:

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Private Benjamin is a funny movie and at the same time thought provoking. In the movie, a Jewish woman, Judy, is seen dealing with the extreme truth of life. Her husband dies on the night they got married. Then she decided to join the army and there she meets with a French doctor and involved in a relation with him. However, before she marries the doctor, she gets the taste of independent life and her army life helped her becoming confident. The story is simple but the inner meaning of the movie is very significant and thoughtful to some extent. It is not the way things are happening, every incident are here very meaningful. Goldie Hawn played the role of Judi, and for her outstanding performance, she was nominated for Best Actress in the Leading Role for Academy Award. The movie also got nomination in two other categories.