The 100 Funniest American Movies Of All Time
 

1 SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959

2 TOOTSIE 1982

3 DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB 1964

4 ANNIE HALL 1977

5 DUCK SOUP 1933

6 BLAZING SADDLES 1974

7 M*A*S*H 1970

8 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934

9 THE GRADUATE 1967

10 AIRPLANE! 1980

11 THE PRODUCERS 1968

12 A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 1935

13 YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN 1974

14 BRINGING UP BABY 1938

15 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940

16 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952

17 THE ODD COUPLE 1968

18 THE GENERAL 1927

19 HIS GIRL FRIDAY 1940

20 THE APARTMENT 1960

21 A FISH CALLED WANDA 1988

22 ADAM'S RIB 1949

23 WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… 1989

24 BORN YESTERDAY 1950

25 THE GOLD RUSH 1925

26 BEING THERE 1979

27 THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY 1998

28 GHOSTBUSTERS 1984

29 THIS IS SPINAL TAP 1984

30 ARSENIC AND OLD LACE 1944

31 RAISING ARIZONA 1987

32 THE THIN MAN 1934

33 MODERN TIMES 1936

34 GROUNDHOG DAY 1993

35 HARVEY 1950

36 NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE 1978

37 THE GREAT DICTATOR 1940

38 CITY LIGHTS 1931

39 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS 1941

40 IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD 1963

41 MOONSTRUCK 1987

42 BIG 1988

43 AMERICAN GRAFFITI 1973

44 MY MAN GODFREY 1936

45 HAROLD AND MAUDE 1972

46 MANHATTAN 1979

47 SHAMPOO 1975

48 A SHOT IN THE DARK 1964

49 TO BE OR NOT TO BE 1942

50 CAT BALLOU 1965

51 THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH 1955

52 NINOTCHKA 1939

53 ARTHUR 1981

54 THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK 1944

55 THE LADY EVE 1941

56 ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN 1948

57 DINER 1982

58 IT'S A GIFT 1934

59 A DAY AT THE RACES 1937

60 TOPPER 1937

61 WHAT'S UP, DOC? 1972

62 SHERLOCK, JR. 1924

63 BEVERLY HILLS COP 1984

64 BROADCAST NEWS 1987

65 HORSE FEATHERS 1932

66 TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN 1969

67 MRS. DOUBTFIRE 1993

68 THE AWFUL TRUTH 1937

69 BANANAS 1971

70 MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN 1936

71 CADDYSHACK 1980

72 MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE 1948

73 MONKEY BUSINESS 1931

74 9 TO 5 1980

75 SHE DONE HIM WRONG 1933

76 VICTOR/VICTORIA 1982

77 THE PALM BEACH STORY 1942

78 ROAD TO MOROCCO 1942

79 THE FRESHMAN 1925

80 SLEEPER 1973

81 THE NAVIGATOR 1924

82 PRIVATE BENJAMIN 1980

83 FATHER OF THE BRIDE 1950

84 LOST IN AMERICA 1985

85 DINNER AT EIGHT 1933

86 CITY SLICKERS 1991

87 FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH 1982

88 BEETLEJUICE 1988

89 THE JERK 1979

90 WOMAN OF THE YEAR 1942

91 THE HEARTBREAK KID 1972

92 BALL OF FIRE 1941

93 FARGO 1996

94 AUNTIE MAME 1958

95 SILVER STREAK 1976

96 SONS OF THE DESERT 1933

97 BULL DURHAM 1988

98 THE COURT JESTER 1956

99 THE NUTTY PROFESSOR 1963

100 GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM 1987


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AFI distributed a ballot with 500 nominated films to a jury of 1800 leaders from the film community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers, etc.), critics, historians and film executives. The jurors were asked to consider the following criteria while making their selections:

Feature-Length Fiction Film: The film must be in narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length;
American Film: The film must be in the English language with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States;
Funny: Regardless of genre, the total comedic impact of a film’s elements that creates an experience greater than the sum of the smiles;
Legacy: Laughs that echo across time, enriching America’s film heritage and inspiring artists and audiences today.

no blues brothers = bogus list
no ferris bueller's day off either

no MARS Attacks ...

This has got to be the lousiest list the AFI has come out with.

Caddyshack 71?

And I'll agree, no BB or FBDO. Bad list. Funny, almost.


Oh, but I loved the General. I still crack up at that one.

3 of the top 15 are Mel Brooks films. Wow.

And the top two feature cross-dressers.

Guys in dresses = comedy gold

WHy does "There's something about Mary" always finish rather high? I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was one of the best comedies I have ever seen

They wanted a recent movie near the top, I imagine. And TSAM was the best they could come up with over the past 5-7 years.

the graduate is considered a comedy?

Breakdown by decade -

1920's - 5
1930's - 19
1940's - 15
1950's - 8
1960's - 10
1970's - 16
1980's - 22
1990's - 5

the movie that got screwed the most:

Half-Baked

not having Ferris Bueller's day off is a tragedy. No Fletch, no Clerks, no Happy Gilmore.

Yep, this list is crap.

My god, this list is the worst of them all. No Ferris and most shockingly, no Planes,Trains,Automobiles.

No Vacation, no Spaceballs, no PT&A, no Bueller, no Naked Gun ...

Blah!

