Chewers' 100 Funniest Films of the 70's

If this ain't #1, it damn well better be:

2.

1974                                dir. Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks. Richard Pryor. A bunch of other guys. What else is there to say?

           Where the white women at?

3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Classier and funnier than BLAZING SADDLES.

4)

"Oh this young man has had a very trying rookie season, with the litigation, the notoriety, his subsequent deportation to Canada and that country's refusal to accept him, well, I guess that's more than most 21-year-olds can handle... Ogie Ogilthorpe! "

5. Paper Moon (1973) d. Peter Bogdanovich

Peter Bogdanovich has made some excellent films in his career, but this one is by far my favorite. Ryan and Tatum O'Neal have great chemistry together. Her performance, for someone so young, really is just amazing. Now, "eat your Coney Island!"

6.  'Animal House' 1978, John Landis

Pretty much flawless.

7.  'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' 1975, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.

Again, pretty much flawless.

Animal House was John Landis.

8. The Goodbye Girl (1977) D. Herbert Ross

Richard Dreyfuss was never more on point than he was here. Neil Simon's wit was rarely more heartfelt and biting. Never fails to get me guffawing.

9.

1975                 dir. Woody Allen

Allen's hyper-literate, Frantic Period "Russian Novel" film. The perfect culmination of what was & what was to come.

"GodDAMN, you LOOOVE Russia don't you, boy?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Clark 

Animal House was John Landis.

 

Corrected.  Fuck me I knew that.

10.  'M.A.S.H' 1970. Altman

A movie about the Korean war with a Vietnam attitude.  Funny as hell.

11.  Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Holy Grail gets all the geek cred and is arguably more accessible, but I prefer their amazingly sacrilegious and rational take on the Christ story.   Has one of the all-time most perfect (and shockingly profound) endings ever.  

12.

1979                dir. Hal Ashby

Peter Sellers is dim, possibly the messiah.

13. Smokey and the Bandit (1977) d. Hal Needham

From a technical standpoint, this movie is a mess. Poor editing, bad dubbing, a severe lack of continuity, etc. But the cast more than makes up for all that with truly amazing performances, especially the late, great Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice (of Texas!). Not to mention the black Pontiac Trans Am. I fell instantly in love with that car when my parents first took me to see this in the Summer of 1977. 

"Sheriff, do the letters F.O. mean anything to you?"

"I'm gonna barbecue your ass in molasses!"

14. The In-Laws. By the time Falk gets to the "little brown babies," I'm helpless on the floor.

15. What's Up, Doc. Yes, as much ripoff of Bringing Up Baby as homage, but an amazing cast, and endlessly quotable ("I am Hugh" / "You are me??" / "Make him stop saying that...")

EDIT: Used Cars was 1980, doofus.,..

And if we're talking about 100 films, then there's room for pretty much the rest of Allen's films of the decade: Bananas and Sleeper, for sure, Take the Money and Run (EDIT: 1969) and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, probably. And not even winning an Oscar should keep Annie Hall off the list. Manhattan?

16. The Jerk. Dir. Carl Reiner. 1979.

"St. Louis?"

"No, Navin Johnson."

I rest my case.

17. Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) d. John Landis

Uneven as all hell, but there are moments of genuine comedy genius in this. In particular the extended Enter The Dragon parody is a brutal, and hilarious, skewering of a favourite film of mine whilst the extended court-room sketch is possibly one of the funniest examples of literalism in humour. Whilst not every joke hits the mark, and a few are brutally overlong, there's so much invention and craziness it's difficult to hold the dud jokes against the film.

Making it official:

18. Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen

I'd elaborate more, but do I need to?

19.

1971              dir. Hal Ashby

Comedy that's pitch black & just as sweet. A perfect movie.

[Also. women love this film. It will get you laid]

20.

1972                      dir. Herbert Ross

Written but not directed by Woody Allen & filmed smack dab in the middle of his Frantic Period, the film anticipates Annie Hall's semi-dramatic tone & flourishes into fantasy by 5 years. Here, Allen plays a divorcee who receives dating advice from the ghost of Humphrey Bogart & eventually falls for his best friend's wife, ending up in a love triangle that mirrors Casablanca.

