Log in to My Time Out for your personalised guide to what's on in London. It's fast, easy and FREE!
100 best comedy movies
The 100 best comedy movies, picked by experts from across film, TV and comedy
Explore the full list of 100 films
Read our contributors' top tens
-
The experts have spoken
From Dan Aykroyd to Edgar Wright, browse through the film lists submitted by over 200 contributor...
Discover more Time Out film lists
-
100 Best British Films
The 100 best British films as chosen by a panel of 150 film industry experts, including directors Sam Mendes, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Wes Anderson.
-
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films
Time Out ushers in the help of master animator Terry Gilliam to run down 50 of the greatest animated features of all time.
-
50 Essential comic-book Movies, with Edgar Wright
Strap on your utility belt, starch up your cape, pull your underpants over your trousers and prepare to fly faster than a speeding bullet with Time Out's superheroic countdown.
By Tom Huddleston, David Jenkins, Adam Lee Davies, Derek Adams, Edward Lawrenson, Wally Hammond, Ben Walters, Gabriel Tate and Phil Harrison. Explore the individual top tens of every contributor.
-
70
Buster Keaton in 'The General'
The General (1926)
Dir Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton (Buster Keaton, Marion Mack)
‘There were two loves in his life: his engine and…’
Western and Atlantic Railroad engineer Johnnie Gray’s southern belle fiancée Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack) and his beloved locomotive, The General, get abducted from Georgia by Union spies in Buster Keaton’s 1926 American Civil War masterpiece, the sole silent film to be chosen by our voters. Keaton, as actor, writer and performer, was a master of all the usual elements of pre-sound comedy cinema – demonstrative acting, precisely timed sight gags, elaborate set-pieces, stock characters, physical humour and slapstick – but he surpassed himself in ‘The General’, one of the most elaborate, inventive, expensive and completely satisfying movies of its, or indeed all, time. Regarded purely as a comedy, it’s also, among much else, a thrilling adventure yarn, a touching love story and an extraordinary, sensitive and informed historical drama. It epitomises Keaton’s remarkable deft, subtle and sophisticatedly ‘dry’ approach to film humour and is crowned by the greatest of Keaton’s own physically agile, beautifully modulated, affecting and inimitably stone-faced performances. WH
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
69
Kevin Smith's brilliant debut, 'Clerks'
Clerks (1994)
Dir Kevin Smith (Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti)
‘I’m not even supposed to be here today!’
It’s hard to shake the feeling that Kevin Smith’s filmmaking career has been one of diminishing returns – few, other than true believers, can have been devastated by his recent announcement that he’s folding away his director’s chair. But ‘Clerks’ was a genuinely refreshing and entertaining debut, its monochrome, formal simplicity a fine match for the pop-culture savvy yet vocationally adrift twentysomethings whose snarky interactions were charted over a day’s work at a convenience store. From roof hockey to ‘Star Wars’ minutiae, it captured a moment of generational ennui with brio and gave the world the mixed blessing that is Jay and Silent Bob. BW
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
68
Robert De Niro is 'The King of Comedy'
The King of Comedy (1982)
Dir Martin Scorsese (Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard)
‘Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime!’
Delve into our celebrity pollsters’ picks and you’ll find that none other than Canadian comedy titan Dan Aykroyd has – quirkily, perhaps, but quite reasonably – listed ‘Goodfellas’ among his top ten. And, indeed, you’d have a fighting chance of convincing many film fans that Martin Scorsese’s sprawling, hyperviolent meatball opera deserves a place on this list ahead of the bleak, flinty comedy of desperation that swirls within the dark, disconsolate heart of ‘The King of Comedy’. One spends as much time mopping one’s brow as slapping one’s thigh on a queasy, gut-clenching journey through the blue-black marrow of the funny bone that could arguably be said to have been the jumping-off point for the awkward, needling, confrontational comedy of the Farrellys, Ben Stiller, Bobcat Goldthwait and – without a doubt – Larry David. Nurse – the glucose! ALD
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
67
Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in 'His Girl Friday'
His Girl Friday (1940)
Dir Howard Hawks (Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy)
‘Never mind the Chinese earthquake, take Hitler and stick him on the funny page. No, no, leave the rooster story alone – that’s human interest!’
