The Freshman

Laughs (#79)

A silent comedy wherein Harold Lloyd plays the new kid on campus, who has big dreams of being the star football player and having everybody like him.  He even has a jaunty little handshake, which he's certain will help him make lots of friends (but sadly I couldn't find a clip of it).

This is considered the first sports movie.  It was ok, as far as silents go, but I thought it was too long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl3OlMEDBuU

AFI Top 100 Laughs

I guess comedy means different things to different people, but I did find some pleasant surprises on this list - Buster Keaton, Nick and Nora Charles, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Ball of Fire, to name a few.  I still really do not get Woody Allen, and I think O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Princess Bride should have made the list.

Oh, and I haven't yet seen The Freshman or The Heartbreak Kid.  I haven't been able to find them, but I'll review them when I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzf43LdYeYU

The Great Dictator

Laughs (#37); Stars - Charlie Chaplin (#10)

This movie, made in 1940, featured Chaplin in a dual role - as the ruthless leader of a European country and as a Jewish barber living in the ghetto.  I liked the opening disclaimer:  "Note, any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental."

It was very strange to hear Chaplin speak.  But he had enough of his characteristic comedy pratfalls and mishaps to keep his fans happy. 

This was a comedy, but when the barber ended up confused with Hynkel (surprise, surprise) and had to give a speech to the masses, I liked what he had to say.  It's a bit lengthy, but worthwhile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4

Road to Morocco

Laughs (#78); Songs - (We're Off on the) Road to Morocco (#95)

Eh.  Hope and Crosby - wonderful, I know.  But I was bored and unimpressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRiLf9YTrGU

City Lights

Top 100 (#76/11); Laughs (#38); Stars - Charlie Chaplin (#10); Cheers (#31); Heroes - The Tramp (#38); Passions (#10); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#1)

Good, sweet, but maybe a bit overhyped - then again, I'm watching it 80 years later.  The Tramp falls in love with a blind girl and tries to come up with the money she needs to save the home where she lives with her grandmother. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rkNBH5fbMk

What's Up, Doc?

Laughs (#61); Passions (#68)

This is an homage to the classic slapstick comedies of the early days of film.  I think they use every gag except for slipping on a banana peel.  I thought the plot was thin, and so was the romance.  I'm not really sure why it got a spot on the Passions list, other than the fact that AFI loves Barbra Streisand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWRZut6klgE

A Night at the Opera

Top 100 (#85 Revised); Laughs (#12); Stars - The Marx Brothers (#20)

Okay, so I don't really like the Marx Brothers all that much anyway.  I like Laurel & Hardy better.  But this wasn't my favorite of their movies.  Maybe it was because of all the opera.  Maybe it was because Zeppo wasn't in it.  Who knows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Axzxe1a78E

Moonstruck

Laughs (#41); Stars - Cher (Current); Quotes - "Snap out of it!" (#96); Passions (#17); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#8)

A young widow is engaged to a man, but ends up falling for his estranged brother.  Meanwhile, her parents are experiencing romantic problems of their own.

I liked that it included the parents' story.  I liked some of the romantic things Nicolas Cage said.  But overall, it was about passion, not love, so I didn't think it was that great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaANjmlxUzs

Topper

Laughs (#60); Stars - Cary Grant (#2)

When a fun-loving, carefree couple dies in a car accident, their ghosts decide to help their stodgy friend Topper lighten up a little.

It was ok, but I guess I'm just too serious a person.  I found it annoying that all they wanted to do was party.  I also thought there wasn't nearly enough Cary Grant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoxERyC32c

Woman of the Year

Laughs (#90); Stars - Katharine Hepburn (#1), Spencer Tracy (#9); Passions (#74)

A sports writer falls for a political journalist.  He soon finds their romance takes a back seat to her career.

Probably ahead of its time, I thought it was alright.  I didn't really like Hepburn's character, though. 

I wanted the clip where Tracy introduces Hepburn to baseball, but I couldn't find it.  Sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snSK5RfD33Q

Lost in America

Laughs (#84)

After losing his job, a man and his wife sell everything and set off in an RV to discover America.  They make it as far as Las Vegas.  Then trouble ensues.