While not usually lumped in with other early Allen classics, Play It Again, Sam is as thoughtful, funny, & innovative as any of his late 70s work.

I thought about Play It Again, but Ross' functional-but-pedestrian direction means that I really wouldn't put it ahead of the other Allen films, and is there really room for it in addition to them?

21.

Sheer genius, and an undisputed classic.

21. The Muppet Movie (1979)

The movie that started a franchise that continues today. Great characters, music, cameos, and humor. I'm hoping the Jason Segel version captures the charm of the original.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeb 

I thought about Play It Again, but Ross' functional-but-pedestrian direction means that I really wouldn't put it ahead of the other Allen films, and is there really room for it in addition to them?

I never said ahead but you have a point about Ross' direction. Still, I could watch Sam & Annie Hall back to back & enjoy them both equally. 

And now me and Jesse Custer are psychically linked.

Rather than having me bogart (so to speak) a bunch of the numbers, let me first ask if CHUD assembled thinks these qualify as comedies: American Graffiti, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Slap Shot?

 And I'd like to see your thoughts on few that are flawed, but at least merit tentative consideration: The Heartbreak Kid ("You're on my spot!" / "That'll buy a LOT of baseball bats"), Start the Revolution Without Me ("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity? I don't find that amusing..."), The Big Bus (ZAZ did it better, but still... "Look out! He's got a broken milk carton!" / "Is anyone here a doctor?" "I used to repair clocks...")), The Longest Yard (Burt was never better), Breaking Away ("Refund? Refund?"), Family Plot (Barbara Harris was a seriously underrated comedian), Rock n Roll High School ("Do your parents KNOW you're Ramones?"), The Fortune ("I feel just like old Lindy!").

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPL 

And now me and Jesse Custer are psychically linked.

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOKY.

You have excellent taste, JPL.

23. The Longest Yard (1974)

1970s Burt Reynolds is one of the coolest & manliest men ever. I'm also a sucker for well made sports movies, especially ones that don't take themselves so seriously.

(I will also shamefully admit that I can enjoy the Sandler remake on a juvenile/harmless level).

25.  Murder By Death (1976)

Neil Simon's affectionate spoof of the 20th century's most iconic detectives has a killer lineup of comedic talent:  Peter Sellers, David Niven, Peter Falk, Maggie Smith, James Coco, Eileen Brennan, etc. Even Truman Capote is friggin' hilarious as the mysterious Lionel Twain.    Hilarious and quotable as all hell.  

26.

1970                        dir. Billy Wilder

While the film is pretty uneven, Robert Stephens' hilariously caustic performance as the lispy, drug-addled Holmes keeps me comin' back to it. Christopher Lee puts in an appearance as Mycroft Holmes, briefly assisting his brother investigate a case involving a mysterious gang of midgets, the Lochness Monster, & German submarines.

Wilder didn't make a classic here but The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes is a fairly good film that revolves around a singularly GREAT performance by Stephens.

27. Manhattan

My second favorite Woody Allen film, and one where I start to feel uncomfortable with his obsession with very young women.

28. Silver Streak (1976) d. Arthur Hiller

Gene Wilder in blackface. What more could you want?

29. Bananas (1971) d. Woody Allen

The height of Allen's early Marx Brothers-like works, Allen plays the gloriously-named Fielding Mellish. What it lacks in depth it makes up in belly laughs.

"I object, your honor! This trial is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham. "

30. Smile (1975) d/ Michael Ritchie

Nashville's goofier younger sister. The movie Drop Dead Gorgeous wanted to be.

31.

1972                    dir. Michael Ritchie

Here, Ritchie plays fast loose with ingenious editing & direction, creating a propaganda film that doubles as a scathing, beautifully cynical examination of electioneering in America.

33. The Three Musketeers (1973) d. Richard Lester

Action, adventure, humor, and slapstick all rolled up in a highly entertaining romp featuring a first-rate cast. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Blank 

30. Smile (1975) d/ Michael Ritchie

 

Nashville's goofier younger sister. The movie Drop Dead Gorgeous wanted to be.

