Top Ten Comedies of the '70s

Realized months ago we did '90s and '80s, but we never got around to the '70s, so....


1. Young Frankenstein (1974 - Mel Brooks)
"He'd have an enourmous schwanschtucher."

2. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979 - Terry Jones)
"I'm Brian, and so's my wife!"

3. M*A*S*H (1970 - Robert Altman)
"Colonel, fair's fair: if I punch Hawkeye and nail Hot-Lips, can I go home too?"

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975 - Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam)
"There are those who call me...Tim."

5. The In-Laws (1979 - Arthur Hiller)
"Serpentine, Shelly, serpentine!"

6. Harold & Maude (1971 - Hal Ashby)
"Vice, virtue. It's best not to be too moral - you cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality."

7. Paper Moon (1973 - Peter Bogdanovich)
"They're all right for waffles."

8. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978 - John Landis)
"Do you mind if we dance wif your dates?"

9. Heaven Can Wait (1978 - Warren Beatty & Buck Henry)
"THAT'S when he stopped wearing hats, because he thought they looked funny without socks!"

10. The Bad News Bears (1976 - Michael Ritchie)
"Well, Lupus, if you wiped your nose every once in a while, people wouldn't give you so much crud all the time?"


ALSO (in random order) What's Up, Doc?, Murder by Death, The Cheap Detective, The Kentucky Fried Movie, The Groove Tube, And Now for Something Completely Different, The Jerk, Being There, They Might Be Giants, The Front, Blazing Saddles, Smokey & the Bandit, The Longest Yard, Foul Play, Seems Like Old Times, The Goodbye Girl, Fun with Dick & Jane, Love & Death, Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, Meatballs, 1941, Plaza Suite, Smile and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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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

Just a question, not regarding the comedies of the 70's per se [nice list by the way], but Monty Python -- both of their 70's film being on your list -- but, what did you think of The Meaning of Life as a film, comedy, piece, whatever?

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I love The Meaning of Life. I think Life of Brian is their true masterpiece, but Meaning of Life is often underrated. It just missed my Top Ten Comdies of the '80s list. It'd be top twenty material anyway.

"I'm afraid I have no choice but to sell you all off for medical experiments."

Yeah, I agree with people not giving it enough credit.
The only thing I have to disagree with when it comes to the directorial choices made with Meaning of Life, and it's not because it's not a good section of the film and it is masterfully directed [and a great sign of things to come], but Gilliam's The Crimson Permanent Assurance doesn't fit at the beginning of the film, it wouldn't fit at the end, it wouldn't fit dispersed throughout. It's very well made, and very funny, it's just something that doesn't fit with the rest of the film.

But back to the seventies...

I think Gilliam's piece works very well as a pre-credit sequence, a mini-movie in itself, and the reindtroduction in the middle of the film as a running gag pays off. It was of course originally supposed to fall somewhere in the middle of the movie, but it worked so well on its own and was such a different flavor than the rest of the bits, it was decided to use it at the front. I'm very glad it's there.

The other Python flick - their first, And Now for Something Completely Different, a collection of skits from the first two seasons of "Flying Circus" re-filmed for the big screen, would be in my top twenty-five of the '70s.

"Good thing I didn't tell him about the dirty knife."

It does work on it's own, and that's my argument, I guess. It works so well as it's own bit that it really doesn't need to be tied to Meaning of Life at all, but rather just made as it's own film. I mean, I love the film [both of them, even] how it is, but I just wonder if, despite the pay-off mid-way through the feature, both films would work better seperately.

"Here fishy, fishy!


I haven't seen And Now For Something Completely Different. I've read enough about it [Monty Python Speaks!], but I haven't actually seen it.

There are more pressing matters.

Like Brazil.

Other than becoming a sidebar for SB and me to discuss Monty Python films, nobody really ever added on to this thread. Surely some of you have strong feelings on what the very funniest movies of the '70s are, yeah?

Post away!



And once you get done formulating that group of flicks, there's also a thread for funniest of the '80s and the '90s.

INPO:


Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Young Frankenstein (Arguably the best comedy EVER)

Animal House

Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke

Heaven Can Wait (I have probably seen this one about 30 times, as it used to be a favorite in the days of my youth)

Blazing Saddles

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Probably my fav in the series, as it focuses much on ol' inspector dreyfuss, who is just a great character. Tremendous script as well)

The Bad News Bears (More nostalgia here)

Harold and Maude "Oh, Harold... That's wonderful... go and love some more."

The Jerk "The new phone book's here. The new phone book's here. This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need. My name in print. That really makes somebody. Things are going to start happening to me now."

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M*A*S*H (1970)
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Paper Moon (1973)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
American Graffiti (1973)
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
The Jerk ( 1979)

Honorable mention:

Oh, God! (1977)(I just always loved George)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

And... I need to watch Monty Python's Life of Brian again...

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Ya, I noticed TSB and Holds chatting about this one, and just can't remember a damn thing about it, so I need to watch it again, as I know I have seen it, but damned if I remember anything from it...

Brilliant heretical satire, hilariously funny. Definitely Python's best and most complete film.

Popping it on the list of to-gets then, as to be on your top list, it has to be good. Off to search for the "Wild at Heart" thread now, as I want to hear some opinions on this one...

My top five.

The Muppet Movie (1979)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
High Anxiety (1977)
Murder by Death (1976)



Some of the movies you all have listed I haven't seen, while others I saw sooo long ago I can't remember about it. Like Plaza Suite...I remember I saw it and liked it at the time...but I couldn't tell you who was in it or what the story is about.

1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2. The Life of Brian
3. The In-Laws
4. Annie Hall
5. Young Frankenstein
6. The Heartbreak Kid
7. Animal House
8. MASH
9. Play It Again, Sam
10. Manhattan

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"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."- Groucho Marx

I would have to say Animal house was def the best and most classic, right next to young frankenstine and Monty Python!

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time!

For some reason I'm not a big fan of 1970's comedies, but enough stand out to make a list worthwhile.

1.) Harold and Maude
2.) Slap Shot
3.) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4.) The Jerk
5.) The Rocky Horror Picture Show
6.) Blazing Saddles
7.) Animal House
8.) Bad News Bears

Wow, I really can't come up with two more off the top of my head.

Since I've moved on from my snotty film critic phase I really haven't enjoyed most of Woody Allen's work, and have never really seen the humor in Young Frankenstein (gonna get blasted for that one), which eliminates several films common to your lists. I do need to go back and rewatch Life of Brian and Meaning of Life. I didn't enjoy them the first time through, but Mrs. Mose picked them up last time I was down with mono so I wasn't in the best of moods.

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My Top 100 favorite movies.

1) Annie Hall (1977 - Woody Allen)
2) Young Frankenstein (1974 - Mel Brooks)
3) Blazing Saddles (1974 - Mel Brooks)
4) M*A*S*H (1970 - Robert Altman)
5) National Lampoons Animal House (1978 - John Landis)
6) Harold and Maude (1971 - Hal Ashby)
7) Manhattan (Woody Allen - 1979)
8) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975 - Jim Sharman)
9) American Graffiti (1973 - George Lucas)
10) Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979 - Terry Jones)

Everyone has mentioned my favourites. "High Anxiety" No. 1

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Okay who forgot Silver Streak????????

Blazing Saddles

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.