Lots of great movies never see the light of day. Or, they are missed by the next generation of movie watchers because the only movies that get real play are the most recent. Did you know that over 80% of Blockbuster's fees are generated from the 20 "new" movies each week? So, this week's post will feature 20 hilarious (it ended up being 21) movies that I will bet many of you have never seen - and are not on the B'buster top rentals. This post provides a season of laughter.
I do not pretend that this is a list of the TOP comedies of all time. In fact, many of those are not on my list - like: Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Ferris Bueller, The Blues Brothers, Big, Monty Python or the Life of Brian, Something About Mary, Annie Hall, Princess Bride, Back to the Future, Trains, Planes and Automobiles, Throw Momma from the Train, etc. Instead I have tried to identify films you might not have been exposed to. By the way - if you missed any of those listed above you could always add those to the list as you place your next NetFlix order.
Number one on this lengthy list is:
Harold & Maude (1971) - If you haven't seen it you should IMMEDIATELY go out and rent it. See it tonight. Don't wait. This movie is such a cult classic that it played at a theater around the corner when I was in college for all FOUR YEARS. Music by Cat Stevens, stars Bud Cort (19 years old) and Ruth Gordon (79 years old). Very hard movie to characterize but there was enough comedy to make it in this category. It is also a love story, coming of age story, tragedy, drama and more. Those of you who are There's Something About Mary fans recall that Mary's favorite movie of all time was H&M.
Punchline - Very early Tom Hanks (1988), and a comedic role for Sally Field. She is amazingly versatile and they are both incredible together. This movie gives a great view of what it's like to be a stand-up comic. John Goodman in a supporting role. Some of the best comic routines you will ever see.
Mr. Saturday Night (1992) - If you like/appreciate Jewish humor you will absolutely LOVE this movie. Billy Crystal has been terrific in lots of films but I think this was his crowning achievement. There is a tragic side to this film but Buddy Young (Crystal) is funnier than almost anyone. His biting satirical style just cracks me up.
I do not pretend that this is a list of the TOP comedies of all time. In fact, many of those are not on my list - like: Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Ferris Bueller, The Blues Brothers, Big, Monty Python or the Life of Brian, Something About Mary, Annie Hall, Princess Bride, Back to the Future, Trains, Planes and Automobiles, Throw Momma from the Train, etc. Instead I have tried to identify films you might not have been exposed to. By the way - if you missed any of those listed above you could always add those to the list as you place your next NetFlix order.
Number one on this lengthy list is:
Harold & Maude (1971) - If you haven't seen it you should IMMEDIATELY go out and rent it. See it tonight. Don't wait. This movie is such a cult classic that it played at a theater around the corner when I was in college for all FOUR YEARS. Music by Cat Stevens, stars Bud Cort (19 years old) and Ruth Gordon (79 years old). Very hard movie to characterize but there was enough comedy to make it in this category. It is also a love story, coming of age story, tragedy, drama and more. Those of you who are There's Something About Mary fans recall that Mary's favorite movie of all time was H&M.
Punchline - Very early Tom Hanks (1988), and a comedic role for Sally Field. She is amazingly versatile and they are both incredible together. This movie gives a great view of what it's like to be a stand-up comic. John Goodman in a supporting role. Some of the best comic routines you will ever see.
Mr. Saturday Night (1992) - If you like/appreciate Jewish humor you will absolutely LOVE this movie. Billy Crystal has been terrific in lots of films but I think this was his crowning achievement. There is a tragic side to this film but Buddy Young (Crystal) is funnier than almost anyone. His biting satirical style just cracks me up.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) - Richard Dreyfuss stars, also in a movie requiring an appreciation for Jewish humor. He plays a hustling brash young player who cannot seem to get enough. Dreyfuss was very young, one year following his role in American Graffiti and he played the part to the hilt. (No trailer, selected scene only)
The Gods Must be Crazy (1980) - This one is pretty different. A Coke bottle arrives in the Kalahari Desert. Amazingly funny result. This is unlike any movie you have ever seen. Highly recommended. You won't be able to resist laughing... a lot.
Wayne's World (1992) - Even if you never saw the skit on Saturday Night Live, this is one funny movie. Mike Meyer's (Austin Powers, Shrek) and Dana Carvey star. Another successful set of x-SNL comedians who have made it big. What a great long list of talent that show has produced! Among others, this show has produced: Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Gildna Radner, Al Frankin, Andy Kaufman, Joe Piscopo, Phil Hartman, Will Farrell, and who can ever forget Tina "Palin Fey. There were only a couple of really good movies that came directly from SNL - The Blues Brothers and this one. Some very classic sayings flowed like: "No Way...Way," "Schwing," and "Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!"
