Perhaps the most subjective genre in cinema, the same comedy can cause one viewer to have tears of laughter and another to not crack a smile. So, while knowing there can be no definitive list of the finest in the genre, the Writers Guild of America attempted to narrow down the 101 funniest screenplays. Noting the distinction from the best in the genre, these 101 films should simply produce the most laughs.
Topping the list is Woody Allen‘s Best Picture-winning Annie Hall, a choice difficult to argue with. Rounding out the top five were Some Like it Hot, Groundhog Day, Airplane! and Tootsie, while films from the Coens, Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, and Edgar Wright were also mentioned. There are also some genuine head-scratching inclusions, including The Hangover at 30, and, as much as I enjoy the film, Bridesmaids nearly making the top 15, but overall, if one is looking to brighten their mood, queue up a few of these.
“In the end, the variety of films on the list – as different as Being There is to Airplane! or Duck Soup is to Fargo – indicates how difficult it is to gauge a great comedy by any set of particular criteria,” WGA’s Paul Brownfield says. Better to say the best comedy writers and comedians are like astronauts, launching themselves beyond the ozone layer of the tasteful and the expected in order to find the forbidden or the outrageous or the merely uncomfortable. Whether that produces an outrageous comedy like Mrs. Doubtfire or a satire like Dr. Strangelove, the goal is still provocation. And truth.”
Check out the list below or head over to WGA’s site.
1. Annie Hall (1977)
2. Some Like it Hot (1959)
3. Groundhog Day (1993)
4. Airplane! (1980)
5. Tootsie (1982)
6. Young Frankenstein (1974)
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
8. Blazing Saddles (1974)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
10. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
11. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Producers (1967)
13. The Big Lebowski (1998)
14. Ghostbusters (1984)
15. When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
16. Bridesmaids (2011)
17. Duck Soup (1933)
18. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
19. The Jerk (1979)
20. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
21. His Girl Friday (1940)
22. The Princess Bride (1987)
23. Raising Arizona (1987)
24. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
25. Caddyshack (1980)
26. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
27. The Graduate (1967)
28. The Apartment (1960)
29. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
30. The Hangover (2009)
31. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
32. The Lady Eve (1941)
33. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) – TIE
33. Trading Places (1983) – TIE
35. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
36. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
37. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
38. A Night at the Opera (1935)
39. Rushmore (1988)
40. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
41. The Odd Couple (1968)
42. The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad! (1988)
43. Office Space (1999)
44. Big (1988)
45. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
46. Midnight Run (1988)
47. It Happened One Night (1934)
48. M*A*S*H (1970)
49. Harold and Maude (1971)
50. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
51. Broadcast News (1987)
52. Arthur (1981)
53. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
54. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) – TIE
54. Dumb and Dumber (1994) – TIE
56. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
57. The General (1926)
58. What’s Up, Doc? (1972)
59. Wedding Crashers (2005)
60. Sleeper (1973)
61. Galaxy Quest (1999)
62. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
63. Best in Show (2000)
64. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
65. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
66. Being There (1979)
67. Back to the Future (1985)
68. Superbad (2007)
69. Bananas (1971)
70. Moonstruck (1987)
71. Clueless (1995)
72. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
73. The Pink Panther (1963)
74. The Blues Brothers (1980)
75. Coming to America (1988)
76. Take the Money and Run (1969)
77. Election (1999)
78. Love and Death (1975)
79. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) – TIE
79. Lost in America (1985) – TIE
81. Manhattan (1979)
82. Modern Times (1936)
83. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
84. Mean Girls (2004)
85. Meet the Parents (2000)
86. Fargo (1996)
87. My Favorite Year (1982)
88. Stripes (1981)
89. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
90. City Lights (1931)
91. Sideways (2004)
92. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
93. Swingers (1996)
94. The Gold Rush (1925)
95. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
96. All About Eve (1950)
97. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
98. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
99. Mrs. Doutbtfire (1993)
100. Flirting with Disaster (1996)
101. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Do you disagree with any of the choices? What would you have added?