The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

The only thing I find funny is people pretending to be the opposite sex, so naturally Some Like It Hot topped my ballot. I know it wasn't the first cross-dressing comedy, but it's certainly the granddaddy in grandmammy's blouse that inspired the legion that followed. If not for Billy Wilder's classic, I may have never discovered the life-altering tactile sensation of donning a lacy brassiere and a pair of satin bloomers. Since others have already revealed their lists, I might as follow suit:

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I still need to see Some Like It Hot. Been meaning to for very long. Maybe this will be the final push to actually get around it.

The same can be said about Billy Wilder movies in general. Need to see more.

Some Like it Hot was my number 5. I'm surprised to see it this high but happy at the same time. It's Wilders best for me. One of the first black and white classics I say that really became an immediate favorite.

Watched Office Space and enjoyed it. If I had seen it before the countdown started, I would've guessed it would be more likely to miss than to be #18. At the same time I can understand how some people could relate to it and be a fan.

Some Like It Hot is one of the great comedy classics. Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond (The Apartment, Irma La Douce), and beautifully directed by Wilder, the film was #1 at the box office in 1959 for 7 weeks.

Monroe, Curtis, and Lemmon were all at their peak of popularity, and Wilder had a stellar reputation. So that alone drew people to theaters. It was arguably the greatest of MM's performances. Both Curtis and Lemmon were letter perfect.

I saw it upon release at my local theater and loved it. The brash themes for it's day, along with the story and comedy writing captivated me. And I've seen it many times since. Funny thing: it took me decades to cure my mistaken thought that SLIH was not a recent film. As recently as 20 years ago I kept thinking that the film was not very old.

The producers ignored the Hays Code, and did not buckle under to its condemnation. Nothing came of it, and that may have been one of the final nails in the code's coffin.

I had it at #5 on my list of 25.

Some Like it Hot was #19 on my list, thus making it the second Wilder film to make my ballot. I wrote a bit on it a while ago, but I don't think I ever saved it. In short, while older comedies generally don't make me laugh, this ones nails that better than virtually every other old comedy film I've seen. Besides some silent comedies (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd), if I had to pick one classic comedy to show to my irl friends, this one would be my top pick.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

1. It Happened One Night (#35)
2. City Lights (#11)
3. The Graduate (#27)
4. To Be or Not To Be (#86)
5.
6. Harold and Maude (#45)
7.
8.
9.
10. Being John Malkovich (#44)
11.
12.Sherlock, Jr. (#56)
13.
14. Shaun of the Dead (#15)
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. Some Like it Hot (#9)
20.
21.
22. The Apartment (#29)
23.
24.
25. The Great Dictator (#50)

Although most of the list is a joke, this one caught my attention! Cary Grant in a cross-dressing comedy? This should be something special.

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I love Some Like it Hot...despite the presence of Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, and Billy Wilder behind the camera, for me, this movie totally belonged to Jack Lemmon, in a deliciously complex performance...even though he is in drag for the majority of the film. he always plays the role as a man pretending to be a woman, and not a woman, and that's why the performance is so incredible and earned the film its only acting nomination.

Some Like it Hot is a great movie, (that I've always thought was a bit overrated), but it makes me smile more than it makes me laugh, so it didn't make my list.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Some Like It Hot was my number 21. Nice chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe offers capable support by playing dumb to good effect as singer Sugar. The violence might have squelched the humor a bit, but the Billy Wilder script/direction makes what could have been weak in lesser hands into a strong comedy. And let's not forget Joe E Brown as a possible suitor.

Updated List Predictions:

1. His Girl Friday
2. 60 percent. Leaning towards yes, but still might miss out.
3. Bringing Up Baby
4. 100 percent. There'd be riots if this missed out.
5. 100 percent. I'd say it's a mortal lock for the top 5 at this point.
6. 80 percent. It might not be entirely safe, but I'd be surprised if this misses out.
7. Hot Fuzz
8. Blazing Saddles
9. Clue
10. Shaun of the Dead
11. Anchorman
12. Office Space
13. The Naked Gun
14. Caddyshack
15. Arsenic and Old Lace
16. A Fish Called Wanda
17. 0 percent. Its window closed when we reached the top half.
18. 0 percent. Probably not enough people remembered it.
19. This is Spinal Tap
20. The Jerk
21. Some Like It Hot
22. Animal House
23. What We Do in the Shadows
24. It Happened One Night
25. 0 percent. Curious to see who else voted for this one.

