My ideal comedy....

I still love movies, i try to see as many good ones as possible and if that means paying the money to go to the cinema i am all for it. But somehow i always find myself wondering how it could have been better, did Megan Fox really need to say "you give me such a wettie" in Jennifer's Body? That was really a cringe worthy line, the movie wasn't that flash either. Really i have to wonder sometimes how the movie stars of the classic studio era would have implied anything raunchy. I've seen movies with double entendre's that you really had to listen to understand and love and they were way funnier than Jennifer's Body. Enough about that movie.

I love how they implied things, i suppose there is something to be said for subtlety. I kind of just want to see a movie that has the double entendre's and dry wit of the classic era combined with the darkness of modern comedies like (here i go again) Jennifer's Body. That was really dark, it had some good idea's but it's attempts at being edgy were kind of cheap and awkward. However if i took the best things about the movie (the action and storyline) and combined it with the comedy of old, then i'd be closer to my ideal film.

I suppose it is just a pipe dream and i feel silly for even saying it aloud. But it's true. The recent death of one of the last great movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor, has sort of spurred this post. I decided not to do a whole post on her specifically because in truth i haven't seen many of her movies. But i do know that she was THE movie star. Her sheer presence in a film made it watchable, even The Flintstones. I suppose that anyone who watches an Elizabeth Taylor movie will see just that: Elizabeth Taylor. She could act (she was great in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf), but i'm not sure that was why she was so successful. Personally i think it was her looks (i wish i had those eyes) and her attitude. That's my opinion. Here another of my opinions: i thought she'd live forever. Her movie's will though.

Back to what i was saying. The comedy of the classic era (at least the good ones) were witty, screwball and lighthearted. I loved them, i want the modern sex comedy to be mixed with the screwball and slapstick of the classics. It would be epic.

Then there are the stars. I'd want....
Johnny Depp
Cary Grant
Katharine Hepburn
Anne Hathaway
Jack Lemmon
Tina Fey
Natalie Wood
James Dean (i am just curious how he would have been in a comedy)
Robin Williams (circa Mork and Mindy)
Mae West
The Marx Brothers
Tony Curtis
Barbra Streisand (circa What's Up Doc?)
Liz Taylor (circa Father of the bride)
Spencer Tracy (circa Woman of the year)
Madeline Kahn
Gene Wilder
directed by Frank Capra
written by: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Billy Wilder

That is who would be in my perfect comedy. With a cast like that it would have to be a road movie or something, but still... it would be so cool. Even if it is unattainable.

This was a pretty pointless post....

"Is that a gun in your pocket or you just glad to see me?" Marlo Manners, (Mae West) Sextette (1978)

Whats So Funny? The 30's edition

Ordinarily i'd start with the 1920s but i haven't seen enough movie from that period to give you a good post so we'll get to that later. It was the 30s, or... the beginning of the golden era. gone were the flapper style made popular by Clara Bow and the vamp popularized by Theda Bara. Moviegoers, waited with burning ear to hear their favourite silent stars speak as talking pictures became the biggest thing since film itself. 'Garbo Talks!' cried poster in 1930, advertising her first talkie 'Anna Christie'. She wouldn't make a comedy util 1939 so we'll get to her a bit later.

Many early talkie comedies haven't aged well, due mostly to studio's being weary of sound (they thought it was just a phase) and some tried to avoid it for as long as possible. There was an actor - a comedy actor - who didn't see (geddit!) the need for the spoken word, his name was Charles Chaplin and he avoided the microphone like the plague, releasing silent comedies in an era that had become infatuated with sound - and it worked.

