Greatest Comedies
This is a list of what I consider the greatest comedies that I have seen.
The quality of comedy changes through time as social values change. What was considered comical 100 years ago may not be considered comical today. Or there may be a shift in social values from one group of people to another.
Case in point is The Birdcage (1996). What makes The Birdcage so comical to me is the absurdity, unexpectedness and social predicaments that homosexuality presents, while others may not accept or recognize such absurdity, unexpectedness or predicaments.
Just as with any other genre, comedy gets mixed with other genres. This list is of films that concentrate on comedy.
The quality of comedy changes through time as social values change. What was considered comical 100 years ago may not be considered comical today. Or there may be a shift in social values from one group of people to another.
Case in point is The Birdcage (1996). What makes The Birdcage so comical to me is the absurdity, unexpectedness and social predicaments that homosexuality presents, while others may not accept or recognize such absurdity, unexpectedness or predicaments.
Just as with any other genre, comedy gets mixed with other genres. This list is of films that concentrate on comedy.
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- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardJack OakieDictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCarole LombardJack BennyRobert StackDuring the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartPeter UstinovAldo RayThree Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsPeter SellersJean SebergWilliam HartnellAn impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose, but things don't go according to plan.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsCarl ReinerEva Marie SaintAlan ArkinWithout hostile intent, a Soviet submarine runs aground off New England. Men are sent for a boat, but many villagers go into a tizzy, risking bloodshed.
- DirectorGene SaksStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauJohn FiedlerA New Yorker newly separated from his wife moves in with his best friend, a divorced sportswriter, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsDonald SutherlandElliott GouldTom SkerrittThe staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsBarbra StreisandRyan O'NealMadeline KahnThe accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
- DirectorJamie UysStarsN!xauMarius WeyersSandra PrinslooA comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEddie MurphyDan AykroydRalph BellamyA snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThree parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsGoldie HawnKurt RussellEdward HerrmannA cruel but beautiful heiress mocks and cheats a hired carpenter. When she gets amnesia after an accident, he decides to introduce her to regular life by convincing her that they're husband and wife.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsSylvester StalloneOrnella MutiPeter RiegertA gangster attempts to keep the promise he made to his dying father: that he would give up his life of crime and "go straight".
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsJoe PesciMarisa TomeiRalph MacchioTwo New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsTim RobbinsPaul NewmanJennifer Jason LeighA naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsRobin WilliamsNathan LaneGene HackmanA gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsMichael KeatonAndie MacDowellZack DuhameA man who never has enough time for the things he wants to do is offered the opportunity to have himself duplicated.
- DirectorTodd HollandStarsRichard DreyfussJenna ElfmanNatasha LyonneAn anthropologist creates a fictitious lost New Guinea tribe using his family members to cover-up for his misuse of grant monies.
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksSharon StoneAndie MacDowellWith his career on the skids, a Hollywood screenwriter enlists the aid of a modern-day muse, who proves to test his patience.
- DirectorMel SmithStarsKevin McNallyMinnie DriverMary McCormackA nurse eavesdrops with a friend on a cell phone conversation that describes a bank heist. She and the friend then conspire to blackmail the robbers for two million dollars.
- DirectorBrian StepanekStarsEddie JemisonBrian StepanekA satirical short film taking a look at the national debt and how it applies to just one family.
- DirectorDean ParisotStarsTim AllenSigourney WeaverAlan RickmanThe alumni cast of a space opera television series have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help. However, they also have to defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.
- DirectorDonald PetrieStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauAnn-MargretA lifelong feud between two neighbors since childhood only gets worse when a new female neighbor moves across the street.
- DirectorHoward DeutchStarsWalter MatthauJack LemmonAnn-MargretJohn and Max resolve to save their beloved bait shop from turning into an Italian restaurant, just as its new female owner catches Max's attention.