Stripes (1981) - Bill Murray might be the funniest of all the former SNL comedians to make it big in the movies. And, this movie has some of the funniest scenes ever. Here's one. Harold Ramis made a perfect straight man for Murray and John Candy was outstanding as "Ox." Warren Oats was also great at Sgt. Hulka.
Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)- Cary Grant, Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre star in this delightful comedy. A Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life) film - called a screwball comedy in the day. Clearly Grant's best/funniest role. John Alexander stole the show as crazy uncle Theodore. This will be one of the oldest films to make one of my top 10 lists. It was made in 1944 and is still hilarious today. Don't let its age fool you - this movie is still hysterical.
A Thousand Clowns (1965) - This is another classic comedy (also with a bit of the tragic thrown in). Jason Robards stars with Martin Balsam (who won the Best Supporting Oscar). Also nominated for Best Picture. Excellent dialogue, keeps you in stitches. Robards plays the "middle-aged kid" better than anyone.
Eating Raoul (1982) - An off-beat (also called black) comedy starring no one you have ever heard of. Paul Wartel and Mary Woronov (both cult-filmists) starred and directed. About a swinger couple who invite guests over and then the fun begins. Shocking subject matter handled in a way that will leave you laughing.
MASH (1972) - The TV show ran for 11 years and the final episode is still the most watched TV show EVER (105 MILLION viewers). The movie was LOTS better. The only crossover actor from the movie to the TV show was Radar O'Reilly. Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Sally Kellerman and Robert Duvall star. Duvall's Frank Burns is so superior to the TV portrayal that they cannot be compared on any scale. At the time Lt. Dish was everyone's crush.
Airplane (1980) - The movie stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There is actually a plot but it is secondary to all the jokes and gags. This movie keeps the laughs coming and coming.
The Gods Must be Crazy (1980) - This one is pretty different. A Coke bottle arrives in the Kalahari Desert. Amazingly funny result. This is unlike any movie you have ever seen. Highly recommended. You won't be able to resist laughing... a lot.
Wayne's World (1992) - Even if you never saw the skit on Saturday Night Live, this is one funny movie. Mike Meyer's (Austin Powers, Shrek) and Dana Carvey star. Another successful set of x-SNL comedians who have made it big. What a great long list of talent that show has produced! Among others, this show has produced: Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Gildna Radner, Al Frankin, Andy Kaufman, Joe Piscopo, Phil Hartman, Will Farrell, and who can ever forget Tina "Palin Fey. There were only a couple of really good movies that came directly from SNL - The Blues Brothers and this one. Some very classic sayings flowed like: "No Way...Way," "Schwing," and "Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!"
Stripes (1981) - Bill Murray might be the funniest of all the former SNL comedians to make it big in the movies. And, this movie has some of the funniest scenes ever. Here's one. Harold Ramis made a perfect straight man for Murray and John Candy was outstanding as "Ox." Warren Oats was also great at Sgt. Hulka.
Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)- Cary Grant, Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre star in this delightful comedy. A Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life) film - called a screwball comedy in the day. Clearly Grant's best/funniest role. John Alexander stole the show as crazy uncle Theodore. This will be one of the oldest films to make one of my top 10 lists. It was made in 1944 and is still hilarious today. Don't let its age fool you - this movie is still hysterical.
A Thousand Clowns (1965) - This is another classic comedy (also with a bit of the tragic thrown in). Jason Robards stars with Martin Balsam (who won the Best Supporting Oscar). Also nominated for Best Picture. Excellent dialogue, keeps you in stitches. Robards plays the "middle-aged kid" better than anyone.
Eating Raoul (1982) - An off-beat (also called black) comedy starring no one you have ever heard of. Paul Wartel and Mary Woronov (both cult-filmists) starred and directed. About a swinger couple who invite guests over and then the fun begins. Shocking subject matter handled in a way that will leave you laughing.
MASH (1972) - The TV show ran for 11 years and the final episode is still the most watched TV show EVER (105 MILLION viewers). The movie was LOTS better. The only crossover actor from the movie to the TV show was Radar O'Reilly. Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Sally Kellerman and Robert Duvall star. Duvall's Frank Burns is so superior to the TV portrayal that they cannot be compared on any scale. At the time Lt. Dish was everyone's crush.
