“Putting on the Ritz” in Young Frankenstein. Laugh out loud, tears in my eyes and gasping for breath funny. Why? Dammed if I know.
What are yours?
The bit in Hot Fuzz where whosname slips on the bar and his pint spills.
I love the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” scene too. The first time I saw it, I fell off the couch and we had to pause the movie until I could collect myself.
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the reading from the Book of Armaments about how to use the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch slays me every time.
The first scene with Chris Tucker (who I didn’t know anything about at the time) in the movie 5th Element. I wasn’t sure why at the time, but I now think the reason is that he did this completely over-the-toppiest-top performance without holding anything back, without winking at the audience to show he knew how silly it was, or anything like that. I’ve never seen a better *reductio ad absurdem * of this combination of hyper-gay-drag and self-obsessed celebrity personality in my life.
I saw this with my sister (both middle-aged) and although she enjoyed it she couldn’t understand why I was laughing uncontrollably. Still makes me giggle.
Roddy
I loved the Family Guy “Blue Harvest” episode, but for some reason every time I see the ‘pimped-out’ TIE Fighter go bouncing past the Death Star I just lose it.
-Joe
Tony Curtis’s first movie. They show a castle in the distance. He says,Yonda lies the castle of my fodda, in his unmistakable Brooklyn accent.
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) was his 12th movie, according to IMDB, and was preceeded by such masterpieces as Francis the Talking Mule and How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border - his actual first movie. Mind you by the time Spartacus came around 9 years later his accent wasn’t much better.
I find that line irresistibly funny every time. Especially because it’s not written as comedy.
Roderick Femm, your post reminded me of this line from Umberto Eco: ““This is parody’s mission: it must never be afraid of going too far. If its aim is true, it simply heralds what others will later produce, unblushing, with impassive and assertive gravity.””
Usually the most you’ll get from me is a good chuckle, but Robert DeNiro in Stardust? I lost it. I think because it caught me so much by surprise. I haven’t watched it again, so I’ll see what happens, but it’s still making me smile.
eta: Well, I guess it wasn’t so inexplicable. Except that if you described that scene to me I probably wouldn’t think it could be all that funny. So it had to be the actual performance.
In Nutty Professor (the 1996 version), when Buddy Love is at the comedy club and laughs uncontrollably the entire time, I laugh uncontrollably the entire time. When the movie came out, I watched it at least 7 times in one week just for that scene.