10 Old Hollywood Comedies That Are Still Hilarious

Comedy generally doesn't age as well as most other genres, but there are still some timeless classics from the Old Hollywood era that can make modern audiences laugh in the 21st century. Many of these older comedies have been recognized as some of the funniest movies of all time, as they have stood the test of time and entertained people for decades, and are still funnier than most new comedies.

Comedy requires mutual understanding, which is why older films often have outdated references that lose relevance over time. What can be even worse is if an older comedy has some topics that are viewed negatively by modern standards. Changing social attitudes mean that people's sense of humor also changes over time. Only the funniest and most universal Old Hollywood comedies can be as popular today.

10

How to Steal a Million (1966)

Audrey Hepburn embodies 60s chic in William Wyler's heist comedy

The heist genre was reborn in the 1960s, with a new generation of stories that added more comedy and romance than the classics of the film noir era. How to steal a million incorporates this trend. It's a light-hearted and smart romantic comedy that incorporates some crime to add some pizzazz to the story. Audrey Hepburn plays the daughter of an art forger who must steal one of her father's paintings from a gallery before the fraud is discovered.

How to steal a million is one of Audrey Hepburn's best films, thanks to her affable performance, her chemistry with Peter O'Toole, and her iconic wardrobe provided by Givenchy. It's a gloriously elegant crime maneuver which came at the end of the Old Hollywood era. Within a few years, films like How to steal a million It quickly became seen as old-fashioned but still stood the test of time.

9

Raising the Baby (1938)

Raising a baby is a fast-paced delight

Raising the baby is a defining work of the screwball comedy genre, which satirizes the romance genre with ridiculous situations and the challenge of traditional gender roles. Cary Grant plays a clumsy and anxious paleontologist, while Katharine Hepburn plays the crazy, manic socialite who manages to drag him into her ridiculous world. It's hard to believe this Raising the baby It was Hepburn's first comedic role.

Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn made four films together in total. If Raising the baby It's not the best, it's easily the funniest. The fast-paced dialogue features a dizzying number of jokes, but there's also a lot of humor drawn from the very fact that everything is unfolding with no room for pause. Grant and Hepburn feed off each other's energy as they try to find a missing leopard, unearth a rare dinosaur bone and stay out of prison, all in one day.

8

Duck Soup (1933)

The political farce of duck soup is still sadly relevant

The Marx Brothers created some of the funniest comedies during Hollywood's Golden Age, and Duck Soup emerged as the one that remained the most popular in the following decades. The film is set in the fictional republic of Freedonia, as Groucho's Rufus T. Firefly rises to power as the inept and offensive ruler. Firefly's abrasive personality soon leads the country into war with neighboring Sylvania.

The jokes come so thick and fast Duck Soup It doesn't matter much when one of them doesn't fall, as there are three or four more piled up immediately after. Each of the four stars has a chance to shine, but Groucho is often the focus. Your mirror scene is a joy to watchand he combines this physical comedy with a barrage of one-liners. The chaotic war scenario is the height of political farce, and Duck SoupCriticizing incompetent and selfish politicians has never gone out of fashion.

7

Harvey (1950)

James Stewart turns on the charm

There's something strangely modern about the premise of Harveya film about a man whose best friend is a giant invisible rabbit, but it's a sweet, endearing film steeped in the magic of Old Hollywood. Although many of James Stewart's films are more dramatic, Stewart makes the most of his everyman charms in Harvey. It takes a rare talent to make such an unusual character so relatable and likable.

Harvey often resembles a comedy of errors, but it mixes its humor with some deeply meditative human drama. Ultimately, it's easy to be won over by Elwood P. Dowd's great rabbit friend, whether he's real or not. Much of the comedy works so well because it reinforces the sentimental core of the story. In the world of Harvey, conformity is a more restrictive straitjacket than any perverse sanitarium or fictitious medical treatment.

6

Singing in the Rain (1952)

Gene Kelly's musical represents something missing in modern Hollywood

Singing in the Rain it's the kind of lavish, extravagant musical that rarely gets made these days. Many of the greatest movie musicals of all time were produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and there's something about the dazzling style of that era that has never been replicated. Singing in the Rain is an ode to Hollywood and the joy of musicals, taking place during the shift from silent films to talkies.

