These are all the comedy films mentioned in our survey of top ranked films on the net. We also included films of other genres if comedy is a strong element as well, but not just occasional humor, such as Star Wars or James Bond films. There were 230 mentioned in all (18%), with 175 making the top 1000 - and some of these aren't pure comedy, these came from all genres.
1. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb [Kubrick, Stanley, 1964] #17 -UK
2. Singin' in the Rain [Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly, 1952] #26 -US
3. General, The [Keaton, Buster/Clyde Bruckman, 1927] #28 -US
4. Modern Times [Chaplin, Charles, 1936] #36 -US
5. Gold Rush, The [Chaplin, Charles, 1925] #39 -US
6. Duck Soup [McCarey, Leo, 1933] #41 -US
7. L'Atalante [Vigo, Jean, 1934] #49 -France
8. Some Like it Hot [Wilder, Billy, 1959] #55 -US
9. Annie Hall [Allen, Woody, 1977] #77 -US
10. Toy Story [Lasseter, John, 1995] #82 -US
11. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The [Buñuel, Luis, 1972] #88 -France [photo rt]12. Sherlock Jr. [Keaton, Buster, 1924] #89 -US
13. Lady Eve, The [Sturges, Preston, 1941] #92 -US
14. It Happened One Night [Capra, Frank, 1934] #94 -US
15. Graduate, The [Nichols, Mike, 1967] #107 -US
16. Kind Hearts and Coronets [Hamer, Robert, 1949] #117 -UK
17. Bringing Up Baby [Hawks, Howard, 1938] #118 -US
18. His Girl Friday [Hawks, Howard, 1940] #130 -US
19. Manhattan [Allen, Woody, 1979] #131 -US
20. Great Dictator, The [Chaplin, Charles, 1940] #138 -US
21. Palm Beach Story, The [Sturges, Preston, 1942] #145 -US
22. Philadelphia Story, The [Cukor, George, 1940] #148 -US
23. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [Hill, George Roy, 1969] #149 -US
24. Cinema Paradiso [Tornatore, Giuseppe, 1988] #158 -Italy-France
25. Back to the Future [Zemeckis, Robert, 1985] #176 -US
26. WALL-E [Stanton, Andrew, 2008] #182 -US
27. Groundhog Day [Ramis, Harold, 1993] #183 -US
28. Fanny and Alexander [Bergman, Ingmar, 1982] #196 -Sweden [photo rt]29. Forrest Gump [Zemeckis, Robert, 1994] #206 -US
30. Steamboat Bill, Jr. [Keaton, Buster/Charles F. Reisner, 1928] #209 -US
31. Playtime [Tati, Jacques, 1967] #210 -France
32. Tootsie [Pollack, Sydney, 1982] #213 -US
33. Golden Coach, The [Renoir, Jean, 1952] #220 -Italy-France
34. Monty Python and the Holy Grail [Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones, 1975] #224 -UK
35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [Gondry, Michael, 2004] #227 -US
36. Kid, The [Chaplin, Charles, 1921] #230 -US
37. Trouble in Paradise [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1932] #236 -US
38. Ratatouille [Bird, Brad & Pinkava, Jan, 2007] #241 -US
39. Sullivan's Travels [Sturges, Preston, 1941] #246 -US
40. Hannah and Her Sisters [Allen, Woody, 1986] #254 -US
41. To Be or Not to Be [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1942] #257 -US
42. Spirited Away [Miyazaki, Hayao, 2001] #259 -Japan
43. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [Hand, David, 1937] #260 -US
44. Zero for Conduct [Vigo, Jean, 1933] #262 -France
45. Amarcord [Fellini, Federico, 1973] #274 -Italy
46. Top Hat [Sandrich, Mark, 1935] #290 -US
47. Day for Night [Truffaut, François, 1973] #291 -France