From a sports perspective: No Slap Shot, no Major League.

No Weekend at Bernies. No Galaxy Quest.

Bummer.

TroyF

No Office Sapce no Big Lebowski. Yup this list sucks.

What a horrible list.

44 MY MAN GODFREY 1936 - Interesting story... We watched this movie in my film class and the professor told us it was considered one of the greatest comedies of all time. We all sat and watched in dead silence for an hour and a half. Not a single laugh.

hey Godfrey

When Harry Met Sally at 23? It was an okay movie but not worthy of being on the list, or at least that high on the list. Where is American Pie?

Movies that should have been on there:
Office Space
ferris bueller's day off
Clerks
Halfbaked
I could go on...

TERRIBLE LIST

I don't recall what year this came out... but it's been a few, at least. I remembr having a contest with friends tryign to pick movies that would make the final top ten - the AFI published a list of "finalists" in advance of the final selections.

I picked Dr. Strangelove as my #1, and it would get my vote. I don't really have wholesale problems with the list, though.


Assuming that the AFI people (with whom I happen to be dining tonight) really did what they say they did in this exercise, is there really any "they" involved? I know it's intriguing to talk about thing like "they wanted to have a movie from Buster Keaton..." or "they wanted to make sure that so-snd-so didn't make the top ten" - but is that sort of thing really possible with an open voting system of people who are (presumably) fairly unconnected?

Not to single out, but:


Do you really think so? Do you really think that people filling out the survey said "I want a recent movie up there..." prior to selecting "Mary" on their ballots? Or is it more likely that this just hapened to be a fairly fresh memory for a lot of voters?

It's tough in my mind to conjure up an effective "scheme" to elevate a particular movie by using generic motivations. It's one thing to say "City Lights is there because it's the obvious way to support Chaplin's great career" - but I have troble when the motivations get so general. Even if we assume that there was some widesperad cabal of people wanting a "modern" movie near the top of the list, who can ensure that those people would all select Mary as their winner?


Or, perhaps the suggestion is that the AFI people rigged the outcome after receiving the votes, to seed the list with things that would provoke conversation and intrigue.


I, for one, have no trouble seeing this list being the product of just what it sounds like-- people across generations and strata who evaluated honestly the movies that they thought were funniest (by the standards indicated). Of course, with this forum's demographic, we're going to scream bloody murder that [insert puerile movie from last week here] was screwed out of its rightful spot. When not everyone is like you, not everyone is likely to think like you.

This is worse than the country music list you posted, Fritz. Just knock it off already.

Not everyone is going to think like pampered Hollywood folk either.

I would say that a comedy list is probably the hardest to do and would cause the greatest contraversy. More than anything else, people's senses of humor are incredibly varied.

That said, I just don't think Annie Hall is funny. Quirky, yes, but not even my favorite Woody Allen.

Now, Fletch... How could they leave that off?

QS, I am curious as to the occassion of dining with AFI?

list is from 2002

They're not going to put on three of those movies but Ferris Bueller's might have had a shot. For a list like this, you can't have a ton of over the top humor and a lot of really crappy jokes to go along with the funny ones. Office Space might have gotten some consideration but the other two are mostly stupid humor with some pop culture references. Then again, by that token, I have no idea why "Something about Mary" was on there because it's just equally stupid. When people look back 50 years from now- no one will remember it.

Which does make me ask why some of those movies like Caddyshack and Animal House are so damn low? Plus stuff like Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills cop aren't even comedies so why are they on here? Also, I really second questions about Blues Brothers or Fletch and where the heck is Naked Gun?

This is a really bad list. The 50 heroes and villains could have some holes poked in it but the lists were pretty good, particularly the villains. This is just awful.

SI

I wasn't aware that most of those movies were funny. My mistake.

Ferris Bueller definately needed to be on there...

Animal House should have made top 10 at least...

TOGA TOGA TOGA!!!!!!!

-Aes-

Also, how could a list of the funniest 100 movies NOT include Plan 9 From Outerspace?!?!? I know it was intended to be a horror film, but come on.

like with the country music top 100: how in the hell does 9 to 5 make it on the list?

No Holy Grail... :( :( FOR SHAME

Gah, I didn't even noticed that. That really suprises me.

SI

I also thought Austin Powers (the first one) could have made this list. AND WHERE THE HELL IS MONTY PYTHON'S HOLY GRAIL?!?

CR

dola,

Heh, thealmighty and stertlingice were coming up with the same idea as me while I read this list. We might be psychically connected or something...:D

CR

did you read the criteria?

The 100 Funniest American Movies Of All Time

You mean Monty Python isn't American?!?!?!?!?

No Porky's?

Marmel identifies with Peewee

I am so cherry......

WTF is Up in smoke?

why is it that some people always have to bring up fruit when it adds nothing to the discussion?

d'oh: American. I should read the fine print.

SI

Cards: Cheech & Chong. You had to have been there.

No list of villains that doesn't include Mr. Blonde can be considered good.

Umm..yeah...hi.

Tommy Boy.

My organization is holding a retreat in Silver Spring, Maryland -- which happens to be the new home of the American Film Institute and their silver cinema. Tonight is some kind of dinner with many of the muckety-mucks at the AFI... maybe I will find out if that organization serves any other purpose than to conjure up controversial movie-related lists.

I doubt it. (That they have any other purpose)