Chaplin had many early comedy successes with 'The Kid' in 1921 and 'The Gold Rush' in 1925. The latter of these 2 films depicted an iconic scene in which Chaplin eats his own shoe.
In 1931 Chaplin released his silent (or semi silent, due to the presence of a music score) 'City Lights'. A rather funny film that involves Chaplin's iconic 'Tramp' falling in love with a blind girl who believes that he is rich.
The movie was a rousing success, proving that the silent era wasn't ready to die.
Chaplin also found success with 'Modern Times', released in 1936, it satirized the modern era. If i may say so myself, i believe that this is one of (if not the) best Chaplin film.
We didn't hear Chaplin talk until 1940 with 'The Great Dictator', which was still funny and i'm sure that many people wondered why he didn't do it earlier.

There was also the musical comedies starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that provided many laughs for the depression era moviegoers. With Top Hat, Carefree and the Gay Divorcee ranking as their most funny.Astaire and Rogers are legends, their chemistry was unique, they sang and danced and played comedy like it was first and second nature. Fred Astaire had a big career in musicals through 1950's and still brought the goods even after his best years were behind him. Ginger Rogers was a versatile actress and won an Oscar in 1940 for 'Kitty Foyle'.

'It happened one night'. The pioneer of of modern rom coms was this film released in 1934. Starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, the film was the first to achieve 'the big 5' at the Oscars, winning Best actor, best actress, best picture, best director and best screenplay. Who can forget the infamous scene in which Ellie (Colbert) stops a car without using her thumb?

You may have seen the Adam Sandler comedy 'Mr Deeds', which is actually a remake (by premise and title) of 'Mr Deeds goes to town' in 1936. It stars (since the movie still exists i'm referring to it in present tense) Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur as Longfellow Deeds and Babe Bennett (the remake featured Adam Sandler in the Gary Cooper roles and Winona Ryder as Babe). it is far superior to the remake in almost every way, the fact that it isn't in colour doesn't take away from the overall experience of the film.

Now for 1938, their are a couple that stand out in this year: 'Bringing up baby' (considered to be one of the best screwball comedies of all time) was released that year. It stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, the film is available pretty much everywhere as it is quite popular.  It is madcap to say the least, i remember when i first saw it i laughed so much i began to wonder if AFI made a mistake naming 'Some like it hot' the funniest movie of all time. While funny i still don't think its the funniest movie ever. There is one line in 'BuB' i remember the most, it's when Grant and Hepburn are in jail-
"Don't worry David when they find out who we are they'll let us out"says Susan (Hepburn)
"When they find out who you are they'll pad the cell"
 There is also 'Holiday', which also starred Ms Hepburn and Mr Grant, both films were flops upon first release but are now highly regarded.
"You can't take it with you". Thats a good movie, James Stewart and Jean Arthur were funny and listen, i added this in on an after thought, i recommend that you search it up as it is quite good, at least watch it for Lionel Barrymore.

The Marx Brothers. Surely you must have heard of them, you know how it goes - "One morning i shot an elephant in my pajamas, how he got in my pajamas i don't know'
Their madcap style stretched through many movies but arguably their best films were in the 30's with Horse Feathers, a day at the races, a night at the opera and duck soup all being released in the 30's. The Marx Bros consisted of: Groucho, Chico, Harpo and sometimes Zeppo.

'GARBO LAUGHS!' screamed the posters for 'Ninotchka'. Well technically Greta Garbo had laughed on film before, but 'Ninotchka' was her first comedy. A no nonsense Russian envoy comes to Paris to sort out a problem with some jewels but is romanced by capitalism and a man about town (Melvyn Douglas). Co-written by Billy Wilder (Some like it hot, Sunset Blvd, The Apartment) the dead pan wit and satirical light that was cast on communism and capitalism while dated now, is still quite funny. This was Garbo's second to last film, the last would be 'Two faced Woman' which while having some good moments was a disappointing movie.

There are so many more great 30's comedies, but this is just to point you, the reader, in the right direction in the way of classic comedy. i guarantee laughs from these movies. if you don't laugh i give you full permission to take shots at this post in the comments.

"You know you haven't stopped talking since i got here, you must've been vaccinated with a phonograph needle" Groucho Marx, Duck Soup