MovieChat Forums > Comedy > The 10 best classic b+w comedies?

The 10 best classic b+w comedies?

posted 10 years ago by binapiraeus
7 replies | jump to latest

Now, which would you say are the VERY best among those MANY wonderful old b&w comedies from the 30s and 40s that gave and give and will give us ENDLESS hours of laughter?

My personal favorites are:

Arsenic and Old Lace (1941)
I'm No Angel (1933)
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
Every Day's a Holiday (1937)
Million Dollar Legs (1932)

How about yours?

Let's be realists, let's demand the impossible.

[–] LemonPuppy 10 years ago

Whew, that was fast, Bina.

Let's see, yours are really great, and I especially agree with three of them so much that I had to add a speedy quick dozen more to come out with 15, minus your three, makes back to a dozen, but I know that I am not thinking of them all at this quick response point in time.

"Libeled Lady" (1936)
"Stage Door" (1937)
"Wise Girl" (1937)
"Easy Living" (1937)
"Bringing Up Baby" (1938)
"Vivacious Lady" (1938)
"The Mad Miss Manton" (1938)
"Bachelor Mother" (1939)
"My Favorite Wife" (1940)
"Blondie Plays Cupid" (1940)
"The Bank Dick" (1940)
"Ball of Fire" (1941)
"The Major and the Minor" (1942)
"No Time for Love" (1943)
"Footlights Fever" (1943)

[–] binapiraeus 10 years ago

Thanks a LOT, those are REAL great as well!! (Which shows us just HOW many wonderful classic comedies there are!) I like especially "Easy Living", "My Favorite Wife", and "The Major and the Minor"

Let's be realists, let's demand the impossible.

[–] misspaddylee 10 years ago

I like the challenge of keeping the list to ten so I'll try to narrow it to five from each decade.

Goodbye Again (1933)
It's a Gift (1934)
Pygmalion (1938)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
Sons of the Desert (1933)

Adam's Rib (1949)
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
The More the Merrier (1943)
Road to Morocco (1942)

My friend, you are soured by too much contact with humanity.

[–] binapiraeus 10 years ago

GREAT list!! Actually, I had "It's a Gift" on my mind as well, but there were already 4 movies with W.C. Fields on my list... (Well, he simply WAS a comic genius! ) And "Sons of the Desert", of course, I remember that one from when I was a little kid! And your 40s part is also very distinguished - "His Girl Friday", another great classic! I bet we'll 'collect' dozens of titles this way...

Let's be realists, let's demand the impossible.

[–] misspaddylee 10 years ago

I bet we'll 'collect' dozens of titles this way...We could have a festival!

My friend, you are soured by too much contact with humanity.

[–] binapiraeus 10 years ago

Right!!

Let's be realists, let's demand the impossible.

[–] binapiraeus 10 years ago

Yeah, that's true (well, it's a wartime movie) - but Joel McCrea was quite cute in one of his early roles, you're right!

Let's be realists, let's demand the impossible.