Where would screen comedy be today without ‘His Girl Friday’? For a start, the double-edged cynicism of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s source material, the oft-adapted Broadway play ‘The Front Page’, couldn’t be more modern. But, still, how lame and relatively tame does, say, the 1970s Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon, BIlly Wilder-directed version seem when set against Howard Hawks’s rattling, razor-sharp war of words? One of his most inspired decisions was to turn the male Hildy into a female firebrand played by Rosalind Russell – detonating one of the most incendiary, yet affectionate, sex-war duels in cinema history in her ‘give-as-good-as-you get’ battle with Cary Grant’s lethally charming Burns. Yet, what really distinguishes ‘His Girl Friday’ is its sheer vivacity and its devil-may-care profligacy: in its structured chaos of overlapping dialogue more gags are thrown away than in an eight-man swat-team of ‘Police Academy’ films. WH
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
66
The cast of John Landis's fratboy opus, 'Animal House'
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
Dir John Landis (John Belushi, Peter Riegert)
'Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?'
Frat-boy humour executed with magna cum laude distinction, this campus-based comedy is ostensibly set in the Kennedy era, but it channels the rude energy, punkish irreverence and riotous bad behaviour of the 'Saturday Night Live' crowd at their late ’70s best. For connoisseurs of cinematic impersonations of zits, John Belushi’s contribution to the field (aided by half-digested cream cakes) remains the greatest. EL
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
65
Daniel Tay, James Caan and Will Ferrell in 'Elf'
Elf (2003)
Dir Jon Favreau (Will Ferrell, James Caan, Edward Asner)
'Santa! Oh my God! Santa's coming! I know him! I know him!'
Already something of a Christmas classic, this blizzard of charm sees Will Ferrell as a human raised by Santa’s elves, on a journey to find his real dad, a gruff New York businessman played by James Caan. This is a lovely blend of great one-liners, balletic pratfalls and genuine warmth. Ferrell is simply superb as the guileless simpleton who causes a trail of destruction and has deep unresolved issues with his dominating father (we note without comment that Ferrell was fresh from portraying George W Bush on 'Saturday Night Live'). Above all, how can you not love a film with Ed Asner as Santa? EL
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
64
Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy in 'Coming to America'
Coming to America (1988)
Dir John Landis (Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones)
‘The royal penis is clean, your highness.’
By 1988, just a few years after he became the biggest box-office draw in America, Eddie Murphy’s golden period was drawing to a close: after ‘Coming to America’ it was all regrettable sequels, disastrous vanity projects and inexplicably popular family-friendly crud. But this tale of African princes and fast-food heiresses is a scrappily suitable swansong for the Eddie we loved in the ’80s, offering his signature blend of crudity, sweetness, wit, style and vague politicking, all wrapped up in a high-concept romcom package. And there’s a bonus for ‘ER’ fans, as that show’s Eriq La Salle appears in full jheri-curl nightmare as hair-product salesman Darryl. Just let your Soul Glo... TH
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
63
Randy Quaid in the Farrellys 'Kingpin'
Kingpin (1996)
Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly (Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Bill Murray)
‘You're on a gravy train with biscuit wheels.’
‘Kingpin’ deserves to be viewed as more than just the Farrellys' oft-forgotten fill-in movie between the smash successes ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and ‘There’s Something About Mary’. The laugh rate may lag slightly behind those two towering classics, but this is probably the most convincingly characterised of all their films, as evidenced by the casting of two strong character actors, rather than multiplex-stuffing comedians, in the lead roles of a washed-up bowler (Woody Harrelson) and his Amish prodigy (Randy Quaid). It’s also the most bizarrely sweet-natured of their films: the relationship between the two leads is genuinely affecting and, tellingly, it marks their first collaboration with soft-hearted super-songsmith Jonathan Richman. TH
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
62
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Edgar Wright's 'Hot Fuzz'
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Dir Edgar Wright (Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman)
'What’s the matter Danny, never taken a short-cut before?’
Referencing themselves in the follow-up to their previous success, ‘Shaun of the Dead’, showed the bumptious confidence of the trio behind 'Hot Fuzz' (Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg). It also showed their willingness to go the extra mile – or, in this case, extra fence – in their dry/deadpan, eclectic, cinephiliac, ‘Comic Strip’-style parodies, here in a mash-up of ‘Midsomer Murders’ cosiness and Bruckheimer-buddy-cop blockbuster. In ‘Hot Fuzz’, Frost, as village copper Danny, offers another of his endearing studies in arrested development; while Pegg, as ex-Met Sergeant Nicholas Angel, shows he can be just as upright and self-righteous – not to say, myopically out of his depth – as Edward Woodward’s Auld-Reekie rozzer in ‘The Wicker Man’. Though they differ dramatically in hair colour and action-hero skills, both are bad, baaad boys. WH
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm -
61
Luke Wilson and Gene Hackman in 'The Royal Tenenbaums'
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Dir Wes Anderson (Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Luke Wilson)
‘“Vamonos, amigos,” he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight.’
