The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies 1

314 Pages·2005·8.17 MB·English

by  Rough Guides

R R
o Cracking open a whole barrel-load of movie mirth, The Rough Guide o
u u
g to Comedy Movies gives you the ultimate lowdown on laughter in g
h h
g the cinema, from Airplane! to Withnail and I, and from John Belushi g
u u
id to Billy Wilder. Features include: id
e e
s s
The comedy story: Tells the tale of the genre, from the mayhem of the
silents to the “gross-out” films of the 1990s, and the dark indie
Drag Acts,
humour of the twenty-first century
C
Duck Soup,
The comedy canon A selection of fifty comedy movie greats, from o
Dodgeball,
Chaplin’s classic The Gold Rush to Wes Anderson’s Rushmore via Preston
m
Strangelove, Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels and Woody Allen’s Manhattan
Slapstick, Comedy movie icons: The directors and performers that have kept us e
laughing including Marilyn Monroe, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Eddie
Screwball d
Murphy, Fatty Arbuckle and Jacques Tati
y
Comedy teamwork: The genre’s greatest double-acts and comedy

combinations from Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Bros, to the Coen M
Brothers and the Pythons
o
Laughing on the other side: A look at comedy cinema around the world
v

i
Other Rough Guides include:
e
s the rough guide to
comedy
Cover design: Peter Dyer
Cover photo: Michael Palin in Monty movies
Python'sLife of Brian © Python
(Monty) Pictures Ltd
Published by Rough Guides
Distributed by The Penguin Group BOB McCABE
Comedy_Movies_M&S_cover.indd 1 30/5/08 12:55:02
THE ROUGH GUIDE TO
Comedy
Movies
www.roughguides.com
Comedy Movies.indb 1 14/7/05 6:11:24 pm
Credits
The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies Rough Guides Reference
Additional writing: Sam Cook Series editor: Mark Ellingham
Additional contributions: Andrew Lockett, Peter Perkins, Editors: Peter Buckley, Duncan Clark,
Kaushik Bhaumik Daniel Crewe, Matthew Milton,
Senior contributing editor: Sam Cook Joe Staines
Editors: Andrew Dickson, Andrew Lockett, Katie Stephens Director: Andrew Lockett
Layout: Michelle Bhatia and Link Hall
Picture research: Michele Faram
Proofreading: Ken Bell
Production: Julia Bovis and Katherine Owers
Publishing Information
This first edition published September 2005 by The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the
Rough Guides Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL accuracy and currency of all information in The Rough Guide to
345 Hudson St, 4th Floor, New York 10014, USA Comedy Movies; however, they can accept no responsibility for
Email: [email protected] any loss or inconvenience sustained by any reader as a result
of its information or advice.
Distributed by the Penguin Group:
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
Penguin Putnam, Inc., 375 Hudson Street, NY 10014, USA permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, passages in reviews.
Victoria 3124, Australia
© Rough Guides Ltd
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario,
312 pages; includes index
Canada M4V 1E4
Penguin Group (New Zealand), Cnr Rosedale and Airborne A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Library
Printed in Italy by LegoPrint S.p.A ISBN 10: 1-84353-464-9
ISBN 13: 978-1-84353-464-8
Typeset in Bembo and Helvetica Neue to an original design by
Henry Iles 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
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THE ROUGH GUIDE TO
Comedy
Movies
by
Bob McCabe
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Contents
Introduction vi
Film Comedy:
early years 1
the comedy story 13
The Comedy Canon:
50 seriously funny films 62
Airplane! 63 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 91
All About Eve 66 Four Weddings And A Funeral 93
Amélie 67 The General 95
Annie Hall 69 Ghostbusters 97
The Apartment 70 The Gold Rush 100
Austin Powers: International Man Of Good Morning Vietnam 102
Mystery 72 The Graduate 103
Blazing Saddles 74 Groundhog Day 105
Bringing Up Baby 76 A Hard Day’s Night 107
Broadcast News 79 His Girl Friday 108
Caddyshack 80 It Happened One Night 110
Le dîner de cons 83 Kind Hearts And Coronets 112
Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned To The Ladykillers 113
Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb 85 Local Hero 115
Dodgeball 88 Manhattan 116
Duck Soup 90 M*A*S*H 118
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Monty Python’s Life Of Brian 122 Strictly Ballroom 142
National Lampoon’s Animal House 124 Sullivan’s Travels 143
The Odd Couple 128 There’s Something About Mary 145
The Producers 130 This Is Spinal Tap 147
Raising Arizona 132 To Be Or Not To Be 149
Roxanne 133 Tootsie 150
Rushmore 134 Toy Story 152
Shaun Of The Dead 136 Les vacances de M. Hulot 153
A Shot In The Dark 138 When Harry Met Sally… 155
Some Like It Hot 140 Withnail And I 157
The Icons:
comedy legends 161
Funny World:
international film comedy 235
The Information:
the wider picture 269
picture credits 290
Index 291
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
The task of providing a Rough Guide to Comedy comedies to European arthouse comedy drama,
