Classic Comedy Hall of Fame

@citizenrules, if you haven't seen The Green Man (1956), you really must. It stars Alistair Sim, Terry-Thomas, George Cole, and Jill Adams. I can almost guarantee you that you'll get a few large guffaws.

I hope it's not hard to find. Years ago I sleuthed down a videocassette of it, which I still hang on to. Now it should be grabable on some streaming or other...

~Doc

His Girl Friday(1940)
Arsenic and Old Lace(1944)

I’m finishing up HOF commentary with these two films because they’re two of my favorites, and also because they both start Cary Grant. Grant was arguably the best comedy/dramatic actor in the 1940s and ‘50s, starring in many films that showcased his natural talents. His range runs from subtle sly humor up to broad slapstick, and it seemed effortless for him to change from one to the other. His entire palette is on display in these two classics.

His Girl Friday is one of the great classic screwball comedies, itself a remake of The Front Page (1931) with Adolph Menjou and Pat O’Brien. In “Friday”, they changed the sex of Pat O’Brien’s Hildy Johnson character to a female, and cast the electric Rosalind Russell against Cary Grant’s Walter Burns. The pairing turned out to be one of the all time best. Ralph Bellamy played Hildy’s hapless fiance who can’t seem to accomplish their marriage.

The Howard Hawks directed barn burner flies by in a flurry of machine gun dialogue and goofy setups. Hawks reportedly went over budget by insisting on take after take to get the actors to speed up their lines ever quicker. Hawks reportedly wanted Clark Gable for the role Grant played, and Gable would have been great. But it’s hard to imagine anyone barking out dialogue as quickly and humorously as did Grant. Russell was down the list of stars desired for Hildy, but her performance kept up the pace perfectly with Grant. If anything she was a little too hard nosed. Hawks had wanted Carole Lombard for the part, and she would have fit the bill while displaying more feminine softness.

Although Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace does not quite rise to the level of lightning banter as in “Friday”, it’s close, and there is plenty of wackiness. It is a black comedy that sports a cast of some of the best in the business: Grant, Jack Carson, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Priscilla Lane, James Gleason, Edward Everett Horton, Josephine Hull, and John Alexander.

Cary Grant again plays a newspaperman, but in this story we don’t see him at the newsroom. He’s just been married, and has taken his bride to visit his elderly aunts in Brooklyn. He discovers to his horror that his aunts have been poisoning old men, and having his crazy brother bury them in the basement. Most of the story is how Grant’s character tries to hide the circumstances from his new wife, all the while dealing with various and sundry relative and other characters who insert themselves into the action. There are numerous hilarious discoveries and send ups which ultimately culminate in a happy ending for all.

There was some criticism that Capra had pushed his actors to go too far “over the top” in their portrayals, especially the Grant and Carson roles. And in fact Capra had intended to go back and soften some of the most embellished scenes. But as the principal photography was winding down, the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor occurred, causing Capra to hurry on to military matters. The movie was not released until 1944.

Despite having different directors and writers, “Friday” and “Arsenic” have several things in common. Both were screwball comedies; Grant’s character in each was a New York newspaper man; both casts were tasked with exceeding their normal abilities; there were references to popular actors of the day in the dialogue (“ you look like Ralph Bellamy” and “look like Boris Karloff”); both scripts were warned to be toned down a little by the Production Code; in the original Front Page script, when the fugitive sticks his head out from the rolltop desk Walter Burns (Grant) refers to him as a “Goddamn turtle”, but in “Friday” the line is changed to “mock turtle”; in “Arsenic” Grant’s (Mortimer’s) last line is “I’m the son of a sea cook”, but the real line was “I’m a bastard”--- censored by the Code.

His Girl Friday stands the test of time slightly more so than does Arsenic and Old Lace, but both are prime examples of first rate comedy productions from Hollywood’s golden age.

~Doc

Lavender Hill Mob is a crime caper with some humorous elements to it, it's actually somewhat tricky to grade because as a film it's a four star movie but as a comedy I didn't laugh once and that's a problem.


It's a beautifully shot film and Alec Guinness is very good as a bank teller who is tired of taking care of other peoples money. I really wish the film was paced differently perhaps more with the first act and less with the second one. I think you could have mined some good humor with the motivations for Guiness to make this heist and it would prop up the comedy.

Top Hat really is a jack of all trades type film, it tells a fairly simple story about a confirmed bachelor who decides he wants to get with a girl. The girl isn't interested until she is and then she believes the man is someone else (who is married). Top Hat is beautifully shot and written the songs are great, the one liners are amazing and the physical comedy is great.



I think this is Astaires best comedic work his one liners and body language are on point here more so than in other work he has.

Several movies for me where top notch films and might go to the top of my voting list, but I didn't find them funny...So if I grade on what's funny, then they get bumped down some. I watched the last film and will write a review soon.

Duck Soup is a cute little slap stick comedy, I suppose this is considered the best of the Marx brothers films but I didn't care for it. I supposed I've seen it and parts of it too many times to really get into the story. The problem with Duck Soup is it's the Groucho Marx show and Harpo and Chico don't really fit into the main narrative. This is the story of a corrupt politician dealing with other corrupt politicians who decide to fake a war for reasons. The plot doesn't really matter in films like this it's the comedy first and if the plot tracks and makes sense that's a bonus.