48. Finding Nemo [Stanton, Andrew & Unkrich, Lee, 2003] #298 -US [photo rt]49. Incredibles, The [Bird, Brad, 2004] #300 -US
50. Le Million [Clair, René, 1931] #318 -France
51. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls [Meyer, Russ, 1970] #320 -US
52. Mr. Hulot's Holiday [Tati, Jacques, 1953] #330 -France
53. Hard Day's Night, A [Lester, Richard, 1964] #332 -UK
54. Night at the Opera, A [Wood, Sam, 1935] #342 -US
55. Pinocchio [Sharpsteen, Ben & Hamilton Luske, 1940] #343 -US
56. Ninotchka [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1939] #344 -US
57. Amélie [Jeunet, Jean-Pierre, 2001] #345 -France
58. Diner [Levinson, Barry, 1982] #347 -US
59. Harold and Maude [Ashby, Hal, 1971] #352 -US
60. American Graffiti [Lucas, George, 1973] #356 -US
61. Sideways [Payne, Alexander, 2004] #359 -US
62. Crimes and Misdemeanors [Allen, Woody, 1989] #372 -US
63. The Sting [Hill, George Roy, 1973] #376 -US
64. Awful Truth, The [McCarey, Leo, 1937] #379 -US
65. Princess Bride, The [Reiner, Rob, 1987] #381 -US
66. À nous la liberté [Clair, René, 1931] #383 -France
67. Big Lebowski, The [Coen, Ethan and Joel, 1998] #386 -US-UK
68. M*A*S*H [Altman, Robert, 1970] #389 -US
69. Lost in Translation [Coppola, Sofia, 2003] #396 -US-Japan
70. The Producers [Brooks, Mel, 1968] #406 -US
71. Being John Malkovich [Jonze, Spike, 1999] #408 -US
72. Mon oncle [Tati, Jacques, 1958] #413 -France
73. Monsieur Verdoux [Chaplin, Charles, 1947] #423 -UK
74. My Fair Lady [Cukor, George, 1964] #439 -US
75. Swing Time [Stevens, George, 1936] #448 -US [photo rt]76. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Almodóvar, Pedro, 1988] #462 -Spain
77. The Shop Around the Corner [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1940] #468 -US
78. This is Spinal Tap [Reiner, Rob, 1984] #471 -US
79. Life is Beautiful [Begnini, Roberto, 1997] #494 -Italy
80. El Verdugo [Berlanga, Luis García, 1963] #497 -Spain-Italy
81. Boudu Saved from Drowning [Renoir, Jean, 1932] #513 -France
82. Navigator, The [Keaton, Buster/Donald Crisp, 1924] #522 -US
83. It's a Gift [McLeod, Norman Z., 1934] #523 -US
84. Local Hero [Forsyth, Bill, 1983] #535 -UK
85. Arsenic and Old Lace [Capra, Frank, 1944] #536 -US
86. Rushmore [Anderson, Wes, 1998] #539 -US
87. Cameraman, The [Keaton, Buster/Edward Sedgwick, 1928] #542 -US
88. My Man Godfrey [La Cava, Gregory, 1936] #552 -US
89. Loves of a Blonde [Forman, Milos, 1965] #553 -Czechoslovakia
90. Mononoke-hime (anime) [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1997] #554 -UK
91. Hold Me While I'm Naked [Kuchar, George, 1966] #557 -US
92. Shakespeare in Love [Madden, John, 1998] #562 -UK
93. Our Hospitality [Keaton, Buster/John Blystone, 1923] #568 -US
94. Le Plaisir [Ophüls, Max, 1951] #571 -France
95. Tom Jones [Richardson, Tony, 1963] #581 -UK
96. My Neighbour Totoro [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1988] #591 -Japan
97. Breakfast at Tiffany's [Edwards, Blake, 1961] #595 -US
98. Love Me Tonight [Mamoulian, Rouben, 1932] #598 -US
99. Life of Brian [Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones, 1979] #599 -UK
100. Snatch [Ritchie, Guy, 2000] #606 -UK
101. Young Girls of Rochefort, The [Demy, Jacques, 1967] #614 -France
