People’s attitudes toward comedy have changed a lot over the years, but some black-and-white classics seem like they’ll be funny forever. Comedy has a tendency to age much quicker than most other movie genres. Some popular comedy movies from just 20 or 30 years ago might seem outdated now, but the funniest movies can often stand the test of time.
Although cinema has changed a lot since the black-and-white era, there are still plenty of gems which any film lover should watch. Comedy fans should get acquainted with the best work of comedy legends like Peter Sellers, Cary Grant and Buster Keaton, even if they don’t often watch old movies.
9
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Marilyn Monroe’s Best Movie Shows Off Her Charms
Some Like It Hot is still one of the funniest comedies ever made, which is all the more surprising considering that so many other movies about gender have aged terribly. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play two musicians who witness a gangland killing in prohibition-era Chicago, so they disguise themselves as women to flee the city.
Marilyn Monroe demanded that most of her movies be made in color, but she made an exception for Some LIke It Hot.
Some Like It Hot is arguably Marilyn Monroe’s best movie, and she delivers a charming performance as a dimwitted musician with dreams of marrying rich. She demanded that most of her movies be made in color, but she made an exception for Some LIke It Hot, since Curtis and Lemmon’s feminine make-up gave their skin a green hue.
8
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Mel Brooks Uses Black-And-White To Give His Horror Spoof A Retro Feel
- Release Date
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December 15, 1974
- Runtime
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106 minutes
- Director
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Mel Brooks
- Writers
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Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks
Young Frankenstein was made well after black-and-white movies had faded out of fashion, but Mel Brooks chose the aesthetic to suit his parody of classic horror movies. Young Frankenstein looks like it could have been made in the 1930s, but its irreverent humor is much more modern.
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Young Frankenstein is filled with great quotes, showcasing Mel Brooks’ talent for pulling comedy out of thin air. While a lot of the humor is based on Brooks’ genre parody, there are also some great one-liners and visual gags that could just as easily fit into any of his movies.
7
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Katharine Hepburn’s First Comedy Shows Her Natural Flair For The Genre
Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn made four movies together, and it’s usually a toss-up between Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story to decide which one was the best. Bringing Up Baby was Hepburn’s first comedy, but she’s just as funny as Grant, bringing a manic energy that counters his easily flustered comedic persona perfectly.
Bringing Up Baby sees its two main characters trying desperately to look after a leopard, and this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the comedic chaos that unfolds. Hepburn is the source of most of this chaos, with a fast-talking, zany performance that rises to a crescendo in Bringing Up Baby‘s absurd finale.
6
His Girl Friday (1940)
Howard Hawks Keeps Up A Rapid Pace
- Release Date
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January 18, 1940
- Runtime
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92 minutes
- Director
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Howard Hawks
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Rosalind Russell
Hildy Johnson
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Ralph Bellamy
Bruce Baldwin
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Gene Lockhart
Sheriff Hartwell
Cary Grant appeared in several classic comedies. As well as Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday usually ranks as one of his best, and it’s a shining example of the screwball genre. Grant plays a newspaper editor struggling to let go of his ex-wife and ace reporter, played by Rosalind Russell.
His Girl Friday is famous for its rapid-fire overlapping dialogue. Although it starts off ordinarily enough, Howard Hawks keeps relentlessly increasing the pace until it careens into a masterfully frantic third act. The sheer density of laugh-out-loud punchlines is hard to top.
5
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Buster Keaton’s Timeless Comedy Holds Up Well
Buster Keaton’s movies are known for their outrageous stunts, and Sherlock Jr. delivers some of his very best. Keaton’s physical humor has always been funnier, and it’s even more entertaining to watch nowadays when such bold physical stunts are practically a thing of the past.
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Sherlock Jr. sees Keaton making great use of his bemused comedic persona, as he plays a down-on-his-luck romantic who fantasizes about being a heroic detective like the ones he sees on screen. The comedic stunts provide many of the highlights, but Keaton’s subtle physical comedy is just as enjoyable.
4
Modern Times (1936)
Charlie Chaplin’s Societal Satire Is Surprisingly Relevant
Some of Charlie Chaplin’s movies have lost their edge, which is perfectly natural considering how long ago they were made. Modern Times certainly isn’t one of them. Despite its title and its Depression-era satire, there are some elements which feel right up to date, particularly the way that Chaplin’s character suffers just as much both in and out of work. Some Chaplin movies deserve to be appreciated for their artistic merit, but Modern Times deserves to be truly cherished and laughed at wholeheartedly.
Modern Times has some hilarious physical set pieces, like the iconic image of the Tramp being caught in the gears of some inscrutable machine and Chaplin’s elegant roller-skating. Modern Times was Chaplin’s final outing as the Tramp, and he’s the perfect character to point out the absurdity in everyday life that people take for granted.
3
Roman Holiday (1953)
Audrey Hepburn And Gregory Peck Make A Charming Duo
- Release Date
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August 26, 1953
- Runtime
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119 minutes
- Director
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William Wyler
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Audrey Hepburn
Princess Ann
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Eddie Albert
Irving Radovich
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Hartley Power
Mr. Hennessy
Roman Holiday gave Audrey Hepburn her first big break, and it has always remained one of her best movies. She plays a European princess trying to live one day in Rome without the restrictions of her chaperones, while Gregory Peck plays a cunning reporter who tries to get close to her to benefit his career.
Hepburn and Peck strike up an easy chemistry in Roman Holiday, which is important since so much of the film’s appeal is balanced on the conversations their characters share as they explore the Italian capital. Although Roman Holiday is one of the great rom-coms, its ending is enough to break anyone’s heart.
2
Kind Hearts & Coronets (1949)
Alec Guinness Delivers A Performance For The Ages
It’s always fun to see an actor playing multiple roles in a movie, but not many performers have taken this to the extent of Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Although some people will only know Guinness as Ben Kenobi in the first Star Wars movie, he was also one of the finest comedic actors of his generation.
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Guinness plays an entire family in Kind Hearts and Coronets, which allows him to inhabit multiple comedic characters momentarily, and he brings out something funny in all of them. Kind Hearts and Coronets has a style of dark comedy that still feels modern.
1
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Kubrick’s Cold War Satire Has Kept Its Edge
Dr. Strangelove deserves to be discussed alongside Stanley Kubrick’s best movies, but the fact that it rarely comes out on top says more about the relative respect afforded to the comedy genre than it does about the quality of the Cold War satire. Although the political context has passed, Dr. Strangelove‘s disparaging vision of political leaders and humanity’s instincts is evergreen.
Peter Sellers delivers an all-time great comedic performance in Dr. Strangelove.
Peter Sellers delivers an all-time great comedic performance in Dr. Strangelove, as he plays three eccentric characters from three different countries, all contributing to the end of human civilization in their own way. His mannerisms also turn Dr. Strangelove into a wry cultural satire about the stereotypes of Americans, Germans and Brits.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