Movies, perhaps the most constant and durable and, following the Rough Guides travel princi-
of cinema genres, provides an ample supply of ple, we have pushed the critical boat out a little
banana skins to pratfall over, but nonetheless, here to encourage exploration further afield.
are a few additional words on what to look out for The Canon section provides a detailed look
on the slippery terrace of this movie guide. at 50 major comedy movie classics. These are
The book, whilst offering a few clear per- largely personal favourites with a couple of
sonal favourites, hasn’t tried to pin down “aca- nods to advice from my editorial team and I
demic-style” what comedy movies are accord- hope you enjoy reflecting on these films and
ing to theory. Comedy is what comedy does. It rewatching these movies as much as I did.
makes some people laugh, while some others Likewise the section on Comedy Icons discuss-
might sit there with a face more etched in es comedy personalities that have made a mark
stone than Buster Keaton’s himself. Not every- in different ways. It is a large section and could
one finds the Farrelly Brothers a riot; likewise have been a heck of a lot larger, given that film
others have never really seen the mirth in the comedy to a large extent is about performers
movies of Pedro Álmodóvar. and we weren’t able to include everybody.
For some Chaplin is still cinema’s greatest Back-tracking, the Early Years chapter brisk-
comedian; for others he is simply to be ignored ly takes a look at the first great heyday of com-
as too sentimental and irrelevant to twenty-first edy movies and the Comedy Story tries to put
century tastes. In all the above cases though, the genre in some kind of general historical
these filmmakers have been influential; they perspective, from the advent of sound to the
have made some people laugh and the world present day. Scattered throughout the book
of humour in the movies has been irrevoca- are numerous capsule reviews of movies that
bly altered by what they’ve done – for better don’t make the comedy canon but you may
or worse according to your tastes. Therefore want to use as a recommendation to rent, if
I’ve taken a wide view of which funny mov- you’ve not already seen the film. Funny World:
ies should be looked at, acknowledging that International Comedy steps outside the Anglo-
for some people there will be movies discussed American mainstream for a quick tour of
that leaves the ribs untickled, the funny bone what’s out there in a few major film-producing
untouched. The brush is correspondingly broad countries of the world that aren’t covered else-
and the comedy canvas dauntingly wide, with where. The Information rounds out the picture
space given to everything from “gross out” with pointers on comedy festivals, the best of
vi
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INTRODUCTION
the books on comedy movies, and interesting just are not funny films – for others I’ll promise
websites and further information on favourites to think about them again if you feel strongly
and funny men and funny women. There are enough about anything to write in c/o Rough
also quick pauses in the form of boxes – look- Guides. I’ll adjust accordingly if I feel the case
ing forward and back – at perennial elements
is strong – second edition permitting! I hope
of the comedy mix, including drag, slapstick,
therefore, this Rough Guide throws a little extra
military mirth, sport and musical comedy. The
light on familiar funny territory and points out
book can be read from the beginning to end
new comedy directions to explore, for every
but it’s also designed to dip into, so we have
reader. After all, as far as the film business is
added pointers to further coverage and there’s
concerned there is never such a thing as the
always the index to check films and names for
additional reference. For all the regrettable last laugh – only the next one to look forward
omissions – inevitable with so large a subject to…
– apologies are proffered in advance. Some
were deliberate – some of the so-called classics Bob McCabe, 2005
Acknowledgements
Despite the fact that writing such a book as this involves many solitary hours either locked away in a library or,
preferably, in a darkened room in front of a DVD player, there are still several people to whom I am indebted. First
and foremost Andrew Lockett and the team at Rough Guides, whose editorial process is stringent but always fair
and welcome. They have done a superb job of keeping everything moving. I owe a dear debt to Alan Jones for
mutually angst-ridden conversations. Special thanks also to Rob Churchill for his fondness for a certain French
fellah, also to Michael Samuels, Paul Gillion, and Mark Kermode. As always the BFI Library – and their staff – were
both a font of knowledge and a haven of solitude. Love as ever to Mary McCabe. And as always, all my love to
Lucy, Jessie and Jack.
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viii
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Film Comedy: early years
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