102. My Life as a Dog [Hallström, Lasse, 1985] #619 -Sweden
103. Stand by Me [Reiner, Rob, 1986] #620 -US
104. Triplets of Belleville, The [Chomet, Sylvain, 2003] #624 -France-Belg-Can-UK
105. French Cancan [Renoir, Jean, 1954] #625 -France
106. I Was Born, But… [Ozu, Yasujiro, 1932] #626 -Japan
107. Stranger Than Paradise [Jarmusch, Jim, 1984] #627 -US
108. Seven Chances [Keaton, Buster, 1925] #628 -US
109. Claire's Knee [Rohmer, Eric, 1970] #644 -France
110. Harvey [Coster, Henry, 1950] #649 -US
111. When Harry Met Sally [Reiner, Rob, 1989] #652 -US [photo rt]112. Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The [Sturges, Preston, 1944] #656 -US
113. Topsy-Turvy [Leigh, Mike, 1999] #662 -UK
114. Circus, The [Chaplin, Charles, 1928] #666 -US
115. Almost Famous [Crowe, Cameron, 2000] #676 -US
116. Monty Python's Life of Brian [Jones, Terry, 1979] #677 -UK
117. American Splendor [Berman, Shari, and Pulcini, Robert, 2003] #681 -US
118. Gosford Park [Altman, Robert, 2001] #684 -US
119. Truman Show, The [Weir, Peter, 1998] #688 -US
120. Dumbo [Sharpsteen, Ben, 1941] #692 -US
121. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan [Cohen, Sasha Baron, 2006] #714 -France-Italy [photo rt]122. Goodbye Solo [Bahrani, Ramin, 2008] #717 -US
123. Party, The [Edwards, Blake, 1968] #723 -US
124. Funny Face [Donen, Stanley, 1957] #733 -US
125. Barton Fink [Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen, 1991] #735 -US
126. Safety Last! [Newmeyer, Fred C. & Taylor, Sam, 1923] #749 -US
127. Daisies [Chytilová, Vera, 1966] #757 -Czechoslovakia
128. Underground [Kusturica, Emir, 1995] #758 -France-Germany-Hungary
129. Tulpan [Dvortsevoy, Sergei, 2008] #759 -Russia-Kaz
130. Xala [Sembene, Ousmane, 1975] #762 -Senegal
131. Ferris Bueller's Day Off [Hughes, John, 1986] #766 -US
132. Being There [Ashby, Hal, 1979] #771 -US
133. Big Fish [Burton, Tim, 2003] #772 -US
134. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [Hawks, Howard, 1953] #773 -US
135. Hellzapoppin' [Potter, H.C., 1941] #780 -US
136. Chicken Run [Park, Nick & Lord, Peter, 2000] #782 -UK
137. Little Miss Sunshine [Dayton, Jonathan & Faris, Valerie, 2006] #784 -US
138. Toy Story 2 [Lasseter, John & Brannon, Ash, 1999] #789 -US
139. Design for Living [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1933] #793 -US
140. Firemen's Ball, The [Forman, Milos, 1967] #805 -Czechoslovakia
141. Raising Arizona [Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen, 1987] #814 -US
142. Mon oncle d'Amérique [Resnais, Alain, 1980] #815 -France
143. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [Park, Nick & Box, Steve, 2005] #816 -UK
144. Holiday [Cukor, George, 1938] #822 -US
145. Midnight Run [Brest, Martin, 1988] #828 -US
146. Phantom of Liberty, The [Buñuel, Luis, 1974] #836 -France
147. Unfaithfully Yours [Sturges, Preston, 1948] #840 -US
148. Under the Roofs of Paris [Clair, René, 1930] #843 -France
149. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! [Meyer, Russ, 1965] #850 -US
150. To Die For [Van Sant, Gus, 1995] #853 -US
151. Zelig [Allen, Woody, 1983] #859 -US
152. Say Anything… [Crowe, Cameron, 1989] #864 -US
153. Arabian Nights [Pasolini, Pier Paolo, 1974] #866 -France-Italy
154. Naked [Leigh, Mike, 1993] #872 -UK