 

 

Heh. One of my best friends in college (though, sadly not an actual girlfriend if you get my drift) plays one of the contestants in that one.

OK, well I'll go ahead and grab a few numbers:

34.    The Big Bus (1976). ZAZ would do it better, but still... "Look out! He's got a broken milk carton!" / "Is anyone here a doctor?" asks Bologna; earnest deadpan from Richard Mulligan:  "I used to repair clocks!"

35.    The Heartbreak Kid (1972). Grodin is a kind of one-note comic actor, but he hits that note like few others, and is seriously underappreciated. Here, though, he's completely upstaged by Cybill Shepherd ("You're on my spot") and an amazing performance from Eddie Albert ("That'll buy a lot of bats and balls").

36.    Heaven Can Wait (1978). Grodin again; he and Dyan Cannon should have made a series of wacky battling spouses comedies. And Beatty is at his most breezily funny.

37.    The Fortune (1975). Beatty again, this time with Jack Nicholson and Stockard Channing. It's really on the level of the Three Stooges for much of the time, but I can't help it: the three principals all buy into their roles so completely, and when Nicholson readies for takeoff by sighing "I feel just like old Lindy...", and we next see him looking in the window, I'm helpless. Maybe the best scene in the film, though, is his encounter with Florence Stanley as he climbs out the window: "Your fiddle case is open."

38.    What's Up, Doc? (1972). Yes, it shamelessly apes Bringing Up Baby, but it has an insanely great cast, including Kenneth Mars and Madelyn Kahn, and John Hillerman's reaction to the devastated hotel room might be the greatest bit of underplaying I've ever seen.

39.    Family Plot (1976). Burdened with expectations (a screwball comedy from Hitch?), it's subtler than most of the other films I've mentioned, but Barbara Harris is completely hysterical in it.

40.    Sleeper (1973). Just because the list can never have too much 70's Woody Allen.

41.    Breaking Away (1979). Maybe a bit more heartwarming than it needed to be, but every time it threatens to get too mopey, Paul Dooley brings things back down to earth ("Refund? Refund??!??").

42.    Rock n Roll High School (1979). "Do your parents KNOW you're Ramones?" 'Nuff said.

43. Start the Revolution Without Me (1970). Wilder, Sutherland, and Orson Welles start off the decade right, with a film that plays like a precursor to Lester's Musketeer films. "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity? I don't find that amusing..."

I'm skipping over American Graffiti, Shampoo, and The Last Detail, since, while they're good to great films, they aren't as laugh out loud funny as the others.
 

44. The In-Laws. The contrast of Arkin's manic intensity and Falk's low-key confidence is what makes this one work... well, that and the "little brown babies."

Well done, Mr Creosote.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

32. The Bad News Bears (1976) d. Michael Ritchie

 

"All we got on this team are a buncha Jews, spics, niggers, pansies, and a booger-eatin' moron!"
 

 

THE GOONIES and STAND BY ME usually get the credit for showing young kids (boys) as they really talk and act -swear words and all--but it was Ritchie's film that did it first. Kids swear, bully, and act like little bastards and shitheads, and it was all so shocking to see such an honest - if exaggerated- potrayal of kids as they really are. The kids of the Bears are allright though cuz they have heart, and the leadership of an adult likeWalter Matthau. What a coach! (seriously, what a performance!)

 

Besides being a hilarious comedy, it works on the level of great sports film. The indictment of win-at-all cost as American pasttime is spot on. (I know I played for some coaches like Vic Morrow)

 

Stand up and cheer moment: "Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!"

 

 

Absolutely-- a near-perfect film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Falcon 

33. The Three Musketeers (1973) d. Richard Lester

 

Action, adventure, humor, and slapstick all rolled up in a highly entertaining romp featuring a first-rate cast. 

 

 

I'm half tempted to toss Royal Flash in there,  too, but I'd really be thinking of the Flashman film I wish they had made, more than the one they actually did. It's kinda like Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother: all the elements seem to be there, but something just doesn't jell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

*Jeb picked THE IN-LAWS and WHAT'S UP DOC twice, so this is the correct number.

Thus demonstrating that, yes, I AM old enough to have lived through the 70's...