Airplane (1980) - The movie stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There is actually a plot but it is secondary to all the jokes and gags. This movie keeps the laughs coming and coming.
The Marx Brothers - I think their best film was Duck Soup (1933) although I also loved Horse Feathers and A Day at the Races. Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly - one of the best ficticious names of all. And, as usual Margaret Dumont plays his female foil. She must have had an incredibly thick skin. The best scene - having to choose one - is Harpo and Groucho and the mirror. The scene was replayed years later by Lucille Ball and Harpo on I Love Lucy and was almost as funny. To have a comedies list and not include the Marx Brothers would be like a Florida day without oranges (or is it Sunshine?).Animal House (1978) - The best of John Belushi, from 1978. This time he is John "Bluto" Blutarski. What a loss. The only one of the National Lampoon-made movies that was any good - and this was great. Donald Sutherland with a bit part - but very well played. Good soundtrack as well. College life has never been funnier. I love the scenes of Belushi stealthing across campus. And of him in the food fight scene, among others.
Blazing Saddles - From 1975, a Mel Brooks classic with Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn and of course, Mel Brooks. And, Alex Karas as Mongo. Many, many hilarious scenes. A bit slapstick at times, but still some classically funny scenes.
The Frisco Kid (1979) - Still another Gene Wilder movie. Here, he plays Avram, a Polish rabbi crossing the US during old west days on his way to the Orthodox community in San Francisco. Harrison Ford in a very early role as the real cowboy. Wilder is one of a handful of actors who makes me laugh just waiting for him to open his mouth.
Young Frankenstein (1974) - Gene Wilder is always funny. Another Mel Brooks film (1974). This list could be made just of their movies. Add in Peter Boyle as the monster and Marty Feldman as Igor (pronounced EYE Gor), and this in one rib-splitting movie. Madeline Kahn in this one too. Another film enhanced significantly by being filmed in B&W. Feldman stole the show.
Sleeper (1973) - (and Bananas [hilarious scene] and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex) - Woody Allen was amazingly funny in his early movies. He was still neurotic and, well, Woody, but the movies weren't ONLY about him and all his relationship issues. Another of many Allen/Keaton combinations. This one is about a man who wakes up after being "frozen" for 200 years. The best scene has to be the one around "the Orb." One of the funnier scenes of all time.
The Apartment (1960) - This is a very sad film with some very funny twists. Jack Lemmon and Shirley McClain (as Miss Kubelik) were both fantastic and even Fred MacMurray played his bad guy role very well. Billy WIlder directed (Some Like It Hot - another classic comedy) The film won five Oscar's and was nominated for five more. Filmed in B&W - and again this helped to "make" the film. A true classic - not to be missed
FINALE
Rounding out the list of 20 Great Unsung Comedies is a classic SILENT FILM - Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925). Set in Alaska, the little tramp becomes potential food when he is stranded in the wilderness. One of the all-time funniest scenes in the history of film is performed by Charlie with two forks and two rolls - known as the Table Dance. Hilarious.
One More that I just can't leave off the list:
Putney Swope - The following clip is one of the commercials made by the ad agency featured in this parody. So many great lines. Cult classic. The ad starts about 25 seconds in:
"Laugh and the world laughs with you."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
from the poem, Solitude
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
from the poem, Solitude
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ReplyDeleteWhat would you classify King of Hearts as?
ReplyDeleteLe Roi de Coeur is an incredible film. Definitely a comedy - but also a love story, a fantasy and a war movie. And, it's in french. So, while I debated putting it on this list, I am saving it for best foreign films list.
ReplyDeleteExcellent choice.
“A good laugh is nothing to sneeze at!” To Be or Not To Be, (1942) Ernst Lubitsch with Jack Benny. Nice list but woefully lacking. Where’s all the Preston Sturges’ films? They didn’t dub him the king of the screwball comedies for nothing. Christmas in July (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), Palm Beach Story (1942), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), Unfaithfully Yours (1948). How about the Alec Guinness comedies: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Captain’s Paradise (1953), The Lady Killers (1955), Our Man in Havana (1959) to name but a few. Don’t you like Scottish comedies, and I'm not talking about haggis, like Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl (1981) or Comfort and Joy (1984)? And just for a sneeze, what about Bedtime Story, Niven and Brando (1964), Morgan (1966), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960), The Ruling Class (1972) and My Favorite Year (1982)? For a funny guy, you’re not so funny for leaving these gems off your list.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I forgot to attribute the To Be or Not To Be quote to the character who spoke it. His name was, Greenberg.
