The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

I'll attempt to not make any factual errors today - see how I go. Two great films, but not ones from my list...

I still remember my parents showing me The Graduate - my mother (now passed, so it's kind of sad) looked at me uncertainly, as if she really wanted me to like it, but was afraid I was going to hate it. She asked me, "you didn't like it, did you?" I said "Are you kidding?" It was one of the best films I'd ever seen! Perhaps it should have been on my list. For some reason I didn't think of it - but it could well have nabbed a spot - it's way more than deserving of one. One of those great films. Great actors and performances, direction from Mike Nichols, funny moments and tender moments. Katharine Ross was gorgeous. Benjamin Braddock is one of the greatest comedic characters ever created - the bumbling, inexperienced graduate, who is unfortunate to fall in love with his older lover's daughter.

I first saw His Girl Friday after setting myself a challenge of watching 50 public domain comedies - and it didn't belong amongst the poor ones in that lot. I first saw the 1931 version of The Front Page, then another version - and finally His Girl Friday, so I had become very familiar with the story. They did a nice switcheroo with the sexes so they could add a romantic element with Cary Grant - and the comedic lines are delivered with the most aplomb and expert delivery. It made it a better adaptation of that play than the previous films I watched. Thought it was great - but I'm surprised at just how high it rated here. I expected it - for sure, but somewhere in the middle.

Seen : 60½/76

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His Girl Friday was #18 on my list. Fantastic stuff showcasing Grant's impeccable comedic timing; the man really was a legend of his time. Once this film gets going, it fires on all pistons, with dialogue spooling out in record time; it set an actual record for fast dialogue, if I recall correctly, barely giving you time to laugh before the next lines go rushing by. Due to this, it almost requires multiple viewings to appreciate properly. It's also pretty dark for its time. The first dark screwball comedy? Perhaps...

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As I already said His Girl Friday was my #6, so glad it made it

I thought I'd post my 2018 review of this wonderful movie:


Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Charles Lederer (screenplay), Ben Hecht (from the play "The Front Page")
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance


What color do you think the hat and blazer that Rosalind Russell is wearing is? On the DVD cover it was purple with stripes. I suspect it wasn't as gaudy looking as it's been colored to be and was probably gray with black stripes. It's a very odd looking outfit but it wasn't chosen randomly, they never do that in movies. It was selected for a reason and I'd venture a guess that it was the 1940's version of a 'power suit'. Rosalind certainly looks commanding in it and it gives her a sense of showmanship....and that's what this film is about, showmanship.

The title His Girl Friday sounds somewhat demeaning to Hilda (Rosalind Russell), it sounds like Hilda is just a skirt in an office full of old crusty newspaper men and her only job is to powder her nose and make coffee for the boys. Uh uh...not true, Hilda is a self made woman. Make no mistake about it she's in control of the situation and not Walther (Cary Grant). She knows her mind and knows how to write a news story that cooks! All the boys in the newsroom are in awe of her gutsy anything-for-a-story journalist skills. Hilda's a power house and if anything this is a movie that empowers women. So the title is kind of funny, cause Hilda's nobody's lackey.

I read that this has some of the fastest dialogue spoken in a film at 240 words a minute! Add to that this early example of actors deliberately speaking over each others lines all while ad-libbing over an already fast paced script and you get one helluva a unique film that takes one's full attention to fully follow it.

There's two things that makes this movie special: the witty banter and the intense chemistry from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Oh and Ralph Bellamy plays the straight man to a tee.

His Girl Friday is so complex in it's dialogue that I feel I missed some of the more subtle witticisms. The first witty word play comes during the title credits...did you spot it?

Nice to see one of my fav actors Dustin Hoffman make the list after missing him on the all time refresh list.
Haven't seen His Girl Friday yet but I loove Howard Hawks; Scarface, The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. So I'll try to watch His Girl Friday asap.

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The next time a Gary Cooper film winds up on a Countdown, just call him Cary Grant to make it even haha.

Or you could double down and keep insisting Cary Grant is actually Gary Cooper in disguise!

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One's name is Cary and the other's name is Gary - I think that's suspicious enough to suspect they're the same person. So instead of clumsily getting things wrong, I am in fact a genius.

I’ve seen The Graduate twice. And I absolutely loved it. Gave it a rare full five on the first watch. But I also gave it those same five stars on the second watch. But empty stars aside, I think it’s really great. One of the greats and deserving of its reputation.

But even so I did not vote for it. I might have kind of forgotten to include it. But it’s also not the first movie I think of when I think of comedies. So that might have something to do with it. Anyways, I’m glad to see it on the list - and high up!

I have not seen His Girl Friday yet, but I plan on it one day.