The Fockers may be more violently dysfunctional, the Ambersons bigger on festering spite, and the Corleones far funnier, but no film family is as grandly, sweetly or entirely screwed up as Team Tenenbaum. A tale of brownstone royalty, second-act blues and the baffling circuitousness of redemption, Anderson's rambling family saga leaves one immeasurably sad, laughing like a drain and lunging out to hug a loved one all at the same time. Gene Hackman is at his most gleefully rambunctious, Gwyneth Paltrow is as cool as (reform) school and Owen Wilson lends his 10/4 Texan drawl to a delicious Cormac McCarthy-lite literary chancer, but it’s brother Luke who steals the show as beardy retro tennis meltdown Richie Tenenbaum – a character without whom any truly hip fancy-dress party is wholly incomplete. ALD
Rent this DVD on Lovefilm
Comments
Elf deserves to be there despite whatever the comments say - it is the funniest Christmas movie I have ever seen. Why isn't Coming to America in the top 10? Why isn't Office Space in the top 10? This is Spinal Tap is NOT FUNNY. There were way too many Woody Allen movies and where is Superbad? Galaxy Quest - are you serious? Movies 100 - 91 were not funny. How can you have a movie that is not funny at number one? Are you at all serious?
Down with the naysayers, This is Spinal Tap at No. 1 - need I say more
Egregious omissions:
"Death at a Funeral" had me in apoplectics more than 90% of these films.
"The In-Laws" (original with Peter Falk) and "Blazing Saddles" are also superior to many of these picks.
I do agree with "Top Secret" and "Galaxy Quest".
Spinal Tap at number one? Above Life Of Brian?
Nah mate, nah.
Spinal Tap is one of the most overated THINGS ever, let alone comedies.
Spinal Crap more like....
the list is made by a moron who are the the morons who are supposed to be these experts
This list sucks. I don't think that top 10 movies r really top ten.. I give you 2 out of 10. The point 2 is for your hardwork to make this list not for the movies you add. It's ridiculous.
Wow...most best of lists are awful but this is among the worst Ive seen :(
Shows how subjective a genre comedy is...well any genre to be honest, because I have watched Spinal Tap twice now, and I still think it's not really very funny at all... maybe it's something about the rock n roll attitude thing, but apart from a few very funny moments I thought it was a pretty limp, flat experience. Each to their own...but I would personally have Duck Soup well above Spinal Tap -- it's 50 years younger and about 4 times as funny.
Placing The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) at place 95 makes this list a joke!!
sorry
Travis Bickle's list is a helluva lot better than yours. Were the people who made this list list born in 1990?
Missing in action:
Bringing Up Baby
Our Man Godfrey
The Awful Truth
The Palm Beach Story
The Lady Eve
Ninotchka
Love Me Tonight
It Happened One Night
Modern Times
The Gold Rush
City Lights
Our Hospitality
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Christmas Story
MASH
Moonstruck
My Favorite Year
The Twelve Chairs
A Shot In The Dark
The Lavender Hill Mob
Mon Oncle
Paper Moon
The Graduate
Election
Sideways
Honeymoon In Vegas
Ruthless People
Clueless
Thank You For Smoking
The Cooler
Welcome To The Dollhouse
Something's Gotta Give
As Good As It Gets
Jerry McGuire
Porkies (Just kidding!)
This list is complete b.s. These guys have a chubby for Woody Allen... No 'dazed and confused',happy Gilmore, but no billy Madison? Dont think I saw one John Hughes film... HorsePoop
ok why so much woody allen films? and furthermore where is beetlejuice, brother, where art thou?, in bruge, grosse point blanke and to a lesser extent the exorcist.
This list is absolutely terrible. Napoleon Dynamite was entertaining but should NOT be in the top 100
How much did Woody Allen pay you to take so many spots with his outdated unfunny films?
Factor in the omission of Spaceballs, Idiocracy, Super Troopers, Beverly Hills Cop, PCU and Out Cold and this list is pretentious pointlessness.
Anybody who thinks Will Ferrell is funny ought not to be allowed out of The Home for the Bewildered.
I only had time to look at the top 10, and was astonished that the two laugh-out-loud funniest films ever were not there: Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday, both directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant. I assume they are lower down the list, but not in the top 10?!!!
its a mad mad mad mad world
the private war of harry frigg
the tiger makes out
THislist is very imcomplete! and the expert used to make that list are from most of them old generation 40 to up...years old, so as we can most of the movies selected are oldies...or unknown at all....There are a lot great cool comedy missing on it....like super heroes parodies or SC-FI parodies are totaly absent that clearly show partiality in jugment....
Napoleon Dynamite is on this list, thus rendering it invalid. Move along.
The downside of the internet is that even someone who ranks Borat and Team America above The Big Lebowski is allowed to publish their "thoughts" to a wide audience.