155. I'm Going Home [de Oliveira, Manoel, 2001] #884 -France-Portugal
156. Gregory's Girl [Forsyth, Bill, 1981] #909 -UK
157. Big Deal on Madonna Street [Monicelli, Mario, 1958] #911 -Italy
158. Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The [Mankiewicz, Joseph L., 1947] #925 -US
159. Sun Shines Bright, The [Ford, John, 1953] #926 -US
160. Une Femme est une femme [Godard, Jean-Luc, 1961] #948 -France
161. You Can Count On Me [Lonergan, Kenneth, 2000] #955 -US
162. Three Colours: White [Kieslowski, Krszystof, 1994] #959 -France-Poland
163. Purple Rose of Cairo, The [Allen, Woody, 1985] #962 -US
164. Midnight [Leisen, Mitchell, 1939] #967 -US
165. The Bank Dick [Cline, Edward F., 1940] #968 -US
166. Savages, The [Jenkins, Tamara, 2007] #969 -US
167. Carnival in Flanders [Feyder, Jacques, 1935] #970 -France
168. Fish Called Wanda, A [Crichton, Charles, 1988] #972 -UK
169. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [Donen, Stanley, 1954] #973 -US
170. O Lucky Man! [Anderson, Lindsay, 1973] #975 -UK
171. Out 1: Spectre [Rivette, Jacques, 1974] #976 -France
172. Knocked Up [Apatow, Judd, 2007] #980 -US
173. Dazed and Confused [Linklater, Richard, 1993] #982 -US
174. La Collectionneuse [Rohmer, Eric, 1967] #985 -France
175. Thin Man, The [Van Dyke, W.S., 1934] #986 - US [photo lt] Asta is the greatest dog in film history176. About Schmidt [Payne, Alexander, 2002] #1003 -US
177. Pilgrim, The [Chaplin, Charles, 1923] #1008 -US
178. Hedwig and the Angry Inch [Mitchell, John Cameron, 2001] #1023 -US
179. Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The [Wilder, Billy, 1970] #1034 -US
180. Iron Giant, The [Bird, Brad, 1999] #1035 -US
181. Plácido [Berlanga, Luis García, 1961] #1038 -Spain
182. Nutty Professor, The [Lewis, Jerry, 1963] #1041 -US
183. Avanti! [Wilder, Billy, 1972] #1050 -US-Italy
184. Léolo [Lauzon, Jean-Claude, 1992] #1054 -France
185. Happiness [Medvedkin, Aleksandr, 1934] #1059 -USSR
186. 24 Hour Party People [Winterbottom, Michael, 2002] #1063 -US
187. Room with a View [Ivory, James, 1985] #1071 -UK
188. Broadway Danny Rose [Allen, Woody, 1984] #1077 -US
189. Sorpasso, Il [Risi, Dino, 1962] #1078 -Italy
190. Airplane! [Abrahams, Jim, 1980] #1083 -US
191. Charade [Donen, Stanley, 1963] #1090 -US
192. Christmas Tale, A [Desplechin, Arnaud, 2008] #1091 -France
193. The World According to Garp [Hill, George Roy, 1982] #1102 -US
194. Man Without a Past, The [Kaurismaki, Aki, 2002] #1106 -Finland
195. Who Framed Roger Rabbit [Zemeckis, Robert, 1988] #1108 -US
196. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town [Capra, Frank, 1936] #1112 -US
197. Pink Flamingos [Waters, John, 1972] #1113 -US
198. The Man in the White Suit [Mackendrick, Alexander, 1951] #1125 -US
199. Royal Tenenbaums, The [Anderson, Wes, 2001] #1135 -US
200. Caro diario [Moretti, Nanni, 1993] #1136 -Italy-France
201. Beauty and the Beast [Trousdale, Gary, 1991] #1142 -US
202. Radio Days [Allen, Woody, 1987] #1143 -US
203. Gold Diggers of 1933 [LeRoy, Mervyn, 1933] #1145 -US
204. Ceremony, The [Oshima, Nagisa, 1971] #1153 -Japan
205. Yesterday Girl [Kluge, Alexander, 1966] #1162 -Germany
206. And the Ship Sails On [Fellini, Federico, 1983] #1178 -Italy
207. Late Autumn [Ozu, Yasujiro, 1960] #1183 -Japan
