Comedy is subjective. If you tell the ten people the same joke it is likely five will laugh and five will not. The same goes for movies. If you see a movie that makes you laugh hard and often you are likely to recommend that movie to anyone and everyone you know. Chances are some of those people will feel the same way while others will scratch their heads and wonder what is wrong with you.
Adam Sandler may be the most popular film comedian in the last decade and I have endured most of his movies trying to see what everyone else sees. For the life of me I can’t see it. I can see the man is talented but have yet to find any of his movies merely amusing much less funny. Caddyshack is one of the most beloved film comedies of the last 26 years and I have watched it several times and still fail to see it more then just a mildly amusing time waster.
People often don’t realize how hard it is to create something that will make people laugh. Even in the movie industry the Academy Awards often overlook film comedies often believing it is much easier to make someone laugh then to make someone cry. Since 1960 only 16 comedies have been nominated for Best Picture and in the history of the awards only 3 comedies (It Happened One Night; Annie Hall; Shakespeare in Love) have won the top prize.
Knowing how difficult it is to please all of the people all of the time, I am plunging head first into a recommendation of some of the best film comedies of a certain decade. Basically this is a list of films that, if you want to laugh, shouldn’t let you down. Some are funnier then others but they are all terrific film comedies. If you are in the mood for a good laugh and you happen across one of these films, you could do a lot worse then to sit down and watch and forget about the world’s problems and the problems in your own life – if even for a few short hours.
Here are the 10 best comedies of the 1960’s in alphabetical order:
BEDAZZLED (1967 – Director: Stanley Donen) – Before Dudley Moore became a star in the 1970’s he was part of a comedy team with actor Peter Cook. The two made several movies and none come close to the hilarity of Bedazzled. Basically an update of the Faust legend, Bedazzled stars Moore as a hopeless cook desperately in love with one of the waitresses in the restaurant where he works. Enter Cook as the devil who grants Moore seven wishes to allow his romantic dreams to come true. The problem? Moore never makes his wishes specific enough and Cook finds loopholes that allow him to foul up the wish. Example: Moore wishes to be married to his love. The wish is granted but Moore finds himself in the marriage where his wife is totally unhappy and having a passionate love affair with someone else. In between wishes we see Moore and Cook interacting while Cook is causing havoc on society including turning off stop lights during rush hour and making holes in the bottom of a naval ship. Singing In The Rain director Stanley Donen americanizes this British comedy and the laughs are plentiful. In 2000 director Harold Ramis remade the film somewhat less successfully with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley.
DIVORCE – AMERICAN STYLE (1967 – Director: Bud Yorkin) – One of the most overlooked film comedies of the decade was this terrific look at marriage and divorce written by All In The Family creator Norman Lear. Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds star as a feuding couple that comes to realize that perhaps divorce is the best answer to their problems. What they don’t know is that divorce is just going to be the beginning of their problems as their lives change and they begin to date others. This is a perceptive but very funny look at a serious subject. A classic moment comes early in the film as Van Dyke and Reynolds prepare to go to bed after a party they have hosted. A fight has started between the two that has lead to silence. The two go to the bedroom and angrily prepare for bed – without a word spoken. Using split second timing, they move around the room, opening and closing drawers, sliding closet doors back and forth, brushing their teeth, hanging up their clothes – with precision timing and perfect coordination.
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964 – Director: Stanley Kubrick) – One of the all time great comedies and, perhaps, the greatest black comedy ever made. A fanatical general launches an A-bomb attack on Russia and the President (Peter Sellers) must contend with all the chaos surrounding him including his own political and military leaders. Sellers is magnificent in three roles (The President; British Captain; Dr. Strangelove) with terrific supporting performances from George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Sterling Hayden and Keenan Wynn. Two classic movie moments are Sellers’ (as the President) phone call with the Russian president and Slim Pickens whooping it up as he rides on a bomb. Dr. Strangelove is shot in glorious black and white and was nominated for four Academy Awards (Best Picture; Director; Screenplay; Actor – Sellers).
THE GRADUATE (1967 – Director: Mike Nichols) – Dustin Hoffman’s first movie, and the one that made him a superstar, is the story of a young man just out of college who has no idea where he wants his future to lead. Home for the summer, Benjamin Braddock starts an ill advised affair with his parents close friend Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and soon finds more problems when he falls in love with her daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross). Backed by a soundtrack filled with songs by Simon and Garfunkle, The Graduate was one of the landmark films of the 60’s. Nominated for seven Academy Awards (Best Picture; Director; Screenplay; Actor – Hoffman; Actress – Bancroft; Supporting Actress – Ross; Cinematography), The Graduate won one award for Mike Nichols as Best Director and became the highest grossing movie of 1967 grossing over $44 million.
IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963 – Director: Stanley Kramer) – Perhaps the granddaddy of all movie comedies is this star studded blockbuster of a comedy that boasted appearances by nearly every comedic performer in the business. Made on a whopping $9.4 million budget, this three hour extravaganza is the story of a group of people that come to the aid of an injured motorist who, in his dying breath, tells them of $350,000 that is buried somewhere. From there the chase is on as each person’s greed overcomes them and they head to the spot in every way and shape possible. Leading the cast was Spencer Tracy as a cop monitoring the activities of each person as they race for the loot. The characters looking for the money were a venerable who’s who of comic talent including Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, and Buddy Hackett. Along the way we encounter more then 30-cameo appearances by everyone from Don Knotts to Jack Benny to Jerry Lewis to Buster Keaton to The Three Stooges. Mad World is filled with astonishing chase scenes and wild situations that keep the laughs coming for three hours. Nominated for six Academy Awards (Cinematography; Sound; Song; Original Score; Editing; Sound Effects) and winner of one (Sound Effects),Mad World would go on to gross over $20 million making it the second highest grossing film of the year behind only Cleopatra.
THE ODD COUPLE (1968 – Director: Gene Saks) – Based on Neil Simon’s smash hit Broadway play, The Odd Couple smoothly transitioned to the big screen thanks to terrific performances by Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. The now familiar story tells of two estranged husbands who are now roommates. Oscar Madison (Matthau) is a sports writer and self proclaimed slob. Felix Unger (Lemmon) is a television news writer (changed to photographer for the hit television series) who happens to be a compulsive neat freak. When these two are put together the results are chaos for them, and non-stop laughs for the audience. The Odd Couple was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Adapted Screenplay; Film Editing) and earned over $20 million to be the third top grossing film of the year.
ONE, TWO, THREE (1961 – Director: Billy Wilder) – One of Billy Wilder’s best but most under appreciated comedies stars James Cagney as a Coca-Cola executive in modern day West Berlin trying to care for his boss’ visiting daughter and nearly has a nervous breakdown when she secretly marries a Communist. Wilder keeps things lively with a breakneck pace that never stops and Cagney is a marvel to watch in what would be his last film for 20 years. The film was not a big success at the time of release but has since found its status as a great comedy. It was nominated for one Academy Award (Cinematography) but failed to win. The final scene in the film is a beauty.
THE PARTY (1968 – Director: Blake Edwards) – Edwards and Sellers would team for five films in the Pink Panther series but this non-panther movie may be the best collaboration between the two. Sellers plays Hrundi, an inept Indian actor who disrupts production of a movie so badly that he is blacklisted from ever appearing in another studio movie again. Unfortunately the head of the studio’s secretary writes his name down on a list of invitees to a posh Hollywood party and when he arrives everything goes to pot. As soon as he walks in he loses a shoe in a decorative pond and is soon wreaking havoc throughout the house. The most unforgettable seen comes when Hrundi has to use the bathroom and struggles to hold it in as he searches for an unoccupied lavatory. Despite the fact that the last part of the film is now dated, there are dozens of memorable set pieces throughout and you will find yourself laughing out loud more then once.
THE PRODUCERS (1968 – Director: Mel Brooks) – Mel Brooks made his directorial debut with this farcical story of a lecherous, down on his luck Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) who cons a meek accountant (Gene Wilder) into helping him with a get rich quick scheme: Selling 25,000% of a play that is certain to flop and then running off to Rio with the excess cash. The play they choose is Springtime For Hitler, a musical dedicated to the life of Adolf Hitler. Brooks was in full form here making sure to have something to offend everyone while mixing in belly laughs. This is a rare comedy that actually improves upon viewings. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor – Wilder; Screenplay) and Brooks won the award for his screenplay. Shockingly, despite huge critical success, the film flopped in its initial release but has since been recognized as one of the great film comedies. Brooks turned the film into the phenomenally successful Broadway musical which was made into a 2005 movie starring original Broadway leads Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.
A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964 – Director: Blake Edwards) – The only film in the Edwards/Sellers Pink Panther series that doesn’t have “Pink” in the title. The film is based on a play and when Edwards replaced the original director it was suggested the film would work better as an Inspector Clouseau vehicle. The result is the best in the series, by far, with Sellers investigating a murder in a mansion where the beautiful Elke Sommer is the prime suspect in everyone’s eyes – except for Clouseau’s. Scene after scene offers huge laughs with a trip to a nudist colony being the highlight of the film. Interestingly the film was co-written by Exorcist author William Peter Blatty.
