Saturday, September 30, 2006

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:




Image link: Some Like It Hot


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 19th greatest comedy film of all time.



City Lights:




Image link: City Lights


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:





Image link: American Graffiti


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 48th position in the list of “100 Funniest Movies” by Bravo. Universal Studio distributed the movie.

City Slickers:





Image link: City Slickers


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 36th 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:





Image link: Private Benjamin


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.

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:36 AM

    The image used for "Some Like It Hot" is actually from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:25 PM

    I don't think you should write a wordy blog in English if you don't speak the language.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:34 PM

    U suck when it comes to writing ... about hollywood movies ... probably write about ur own country movies would be better ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:03 AM

      its his wish,dumb ass....so shut the fuck up

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:10 AM

    this is not to comment on the blog , its a note to the unsolicitated english grammarians who have cared to post their unvaluable comments.

    I am not saying this blog has unmatched quality when it comes to the english language but what amazed me was the ease with which two "anonynimous nobody'" claimed a superior pedestal .. lets look at the first comment - "I don't think you should write a wordy blog in English if you don't speak the language." - anything written on the basis of assumption in the form of advoce is best described as non sense.. so i shall not dignify that with any more remarks.

    second one - "U suck when it comes to writing ... about hollywood movies ... probably write about ur own country movies would be better ..." mr. anonymous, if you have no respect for humble punctuation marks [ellipses]and use them where they are meant to be used you should stick to keeping your thoughts INSIDE YOUR HEAD.. not to mention your language - "extremely erudite" sir!

    Mr. blogger am sure you'll have figured out by now that this isnt somuch about your writing as it is about your religion. I found your blog answering my search question. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mr stranger i would like to say that i like ur concept of clearing comments and clarity if mind ,,,dats very nice this is one if the quality..that want in ssb interview.for which i m preparing..

      Delete
  5. Anonymous4:55 AM

    Its a very helpful blog and all those
    twats who think that only english speaking nationals should write blogs are the real loser beacuse they are good for nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:29 AM

    Came across your blog while searching for top ten Hollywood comedies. While I wouldn't agree or disagree with you [simply because I've watched only one of the movies in your list], I think those racist ******** don't even deserve a comment because they can't even type a grammatically correct sentence in what is claimed to be their mother tongue.

    P.S. I usually don't resort to profanities, but if someone comes uninvited to a blog which is not their own to post offensive stuff, I don't see the reason to use civilized language.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:22 PM

      hats off for seeing in this perspective and your totally rite about the grammar part you have have spoken above! Useless these people are!

      Delete
  7. Anonymous4:28 PM

    lets make these two ENGLISH speaking whoevers write a blog n see how they fare ....id call these ppl parasites who try to ail d one they benefit from .....well both of u all ..i think its enough disgrace for u two now , n wud be appreciated if u took ur soo unappreciated comment off this good man's blog ...losers ...n well to u mr.mehdi ,thanx for d information ...:)))

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:42 PM

    this anonymous sir should grow up, i think i should thanks for the information on this blog to is owner, thats what i am doing. be well

    ReplyDelete
  9. What is the name of the comedy english film that a rat help two brothers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:35 PM

      MOUSE HUNT

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:35 PM

      Mouse Hunt

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:36 PM

      MOUSE HUNT

      Delete
    4. Anonymous2:51 AM

      chutya pa

      Delete
    5. Anonymous3:23 AM

      m k c f*** website
      mc bc gan** lol

      Delete
    6. Anonymous3:24 AM

      sory

      Delete
  10. Anonymous5:54 AM

    dis blog was really helpful for me. and f*** the racist comments.
    Mr. blogger you are doing a great job. kep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous4:28 AM

    thnks for the info...
    keep updating the list ...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great list, I am gonna see some of these movies that I haven't seen so far. As for the racist b*****s, here's a middle finger for you guys.

    ReplyDelete
  13. trying two movies:
    Some Like It Hot
    City Slickers
    Hope they will be good

    ReplyDelete
  14. A good list mate.\m/_ _\m/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great list mate.I'll kinda stick to City Slickers n the monty python film. \m/_ _\m/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:19 AM

    dumb and dumber????

    ReplyDelete