Funny, because it's not the annoying over-the-top kind of funny that far too many comedies do.  The humor here is believable.

Not my favorite, but it wasn't bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrvTzAZG23Q

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Laughs (#70); Stars - Gary Cooper (#11); Cheers (#83)

Sometimes I wonder how I've gone so long without seeing these delightful movies.  The world needs more Mr. Deedses, pixilated or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3_4zWMspo

It's a Gift

Laughs (#58)

W.C. Fields is actually likeable in this movie about a hen-pecked husband who inherits an orange grove and moves his family to California.  The woman who plays his wife (I can't remember her name) is one of those stage actresses who should have stuck with theater.  She's absolutely grating.  But Fields is sympathetic and charming, and overall, this is a pretty good movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm3dm5J5r0A

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Laughs (#89)

Look up this movie and you'll find it repeated ad nauseum that writer Cameron Crowe went undercover at a high school to find out what teenagers were really like.  How Josie Grossie of him.  He was like 25 years old.  Did he really not know what teenagers are like?  And while I know I wasn't your typical high school student, it seemed to me that there was more to high school life than just drugs and sex.  Whatever.  I think John Hughes' movies were better.

Sean Penn created a highly (pun intended) memorable character.  His scenes with Ray Walston are the best in the movie.  Too bad Penn got all political, because I really think he's a talented actor.  Underrated actors Anthony Edwards and Eric Stoltz also put in appearances, as well as a then-rising star named Nick Coppola.

While I think Fast Times deserves its spot on the list of great teen films, it certainly isn't the best one out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlRvE9dKWQc

Born Yesterday

Laughs (#24); Stars - William Holden (#25)

A mobster wants his dumb blonde moll to be able to hold a semi-intelligent conversation so that she can play along with his cons.  He hires William Holden to tutor her. 

Well, aside from the obvious (the two end up falling in love), the educated Holliday realizes that she has rights and doesn't have to be pushed around by Crawford anymore. 

It's a swell romantic comedy, with a few Capra-esque moments thrown in as Holden teaches Holliday about the self-evident truths that make our country great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY&feature=relmfu

Fargo

Top 100 (#84); Laughs (#93); Heroes - Marge Gunderson (#33)

Fargo is a dark comedy about an extortion/kidnapping gone terribly wrong.  It's ok, but gruesome.  Frances McDormand is good, and all the references to Steve Buscemi being funny looking are humorous ("Funny looking?  In what way?" "I don't know.  Just funny looking.")

I'm not sure why it's called Fargo, since it takes place in Brainerd and the Twin Cities.  However, Minnesota boys Joel and Ethan Coen aren't too up on their Minnesota geography anyways.  It apparently takes four hours to drive from Brainerd to Minneapolis, and if you're driving to the Twin Cities from Fargo, Brainerd is right on the way.  And seriously, except for old people up on the Range, Minnesotans don't talk like that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM

Cat Ballou

Laughs (#50); Top Ten - Western (#10)

My husband and my father both like this movie, about a schoolmarm turned bandit to save her pa's farm.  It was okay - it had its funny moments.  But I saw it, and now I can cross it off the list, and that's fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm3dm5J5r0A

Monkey Business

Laughs (#73); Stars - The Marx Brothers (#20)

This time the Brothers are stowaways on a cruise ship.  It has its moments, but it's not my favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sfnQDr1-o&noredirect=1

Ninotchka

Laughs (#52); Stars - Greta Garbo (#5); Passions (#40)

Greta Garbo's first comedy is about a Soviet agent who is assigned to retrieve the Grand Duchess's jewels.

Her cohorts are funny, Melvyn Douglas is cheesy (I would have picked someone else for her love interest, because I don't think he's all that), and Garbo does a good job as the stern agent who learns to lighten up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pEOw8XLCSc

Horse Feathers

Laughs (#65); Stars - The Marx Brothers (#20)

A comedy about a college football team, this movie had a bit more of a plot than other Marx Brothers films.  Some funny moments, but I still like Laurel & Hardy better.

Oh, and you can't tell by this picture, but Zeppo is definitely the good looking brother.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Qlk7sfZfQ