The Big Lebowski should be number 1, one of the greatest (and funniest) films of all time. Good list though, Spinal Tap had a monumental influence, a deserving candidate for the top spot :)
Dear sir/madam,
I'm pleased to inform you that I'm having few scripts for humorous video clips by using a new character called Sri Lankan Mr. Bean, just similar to Rowan Atkinson. And here I've used my own scripts which was written by me. Sure, whole world will be get laughed once they go through this. I'm having a idea on producing this videos. I'm looking for a video sponsor or a media sponsor. If you're interested contact me on my e-mail........
agskag@yahoo.com
I like the choices on this list, for sure, and althought I think some should've been higher than others, I think its a decent list, except for the following:
1) Glaring omission of two Pink Panther jewels: "The Return of the Pink Panther" and, especially, "A Shot in the Dark", both of which are funnier than the original film itself, and as funny as "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (really happy to see this one included, I must note). "A Shot in the Dark:", especially, showcases, along wtih to "Dr. Strangelove", Peter Sellers's complete comedic forte as a perfomer, and in contrast to Kubrick's opus, while portraying only one role. Just genius.
2) The placing of "Spinal Tap" as number One. Why not "Life of Brian"?
3) Baseketball?! Really? The film is free-loading bunch of BS. Its painfully unfunny, steretypical scatology at its best. Its not only nowhere near Team America or South Park, but its nowhere near the top 500 - no, I did mean five hundred.
4) Glarring omission of M*A*S*H? One of the greatest, bravest anti-war satires of all time is not here - but Baseketball is?
5) Glarring omission of "Spaceballs", aka Mel Brooks's Final Laugh. Why? Maybe it didn't have Gene Wilder in it... Although it should've!!
6) Not-as-glarring omission of "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 Hrs". Eddie Murphy's shining in them. i can understand not having them, but still missed anyhow.
Otherwise, not a bad list. But the omissions are just glaring - did I mention that? :-D
I hate the number one choice,that doesn`t mean i hate the film but number 1,come on! Also no MASH,no Lost in America,no What About Bob? no Bringing Up Baby?
Not as atrocious as the recent 100 songs list but still a very poor list. And any 100 greatest comedy films list that doesn't include Clueless is not to be taken seriously. And where is Happiness, Love Me Tonight, Singin' in the Rain, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Welcome to the Dollhouse? A joke.
Team America is much funnier than Ghostbusters.. Anchorman, also, definitely top 10 IF YOU HAVE SMOKED AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF CRACK COCAINE.
Ghostbusters is the best action/comedy to ever grace the silver screen. It is a work of comedic art, true genius, and should be in the top 5 of this list, if not top 3. That is all.
Baseketball?
REALLY?!
Any semblance of respectability goes out of the window with that dross there.
And this is coming from someone who absolutely loves South Park, Team America & The Book of Mormon!
The Annie Hall quote is not actually Woody Allen's, and he mentions that in the film.
The snubbing of the better side of Apatow Productions in this list is disgraceful.
A mockumentary? Really? I hate bloated, self-aggrandizing deadpan bs. Comedies are supposed to be funny.
List is rubbish. It includes Elf, Dodgeball, GalaxyQuest, etc, but leaves out many others far more deserving such as Idiocracy.
Fantastic that Monty Python is in the top 10 twice. Fantastic. I'm a little sad that StepBrothers isn't on the list, though (unless I missed it?).
This was rather awkward way to try to see if my movie is in there but I love the movie "Real Genius" with a teenage Val Kilmer.
Time Out guides and magazines
Useful links
Things to do in London
- London restaurants
- London events
- London theatre
- London bars and pubs
- London clubs
- Film listings
- London tickets and offers
- Alternative London
- London museums
- London music
- London art
- London shopping
- London Olympics
- Gay and lesbian London
- London cabaret
- London comedy
- London for kids
- Books and poetry
- Dance in London
- Festivals
- London hotels
- Classical music in London
London by area
- Brixton guide
- Borough guide
- Bermondsey guide
- City of London guide
- Dalston guide
- Mayfair guide
- Camden guide
- Clapham guide
- Covent Garden guide
- Greenwich guide
- Stoke Newington guide
- Hammersmith guide
- Hampstead guide
- Highgate guide
- Holborn guide
- King's Cross guide
- Islington guide
- West End guide
- Hackney guide
- Marylebone guide
- London Bridge guide
- Little Venice guide
- Richmond guide
- Shoreditch guide
- Soho guide
- South Bank guide
- Wimbledon guide
- Notting Hill guide
Time Out Worldwide
Get the latest news from Time Out
Share your thoughts