# Help Me Find Some Fun Class Conflict Movies To Watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610 "2014-06-12T06:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/1 "2014-06-12T06:50:05Z")
Nowadays, it’s rare to find a movie that gets a great deal of its humor/drama from a story about people of different social/economic classes who encounter each other and rub each other the wrong way (or the right way) and sparks fly. It’s easier for me to list a few examples than to come up with an all-encompassing definition, so here we go: 1. The Philadelphia Story – Jaded newspaper photographer and writer are assigned to do deep coverage of a high-society wedding. A classic screwball comedy, and not at all the collection of cliches it might have been … which is why it’s a classic. 2. Overboard – Rich bitch played by Goldie Hawn snubs and cheats a carpenter played by Kurt Russell, then falls off her yacht and develops amnesia, leading Russell to convince her she’s his wife so he’ll have someone to clean up after him and his kids. Very predictable and cliched, but still fun. 3. Trading Places – Evil Wall Street brothers decide to fuck over a stockbroker in their employ and replace him with a street beggar, just to settle a bet. Hijinks ensue. Also predicatable, also fun anyway. I know there’s probably a ton out there, probably in the rom-com department, but I can’t think of them offhand … but I’m betting the Dopers can. What have we got? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/2 "2014-06-12T07:44:30Z")
MY COUSIN VINNY. The script was specifically written to be a “fish out of water” film about a New Yorker in Dixie, and it works on that level, but the director, Jonathan Lynn, saw it as a class comedy and directed it that way instead. Vinny, Lisa, and the two utes are all working class while the judge and prosecutor are white collar Ivy League patrician stock. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/3 "2014-06-12T11:46:11Z")
Would things like _Local Hero_ and _The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain_ count? I’d consider them just fish-out-of-water comedies, but there’s definitely an element of class involved as well. There’s definitely a strong class element to British dramas like _Maurice_, _Jude_ and _Lady Chatterley’s Lover_… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/4 "2014-06-12T11:50:57Z")
[My Man Godfrey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Man_Godfrey) I think this movie is almost exactly what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/5 "2014-06-12T12:27:48Z")
[Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_from_the_Class_Struggle_in_Beverly_Hills) comes to mind first, for some reason. There’s a certain amount of this in **Sullivan’s Travels, Ball of Fire** and **Our Man Godfrey.** It was often a factor in screwball comedies. More recently, it was an important factor in **Titanic**. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/6 "2014-06-12T12:29:26Z")
_All That Heaven Allows_ Upper class society lady falls in love with a tree trimmer. Heads explode all over town. Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/7 "2014-06-12T12:35:53Z")
You can’t beat [The Ruling Class](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruling_Class) for weird class conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/8 "2014-06-12T12:47:18Z")
[Stella Dallas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Dallas_(1937_film)) (the 1937 version) The scene in the Pullman sleeper car where the college kids are laughing at the lower-class heroine so her daughter goes into her berth to cuddle with her is one of those great 1930’s tearjerker moments. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/9 "2014-06-12T12:53:07Z")
Any adaptation of anything Dickens ever wrote. Three good recent(ish) ones are the BBC adaptations of **Our Mutual Friend** , **Bleak House** , and **Little Dorrit**. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/10 "2014-06-12T13:02:01Z")
_Trading Places_, definitely. Any of the adaptations of _The Prince and the Pauper_. _Shakespeare in Love_ touches on class issues - Shakespeare was just a low-class ink-stained scribbler, in Lord Wessex’s lofty opinion. Hitchcock’s _Rebecca_ has class as a subtext. Mrs. Danvers clearly feels that the second Mrs. DeWinter isn’t in the first’s league in more ways than one. Not a “fun” movie, but a pretty good one (although the book is better IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/11 "2014-06-12T13:29:10Z")
[The Devil and Miss Jones](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033533/) – The 1942 movie, NOT the 1970s-era porno! (The latter’s name was a take-off on the 1942 film.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/12 "2014-06-12T13:33:25Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > [The Devil and Miss Jones](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033533/) – The 1942 movie, NOT the 1970s-era porno! (The latter’s name was a take-off on the 1942 film.) The second sentences hints you know this, but the first sentence suggests you don’t, so just to be clear: the title of the porno is _The Devil in Miss Jones_. And it’s abyssmal. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/13 "2014-06-12T13:35:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > MY COUSIN VINNY. The script was specifically written to be a “fish out of water” film about a New Yorker in Dixie, and it works on that level, but the director, Jonathan Lynn, saw it as a class comedy and directed it that way instead. Vinny, Lisa, and the two utes are all working class while the judge and prosecutor are white collar Ivy League patrician stock. I’ve seen “My Cousin Vinnie” and it never struck me as that much of a class comedy, the humor seemed mostly to be clash of cultures stuff, with Vinnie and his New York-ish buddies clashing with the Deep Southern folks they encounter. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/14 "2014-06-12T13:35:17Z")
I think Caddyshack would fit. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/15 "2014-06-12T13:36:15Z")
Take away the boat, and that’s pretty much what Titanic was. I think it’s pretty safe to say Jack rubbed Rose the right way. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/16 "2014-06-12T13:37:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > [My Man Godfrey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Man_Godfrey) > > I think this movie is almost exactly what you’re looking for. Right you are. My wife has this on tape I believe … I’ll have to have a look. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/17 "2014-06-12T13:59:24Z")
The Dudley Moore version of _Arthur_ fits, haven’t seen the remake so I don’t know about that version. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/18 "2014-06-12T14:14:55Z")
For class conflict in the Midwest–_Breaking Away_: [Breaking Away (1979) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078902/) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/19 "2014-06-12T14:16:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > _Shakespeare in Love_ touches on class issues - Shakespeare was just a low-class ink-stained scribbler, in Lord Wessex’s lofty opinion. Meanwhile, Lord Wessex was broke and Viola’s father was wealthy, so she was a desirable catch for him despite being untitled. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-some-fun-class-conflict-movies-to-watch/690610/20 "2014-06-12T14:28:29Z")
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