HM: Trading Places, Happy Gilmore, Clueless, Mean Girls

HM1: 0 percent. Much like number 17, I think its best chance was in the bottom half.
HM2: 90 percent. I'm lowkey shocked if this one misses out.

PS: Surprised we didn't get any Alexander Payne films on the list. No Citizen Ruth, no About Schmidt or even Sideways? Hmm.

I'm going out on a limb and guessing that #1 is either going to be Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or Ghostbusters... or Star Wars: Force Awakens (because it was the biggest joke of all).

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Boldly going.

I'm not an expert on Curtis but I would vouch for Sweet Smell of Success. I absolutely loved that film.

As for Wilder, I've seen a handful...

Sunset Boulevard
Double Indemnity
The Apartment
Ace in the Hole
Some Like It Hot
Sabrina

With the exception of Sabrina, I would strongly recommend them all.

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For Monroe, I recall liking her part in All About Eve, though that was a smaller, supporting role.

Yeah. I've only seen 3 Monroe films, 2 of those she's supporting, but she's good in those three.

Some Like It Hot is a bona-fide classic and totally deserving of that status. Like most of Wilder's films, I love it and still laugh at it and like @Gideon58, I think Jack Lemmon owns the movie, and like a few of us here, my favorite scene is when he's so delirious that's he engaged to a rich man, he forgets who he is for a while. Just seeing him in bed, shaking the maracas, still tickles me to no end. However I didn't put it on my list. My main criteria being "Do I laugh all the way through still?" While I laugh at most of SLiH there are few scenes (just a few) that only make me smile. Don't get me wrong, I love it dearly but my list is entirely made up of favorite comedies, meaning I laugh out loud to this day.

My list:
#2.Arthur-#111
#4.The In-Laws
#5.Blazing Saddles
#8.Stripes
#9.The Blues Brothers
#11.Arsenic and Old Lace
#12.Tootsie-#108
#13.Raising Arizona
#14.Animal House
#18.Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
#22.Caddyshack

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Of all of Billy Wilder's movies, Some Like It Hot is the one I've seen the most, just because it was on TV quite a lot when I was growing up and so I saw it quite a few times then and a few more times as an adult, including at the cinema several years back. But it's not my favorite of his and I never considered it.

The movie I chose for my 1-pointer, which at least one other person had on their list, was The Long Goodbye. It's not an uproariously funny film, but I sure love a lot about it, including the different versions of the theme song, the ever-moving camera, the Hemingway-inspired alcoholic writer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's wispy little mustache. It helps I'm a fan of Raymand Chandler. It's okay with me.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

The Long Goodbye did not make my ballot, but I did consider it a little bit. I would not have been too disappointed if it had shown up somewhere in the 100-75 range. Or at least if this list had turned out... differently. A version where Fargo or Sullivan's Travels hadn't struggled to even make the cut. But that's a very different list.

Another from my list that did not make the collective...


Steve Martin wound up with two titles on the list with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (#52) and The Jerk (#24). Being a Steve Martin fan I like both of those, but if I had to pick one as THE best and my favorite it is easily L.A. Story. I had it at number twenty-three on my ballot. His wit and silliness are on full display in just about equal measure, and while the swipes at his hometown's pretensions and chaos are what made the trailer and how the movie was sold, it is what Steve has to say about love that I connected to most deeply and what elevates it above the rest of his work. "There's someone out there for everyone - even if you need a pickaxe, a compass, and night goggles to find them." Indeed.

Holden’s Ballot
3. After Hours (#29)
4. His Girl Friday (#26)
5. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (#20)
6. Singin’ in the Rain (#50)
7. Rushmore (#54)
9. Bringing Up Baby (#22)
10. The Graduate (#27)
12. Raising Arizona (#23)
13. The Palm Beach Story (DNP)
15. One Two Three (#86)
16. The Blues Brothers (#21)
17. Defending Your Life (DNP)
20. Joe versus the Volcano (DNP)
22. This is Spın̈al Tap (#13)
23. L.A. Story (DNP)
24. OSS-117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (DNP)

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

nicely done