People often say comedy ages the worst of all artistic media. If this is true, how come so many legendary filmmakers’ main output were laugh out loud romps? Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton revolutionized cinema, and their work is just as funny today as it was more than seventy years ago, because true art has an element of timelessness audiences of all generations can appreciate.
To prove this point, the following list will look back at the 1960s to find ten comedies that still hold the power to tickle viewers to no end. Maybe certain jokes fly over younger peoples’ heads, but great film making and engaging storytelling lives on forever.
A Hard Day’s Night
Those unfamiliar with The Beatles’ films would likely dismiss them as a cheap cash in on Beatlemania. The truth couldn’t be further from this. A Hard Day’s Night is a wonderfully whimsical take on the fab four and the ravenous fandom surrounding their career.
Each of the four members are hyperbolic representations of themselves, and they give delightfully comedic performances. As if the good times aren’t enough, scenes are interspersed with original tunes written for the movie, all of which are found the LP A Hard Day’s Night. Help and Yellow Submarine are also a must-see for any rock fan.
The Producers
Some say a movie like The Producers couldn’t get made today, but they forget the road to the 1967 movie’s release and universal acclaim was wrought with trouble. Embassy Pictures, the distributor, almost shelved the movie after a lackluster premiere and their own feelings regarding the musical number “Springtime For Hitler.”
Mel Brooks’ penchant for pushing comedic boundaries has caused The Producers to live on forever as a great movie. It’s hard to believe it now, but a screwball, take no prisoners comedy like this actually won the filmmaker an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
A Shot In The Dark
A Shot in the Dark is based on a French play that originally held no mention of the iconic Inspector Clouseau. The idea came to put the bumbling detective into the story, and the result meant the second Pink Panther movie came out only a few months after the premiere feature.
The sophomore film differs greatly from its predecessor, featuring the more straightforward slapstick mayhem for which the series is known.
Batman
Adam West’s Batman television series is a whole different beast than the darker take made famous by Tim Burton and perfected by Christopher Nolan. In between the show’s first and second season premiered the feature-length film, retaining the self-aware camp and inanity of the small screen.
The villains all deliciously ham up their performances and numerous innuendos fly over kids’ heads, keeping adults just as entertained throughout the colorful superhero romp. Some modern viewers may undervalue West’s interpretation of the Caped Crusader, but comedy and positivity is just as valuable a tool as grit and darkness.
The Odd Couple
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau star in this film adaptation of Neil Simon’s popular play. Some viewers may be more familiar with the TV show that spawned from the film’s success, but don’t pass by the standalone film.
Its comedy stems not from clear cut jokes with punchlines, but from dynamic between its two leads. In the one hundred minute run time one feels their friendship as it crumbles under the weight of irreconcilable differences. The divorcees’ story of cohabitation proves that the greatest friendships are more like marriages than one would like to believe.
What’s Up, Tiger Lily
The idea for Woody Allen’s directional debut involves taking a Japanese film and redubbing the dialog and swapping scenes to create a different, more bizarre narrative. Much to Allen’s dismay, the final product was ripped out of his hands and changed up significantly.
Hopefully, he can take solace in the fact many audiences still adore this wild ride of goofs. Allen followed it up with a string of classics including Bananas and the timeless romantic comedy Annie Hall.
The Graduate
This dark comedy about a recently graduated bachelor uncertain about his future skyrocketed Dustin Hoffman’s career. Its subject matter was a little risque for its time, but it manages to make the film feel ageless today. The main character’s coming of adulthood dilemma is something to which many can relate.
To be fair, though, few were fortunate enough to be given the same opportunity he has near the beginning of the film. Only Mel Brooks got a similar honor since he was Anne Bancroft’s spouse in real life.
It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Stanley Kramer made some of the most celebrated dramas of the ’50s and ’60s, including Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Defiant Ones. Standing as an outlier among his filmography is It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, an adventure comedy about a group of strangers racing to uncover a hidden stash of cash.
The sheer ridiculousness of the characters’ hijinks and the plethora of cameos from comedy legends, some of whom will be recognizable to modern viewers, makes this epic film a worthy watch more than fifty years after its initial release.
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was conceptualized as a gripping drama based on the novel Red Alert. Shortly into the writing process, Stanley Kubrick realized the story worked better as a comedy. Something ridiculous as peace by stockpiling world-destroying weapons is pretty silly, after all.
The dark satire regarding the climate of fear surrounding Cold War tensions works as a time capsule for modern viewers and as a mirror. While nuclear apocalypse isn’t something we are strongly scared of today, other issues have been touted as ways for people in power to terrify the general public into submission.
Adventures Of A Dentist
Elem Klimov is most noted for his brutal, unrelenting World War II drama Come and See, but one shouldn’t ignore his earlier output. Adventures of a Dentist is an eighty minute black comedy about a gifted dentist garnering ire from his peers for his natural talent. Not only are the performances and plot delightful to behold, but the camerawork and storytelling devices feel unlike anything else from its time.
A supporting character occasionally breaks the fourth wall to narrate the action, two characters walk along a surrealistically blurred backdrop while writing graces the background to push the story forward, and a songwriter breaks into musical numbers several times throughout. In some ways, it feels like a Wes Anderson film, only in the Soviet Union and more than thirty years before Bottle Rocket.
Next: 10 Pre-Star Wars Sci-Fi Movies That Are Still Worth Watching