The Graduate was on my ballot at #3. I put it off for a while, but once I got to it, it blew me away. Everything about it - the performances, the story, the characters, the iconic final scene - all worked really well for me and set it apart from most other films I had seen that particular year. It shares similarities with some other American New Wave films like Bonnie and Clyde and Cool Hand Luke in the sense all three of them captured the rebellious countercultural spirit and anti-authority themes which were so prevalent around this time. While I enjoy all three of those films for how they tackle those themes in their own individual ways, I think The Graduate easily has a better shelf life than the other two films have and did the most with this theme.

His Girl Friday is a blast to watch as, since the dialogue and humor run so fast, it's the kind of film where you always have to be paying attention. Otherwise, if your attention drifts for even a minute, you've likely missed several jokes. I remember not caring for the romance aspect of the film though and found it kind of dated. Still though it's a fine film which I'm happy made this list.

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1. It Happened One Night (#35)
2.
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.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22. The Apartment (#29)
23.
24.
25. The Great Dictator (#50)

No votes. The Graduate is a great film that definitely holds up in all the ways that matters. I've only seen His Girl Friday once and that was a long time ago but I liked it quite a lot and definitely want to revisit it.

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The Graduate is great. “Plastics.”

Haven’t seen His Girl Friday.

Two nice surprises today. I haven't seen The Graduate in forever and should watch it again, but its reputation meant my vote was hardly needed. His Girl Friday I like a lot but something had to give.

The Graduate is one of the all-time greats, and I could never do a comedy list without it. Absolute masterpiece

Haven't seen His Girl Friday but looks like it's on prime video, so I may have time to give it a go today

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Mrs. Doubtfire is such a snub

This is the MoFo List debut of What We Do in the Shadows. All of the other recent picks are veterans. The Apartment was #8 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1960s and #84 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh, After Hours was #35 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1980s, Arsenic & Old Lace was #18 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1940s, The Graduate was #6 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1960s, and His Girl Friday was #14 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1940s.

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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

I have been on vacation for the week. I'm still on it. But I got a little computer time today. Three of my top ten choices have been revealed in the past two days.


It is no secret 'round these here parts that Marty Scorsese is my favorite filmmaker nor that I revere After Hours almost as much as his more widely acknowledged masterpieces (the big three being Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and GoodFellas). Scorsese was in a weird head space, professionally, when he made this movie having been disappointed that the first attempt at The Last Temptation of Christ had fallen apart. After Hours is dark and funky and lean and exciting. I LOVE this movie. It was my number three choice. For decades it has been top of the list of my cinematic litmus tests for new friends. I pop that in (used to be Laser Disc, now DVD) and watch their reactions. If they are squirming and cackling with delight, we can be friends. If they are befuddled or worse offended, we are not a good match. I was starting to lose hope that it was going to make the collective list, but here it sits!



There was a time in my twenties where I was frickin' OBSESSED with The Graduate, watching it on a loop and absorbing every cinematic molecule. I don't watch it as frequently anymore but it is still powerful and remains a favorite. It landed at number ten on my ballot this time.


I am perpetually obsessed with His Girl Friday. For me, Cary Grant's finest hour (which is really saying something). The spark of genius to change Hildy's gender from The Front Page and add those layers of romantic tension atop the already well-oiled machine makes Hawks' fastest of fast-talking films a joy for the ages. I can watch this any day and every day and smile and smile and smile. I often do. It was fourth on my ballot.


Those three make only six of my choices, thus far. In the next twenty-four reveals I expect eight more for certain and two more that are wobbling on that imaginary fence.

Holden’s Ballot
3. After Hours (#28)
4. His Girl Friday (#25)
6. Singin’ in the Rain (#49)
7. Rushmore (#53)
10. The Graduate (#26)
15. One Two Three (#85)


And now, back to my vacation...!

The Graduate is pretty funny, but what resonates with me more is its drama, rather than the comedy, which is why I didn't include it on my list. Still, definitely worthy of being here.

His Girl Friday, on the other hand, just simply didn't work for me. I know I'm in the minority, but here's a bit of my thoughts as I shared them on my podcast:

So yeah, that was me. To draw a parallelism to yet another classic romcom that kinda does the same, in It Happened One Night, the switch goes down easier because 1) We barely see King Westley, 2) we're led to believe that he's a gold digger, and 3) we can see that Ellie married him just to get away from her father. So I think it worked better for me because of that.


Seen: 55/74

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The Graduate, my #6, a brilliantly-directed film concerning the misadventures of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), an upper-class college graduate who returns to his posh L.A. family home with little thought of what to do with his future. In fact, his first day home, his parents throw him a welcome-home party populated by all the parents' friends, but Benjamin feels like a fish out of water, although he fatefully decides to drive home Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and thus the virginal Benjamin begins a sensual trip down the rabbit hole with the unhappy, alcoholic older woman. Things really come to a head when Benjamin realizes that he prefers the company of Mrs. Robinson's college-aged daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), but Mommy will stop at nothing to keep the "kids" apart.