Singing in the Rain There are many ways to make your audience laughincluding its charming romantic humor and lots of sharp dialogue. Some of the light-hearted musical numbers are also hilarious, especially Donald O'Connor's energetic one-man show "Make 'Em Laugh," in which he literally bounces off walls, runs in circles, and almost beats himself senseless to entertain the audience. .

5

Your Girl Friday (1940)

Howard Hawks' romantic satire is still worth watching

Your girl Friday is a screwball comedy that pokes fun at the limits of traditional gender roles, as a woman is torn between her career as a newspaper reporter and a potential life of domesticity with her new fiancé. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant create a hilarious dynamic like two fast-talking, career-oriented people who need a more human touch. This is a fun subversion of other romantic comedies that feature a career-oriented individual who meets a romantic partner who shows them that there is more to life.

Predictably, Your girl Friday ends with the two bickering partners getting back together, but it hardly feels like a happy ending. In keeping with the film's skeptical view of marriage and domesticity, the reunion seems doomed to fail in exactly the same way as the first relationship. Your girl FridayThe ending of is just one element of its clever romantic satire, and much of its social commentary is still relevant today.

4

The General (1926)

Buster Keaton's stunts are constantly creative

The General is one of Buster Keaton's best films and showcases his talent as a legendary physical comedian. Keaton's stunts have to be seen to be believed. He's constantly willing to put his body on the line for a laugh, and it's a simple joy to watch him accomplish the impossible with remarkable regularity. He's the closest Hollywood has come to producing a real-life cartoon character.

The General is based on a true story that took place during the American Civil War, with Keaton playing a train driver who finds himself involved in a chase across the railroad tracks. There aren't many films from the silent era that still have an impact, but The General it's creative enough to retain most of its charms. It was initially considered a failure, but has grown in stature over the years. The General entered the public domainso it can be watched for free online.

3

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Billy Wilder and Marilyn Monroe Rekindle Their Winning Partnership

Billy Wilder was an extremely versatile director, but he produced much of his best work in the comedy genre. Some like it hot it was his second collaboration with Marilyn Monroe, after 1955 The seven year itch, and once again he makes the best of his talents and glamorous allure. Monroe is joined by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, two of the funniest actors of their era.

Some like it hot follows two musicians who disguise themselves as women to escape the Chicago mob without being detected. Its quirky comments on gender are likely to please any fan of Tootsie or Mrs. and it also has the same hilarious dramatic irony as those films, as the two musicians desperately try to keep their ruse alive. Some like it hot has a great script, ending with one of cinema's greatest jokes.

2

Doctor Strange (1964)

Cold War satire has aged beautifully

Peter Sellers delivers one of the greatest comedic performances of all time in Doctor StrangeStanley Kubrick's timeless political satire. Sellers plays three characters from three different countries: the US president, a British military man and an unhinged German scientist. Salespeople's mannerisms change Doctor Strange in a laughable personal satire, with each nation's weaknesses ultimately contributing to the end of the world.

Doctor Strange is one of Stanley Kubrick's best films and definitely his funniest. He was not known as a comedy director, but Doctor Strange shows that he can subtly embellish a hilarious script with some thoughtful visual touches. Kubrick also focuses a lot on the shifting power dynamics at play, showing how the personal reflects the global. Although it is now decades removed from its original Cold War context, Doctor Strange has a lot to say about the politics that happen behind closed doors.

1

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Frank Capra's Dark Comedy Is Unlike Most Other Old Hollywood Films

Arsenic and Old Lace sees Cary Grant at his best, playing the only sensible member of a family full of unhinged serial killers. It's a raucous dark comedy that still holds up, even if the idea of ​​a man constantly reenacting the Battle of San Juan is even more outdated than it was in 1944. That reference aside, Arsenic and Old Lace is surprisingly macabre for such an old comedy.

Arsenic and Old Lace It began as a Broadway play, but Frank Capra felt compelled to adapt it for the big screen. The film's theatrical origins can be seen in the limited setting, but Capra also seems to bring out from his actors the kinds of broad performances that often work well on stage. Each of Grant's cartoonish overreactions perfectly fits the tone of the dark comedy. It adds a bit of sanity to an otherwise bizarre family unit.