ReplyDeleteSo I Married an Axe Murderer - wasn't that Scottish? ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget: Rancho Deluxe (1975)with Jeff Bridges; The In-Laws (1979)Falk & Arkin; This is Spinal Tap (1984); Where's Poppa (1972) George Segal; Leon the Pig Farmer (1993) a British, Jewish masterpiece; The Russians are Coming ... (1966) Arkin & Reiner; 2 Peter Ustinov classics, Romanoff and Juliet (1961) and Viva Max (1969; and of course, 2 Jean Paul Belmondo beauties, Peau de banane (1963) Banana Peel directed by Marcel Ophuls, and L'Homme de Rio, (1964)That Man from Rio directed by Phillipe de Broca King of Hearts). Now we're starting to build a list.
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to get my head around applying "unsung" to Woody Allen, the Marx Brothers, Billy Wilder & Charlie Chaplin.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that Dr. Alston jumped in immediately with Preston Sturges. But I gotta ask, Doc, were your omissions of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Great McGinty and The Sins of Harold Diddlebock (aka Mad Wednesday) intentional? Two bits of trivia: (1) as the marines are pulling out of the train station at the end of Hail the Conquering Hero, you see a poster for Miracle; and (2) the title of the Coen Bros' Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? was lifted from Sullivan's Travels.
As for comedies starring Cary Grant, I'd like to add His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby & The Awful Truth. I'd even shoehorn Topper and I Was a Male War Bride ahead of Arsenic and Old Lace but that's because I always associate Arsenic, along with Harvey, with high school drama departments.
Since Dr. Alston also brought up Lubitsch, I'll toss in Ninotchka and Design for Living. And somebody's got to mention My Man Godfrey. And W.C. Fields. And Buster Keaton.
Missing from Woody Allen's early film list were Take the Money and Run and What's Up, Tiger Lily?. Ah for the days when Louise Lasser, and not the latest ingenue, was the focus of Woody's romantic angst.
Star Trek shoutout (a la TheGraveWolf): Robert Beltran, aka Commander Chakotay, as Raoul in Eating Raoul. Is it pathetic to have enjoyed ST:V *before* the addition of Jeri Ryan?
Finally, I'd like to suggest the films of Jacques Tati. Mon Oncle (1958) is the most well-known of these. Won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1959. But I also love Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot & Play Time and, to a lesser extent, Jour de fête & Traffic. The Triplets of Belleville had a couple of allusions to Tati. There's a poster for Les vacances on the wall of Madame Souza's apartment. There's also a snippet shown of Jour de fête. IMDB has this as a TV show the Triplets are watching but I remember it as the film the bicyclists are watching in the betting parlor. Hmm. I'll go with IMDB.
Marquis, no sir, not trying to slight anything touched by Sturges. Just didn't want to overwhelm. Your additions are welcome, especially the Tati and Lubitsch. A few more to engender a yuck or two, or at the very least, a decent sized smirk: It Happens Every Spring (1949), now there's a pitcher with something on the ball; Never Too Late (1965); Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy (1947); Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper (1941); Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise (1972); The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973) a Canadian gem that is a bit dated but still has some of the heartiest belly laughs you will ever encounter; Midnight Run (1988) with DeNiro and Grodin; Gambit (1967) Caine and MacLaine; The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) MacLaine again; the Flim-Flam Man (1967) George C. Scott; Withnail and I, a British film (1987)with some of the most hilarious, stoned out scenes imaginable.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, I almost forgot: Danny Kaye in The Inspector General (1949), The Court Jester (1956) the pellet with the poison's in the vessle with the pestle..., The Man From the Diner's Club (1963). And of course, Without a Clue (1988)the real story behind the great master detective, Sherlock Holmes.
ReplyDeleteWell, I suppose, once we pushed this conversation far enough, that it was inevitable that Danny Kaye would be mentioned. Unfortunately, I can't stand him. Which makes my Thanksgivings occasionally dicey. My brother-in-law screens The Court Jester every T-day. Also had a good friend in HS who adored The Secret Life of Walter Middy. Can't handle the Three Stooges, either.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason, the mention of Danny Kaye brings to mind Ball of Fire (1941; Howard Hawks; Babs Stanwyck & Gary Cooper) and You Can't Take It with You (1938; Frank Capra; Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore).
Absolutely loved Whitnail & I. And that reminds me of Clerks.