Although The Graduate is wonderfully-acted and is based on a sparklingly-witty script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, it's really Mike Nichols' fastidiously-entertaining direction, in conjunction with DP Robert Surtees and song score team Simon & Garfunkel which helps keep the film miles ahead of the competition to this very day. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the direction and cinematography of this film are among the finest ever seen in cinema history. Right from the opening shot of Benjamin arriving at and leaving LAX, he's framed in the corner of the image as an outsider, while "The Sound of Silence" plays over the credits. After Ben arrives home, most of the scenes are done in long takes with incredibly-beautiful-and-deeply-thematic photography utilized to draw you into Ben's "world of silence". He just doesn't relate to life back at home, and as each scene plays out in its own excitingly-creative style, even the casual viewer can see the importance of pre-planning the visual complexity of all the scenes for maximum emotional impact. To me, The Graduate is a comedy, first and foremost, a satire of the rich, complacent California lifestyle second, and a powerful human drama third. The script and Dustin Hoffman really make it pay off as a comedy, but it's the rest of the cast which adds to its satiric weight, not the least of whom is Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughn in Jaws) as Mr. Robinson. Let's not forget that other Jaws connection, Richard Dreyfuss! But weighing the whole thing to the Earth and making it much more poignant is the complex way that Nichols and Surtees shoot the film, and then the way that Nichols utilizes Sam O'Steen's editing, along with the songs, to assemble a film which far outdoes the French New Wave at their own game.

Mike Nichols blew my mind with his first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Coming from a theatrical background, Nichols did show off his cinematic skill subtly in that film, but he reigned himself in to make what was ostensibly a play-shot-on-film (although it was far more intense than both most plays and most films). The Graduate could not be more highly-cinematic. The musical montage of Ben and Mrs. Robinson sharing their silent hotel bed, intercut with Ben at home in his own bedroom and floating in his swimming pool, still retains the pristine power which exemplifies why film lovers love film. It truly can do things which no other art form can do to both engage your senses and your soul. Well, music can too, but music helps push this film over the top in its cinematic grandeur.

Before I sound too much like a Mike Nichols sycophant (OOPS! Too late!), I'll admit that The Graduate cannot maintain its intensity all the way through the film. When it transfers to Berkeley in the second half, some of the air is let out of the balloon. Even so, compared to most films, this latter section of The Graduate is excellent, but some of the musical and editing repetiton becomes apparent. Luckily, The Graduate does contain one of the more intense final 15 minutes in film, involving a sequence where Benjamin drives back-and-forth, totalling over 1200 miles in less than 18 hours, to try to make things right with his true love, all the while dodging the cops and the Robinsons' attempts to marry off Elaine. It all climaxes in one of the better endings of all time.

His Girl Friday is a super fast-paced remake of The Front Page with the Hildy character changed from a man to a woman. The results surprisingly don't change the basic gist of the plot all that much. It's very good but I recommend all the versions especially the 1974 Billy Wilder one with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.

My List

5. Back to the Future
6. The Graduate
11. Harold and Maude
13. One, Two, Three
16. It's Such A Beautiful Day
17. A Fish Called Wanda
25. Ruthless People

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I adore The Gradute. Both funny and profound in equal measure. Still one of Hoffman's best performances. Still movie perfection. In many ways, I still live in the hopelessly aimless headspace of Benjamin and so it will likely always resonate with me. The world wanting and expecting you to do one thing, when nothing the world points at has any value to you whatsoever. "One word: Plastics" seems to be the quickest way to sum up everything wrong with the world, and the folly of preceding generations who bask in giving up and not figuring anything out either. It may as well be what is written on my tombstone, as they are the words that should haunt all of us. Either that or "It was in serious danger of being trod on by a dwarf". It seems comedies contain all the wisdom in the world we need.


His Girl Friday is one I know I saw when I was beginning to check off a bunch of the classics, a million years ago. It honestly never made much of an impression, but was my first Cary Grant comedy, and I know I had yet to adjust to his particular style at that point. Deserves a rewatch.

I just wanted to revisit this statement that was made after #41 (Borat) was revealed).

I didn't say anything, because it seemed wrong at the time (5-7 movies immediately jumped to my head as likely locks still), but since then we've had:

Modern Times
It Happened One Night
The Apartment
Arsenic & Old Lace
The Graduate
His Girl Friday

That's 6 already and Strangelove still seems likely. I still think Some Like it Hot stands a good chance (but I'm not Holden, so I don't know how it usually does against The Apartment in these countdown lists).