Monkey Business on the other hand I particularly enjoyed. This felt more like an ensemble work. The story is less cohesive as the boys are stowaways running around a ship avoiding capture. By doing this the collective was able to play to their strengths, even Zeppo who was typically relegated to straight man parts was given some good work to do.



You've got a B-plot with gangsters and it's all fine and good but the film shines for me with the Harpo mime scenes, both at the barber shoppe and the punch and judy show which I found both part hilarious.

Yeah that's how I felt about both Marx Brother's films. I liked Monkey Business pretty well, but wasn't into Duck Soup.

His Girl Friday, I watched this last night. And as it's my last nom to watch, I thought it would be interesting if I posted my old review from the 1940s Hof Part 2....And then, without reading my old review, write my current thoughts on the film.


From the 1940s HoF Part 2...

OK, I did not read any of that! I promise! I'm interested to see if after last nights viewing if my thoughts have changed...and here they are:

May 16, 2019...His Girl Friday

Wow that opening scene with the overlapping, rapid fire dialogue that's laced with witty banter, makes the movie special for me! I love movies with brilliant dialogue and His Girl Friday delivers the goods in double time. That opening scene where Hildy goes to tell Walter that she's marrying someone else, is professional acting at it's best. The amount of lines that both actors deliver and without an edit is freaking amazing! That was one long scene and damn impressive to boot.


I'd read that different actresses were considered for Hilda Johnson, but I can't see anyone doing what Rosalind Russell did. She's flat out amazing in this and the perfect casting choice for the unscrupulous, gung-ho news reporter who has a rep for getting the story, at any cost. And Cary Grant has never been in finer form than in this movie. Cary and Rosalind have a chemistry it's like they're dialed in on each other and you can see their acting is in quick response to the other actors actions. And I believed they were a divorced couple who still loved each other while driving each other batty. Kudos to the great director Howard Hawks for that scene and many others as well.

I loved the dinner scene too, Grant's character was so cleverly sneaky as he tried to screw up the wedding plans of Hildy and Bruce (Ralph Bellamy). His henchman Louie (Abner Bierberman) was great in this too. I loved the whole unscrupulous, cut throat world of the newspaper...it made for a great story. But what really made the story was the cutting social commentary, especially when it targeted the corrupt Sheriff who was so sleazy that he was willing to let a man hang just so he could get more votes.

I have to say I was taking back a bit when poor Helen Mack who in a moment of distress jumps out a window to the payment below. That wasn't funny, but it did show how the newsmen could ruin lives by their yellow journalism and the lies that they printed.

His Girl Friday is one part: fast paced screw ball comedy...and one part biting social commentary on the sleazy world of politics and news. A movie that's relevant for today.

I'm finished and have sent in my voting list. How's everyone else doing?

sent my vote in, STILL need to post my review on Lavender Hill

__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Whoops! I've been finished with the film commentaries, but I didn't realize we were supposed to send in a vote as well. I must have thought that the entire forum got to vote.

Do we just select no. 1, or the first 3, or rank them all?

Do we send it to Siddon?

Yes, rank all of them, and send them in a PM to Siddon.

Siddon is the host so he will calculate the points received for each of the movies based on our voting list.

#1 on your list is the film you feel most deserving of winning this Comedy Hof, then #2 on down to least deserving movie at the bottom of your list at #12.

Remember two films where disqualified: Sherlock Jr and Trouble in Paradise so don't include those on your voting list.

Like Ahwell said, PM your voting list to Siddon and keep it private until after the HoF. After Siddon reveals the final results, then it's tradition for the members to post their voting list.

Thanks, Ahwell and CR. I just now sent in my list to Siddon.

A couple of comments: My personal ranking of these films was based exclusively on the comedy criterion, and tried not to make it a "best picture" ranking. In other words several of the pictures may be better films overall, but may not be as funny as some of the truer comedies.

Also, I've noticed a tendency for reviewers to base their judgements of the comedy value of a movie based upon today's standards. In my case I tried to reserve a portion of my judgement for what was likely funny during the era in which each particular movie came out.

Obviously some of the gags and humor from films of 60 or 80 years ago, which were fresh and hilarious then, have by the 21st Century become pretty passe, or even peculiar. Therefore, personally I tried to keep that in mind.

~Doc

That's exactly how I did my voting list too.


I've noticed that some judge older movies by today's societal standards as well as today's movie making styles. I try to judge films against the times that they were made in.


Glad you could join, Doc!

I try to do the same as well. Keeping in mind the decade of the film when it comes to overall appreciation while at the same time on the overall enjoyment of the film itself.

I was real happy with the HoF and the diversity of comedy styles we watched. to all the noms.

I wonder, has everyone gotten in their commentaries and rankings? There's another week before the deadline.

On the 1st post there are links to the member's reviews and in that way we can see how everyone is doing. And they appear to have a whole bunch of films left to watch.

Well I've got one movie to go and three writes up to erm...write.


Nathanial has two write-ups and nine movies to go but he always finishes at the tale end


Alex Wilder has been disqualified


and I've received 4 ballots


So that's what's going on.