208. Bienvenido Mister Marshall [Berlanga, Luis García, 1953] #1185 -Spain
209. Lavender Hill Mob [Crichton, Charles, 1951] #1188 -UK
210. Female Trouble [Waters, John, 1974] #1193 -US
211. Wild at Heart [Lynch, David, 1990] #1194 -US
212. Italian Straw Hat, The [Clair, René, 1928] #1200 -France
213. Punch-Drunk Love [Anderson, Paul Thomas, 2002] #1201 -US
214. Full Monty [Cattaneo, Peter, 1997] #1202 -UK
215. Bellboy, The [Lewis, Jerry, 1960] #1212 -US
216. Heaven Can Wait [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1943] #1214 -US
217. Breaking Away [Yates, Peter, 1979] #1219 -US
218. Big Chill, The [Kasdan, Lawrence, 1983] #1221 -US
219. Maskerade [Forst, Willi, 1934] #1226 -Austria
220. Dark Eyes [Mikhalkov, Nikita, 1987] #1236 -Italy-USSR-USA
221. Cyrano de Bergerac [Rappeneau, Jean-Paul, 1990] #1242 -France
222. California Split [Altman, Robert, 1974] #1244 -US
223. Ladies' Man, The [Lewis, Jerry, 1961] #1247 -US
224. One, Two, Three [Wilder, Billy, 1961] #1248 -US
225. Young Frankenstein [Brooks, Mel, 1974] #1258 -US
226. Ballad of Cable Hogue, The [Peckinpah, Sam, 1970] #1259 -US
227. Adam's Rib [Cukor, George, 1949] #1266 -US
228. Adaptation [Jonze, Spike, 2002] #1268 -US
229. You Can't Take it with You [Capra, Frank, 1938] #1274 -US
230. Destry Rides Again [Marshall, George, 1939] #1282 -US
Best Picture Winners Listed:
Annie Hall (9), It Happened One Night (14), Forrest Gump (29), The Sting (63), My Fair Lady (74), Shakespeare in Love (92), Tom Jones (95), You Can't Take It With You (229)
Notable Omissions:
50 First Dates, After the Thin Man, Alice, Animal House, As Good As It Gets, Babe, Beautiful Girls, Big, Blast From the Past, Born Yesterday, Bull Durham, Bullets Over Broadway, Cars, A Christmas Story, Defending Your Life, Driving Miss Daisy, Emma, The Gay Divorcee, Ghostbusters, Going in Style, Goodbye Lenin, A Great Wall, Heathers, Heaven Can Wait (the Beatty/Henry one), Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Ladykillers, The Loved One, Meet the Parents, Metropolitan, Mister Roberts, Morgan!, My Favorite Wife, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, The Odd Couple, Parenthood, Paper Moon, Play It Again Sam, Pleasantville, The Solid Gold Cadillac, The Sunshine Boys, Time Bandits, The Wrong Box - and The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming
Comedies generally don't get the respect of dramatic films, or even crime films (which will have around this many listed from fewer titles available). Just look: best picture winner You Can't Take It With You, from Capra no less, is ranked 1274th, and Adam's Rib (the best Tracy-Hepburn comedy), is 1266th. Meanwhile, best picture winner Driving Miss Daisy and nominees As Good As It Gets, Babe, Heaven Can Wait, Russians are Coming, and Parenthood aren't even mentioned. Very few have won major awards by comparison, and with only 18% of all films mentioned in all the polls I consulted (which represent about 100,000 voters), one could easily make an argument for adding perhaps another 50-100 comedy titles to the all-time top 1000 so that they represent at least 25-33% of all films listed.
Feel free to leave comments with more classic comedy omissions.. maybe we can compile 500 ourselves!
