# What is the single funniest movie you've ever seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877 "2013-06-13T04:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/1 "2013-06-13T04:08:12Z")
Inspired by the recent spate of movie threads we’ve been having lately, I thought I’d ask this one. It’s a pretty simple question but I bet we get a huge variety of answers. For purposes of this discussion, it doesn’t matter if the film was intended as a comedy or not. It doesn’t matter how long or short the film is either. Nor should it matter if it was direct to video, shot with a video camera or a super 8 (or 16) camera, or any format. What does matter is that it’s a film, not a television show or mini-series or an advertisement or a music video or a video game cut scene or some other form of visual entertainment media. And please limit yourself to one title. More than that and you’re obviously undecided (and not actually answering the question I’ve posed). So: What is the single funniest movie you’ve ever seen? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/2 "2013-06-13T04:12:20Z")
“It’s a Gift,” W.C. Fields. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/3 "2013-06-13T04:14:21Z")
So many choices but I’ll have to go with Blazing Saddles. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/4 "2013-06-13T04:26:02Z")
_Blazing Saddles_ for me too. I saw it in a theater on its original release. I don’t ever recall laughing that hard or that loud at a movie before or since. And I’ve never heard the rest of a theater laughing so hard either. We’re so accustomed to movies and TV being deliberately outrageous now, it may be hard to understand just how over-the-top the movie was at the time it came out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/5 "2013-06-13T04:28:02Z")
I couldn’t pick one absolutely better than all the rest. I’ll toss out Animal House, it was the funniest movie ever when it was made. But that could apply to many movies made before and after that. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/6 "2013-06-13T04:43:18Z")
The hardest I’ve ever laughed in my whole life was while watching “Blazing Saddles.” (I am embarrassed to mention that it was the “campfire scene.”) I am also very fond of “Murder by Death,” which I think is a very funny movie. It’s my favorite movie; I’ve seen it over 45 times. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/7 "2013-06-13T04:46:23Z")
_Airplane!_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/8 "2013-06-13T04:49:27Z")
The original _ **The Producers** _ with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. I never tire of it, and I _always_ sing along with “Springtime for Hitler.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/9 "2013-06-13T05:18:57Z")
The Blues Brothers, may be the funniest. Not sure how to measure it. Wedding Crashers and Superbad were pretty damn funny, maybe funnier. I liked Blazing Saddles and Airplane! but never as much as others. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/10 "2013-06-13T05:22:49Z")
_Blazing Saddles_ and _Animal House_ are worthy contenders, but my vote goes to _History of the World, Part I_. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/11 "2013-06-13T05:44:04Z")
Animal House hands down.it was a revolutionary film that changed hollywood history. Its lost some of its mystique because its been copied so many times…Im looking at you Van Wilder. Great cast, great writing and, like sex, you can never recreate the experience of doing it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/12 "2013-06-13T05:47:01Z")
_Bringing Up Baby_ gets my vote for the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. Cary Grant is comic genius. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/13 "2013-06-13T07:18:24Z")
_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/14 "2013-06-13T07:27:42Z")
Single funniest ever? Probably Young Frankenstein. I’m a old-time horror film fan & that film hit on all cylinders. Funniest I’ve seen in the past two years? Dinner With Schmucks. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/15 "2013-06-13T07:37:25Z")
Young Fronk-En-Steen I think we had it out here before about which Mel Brooks movie was the best/funniest and YF came out ahead, so just because BS has had more mentions so far doesn’t mean it will win in the long run. Huge nerd that I am, YF is the only movie I have watched over a dozen times. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/16 "2013-06-13T08:26:49Z")
[Life of Brian](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/?ref_=sr_4) Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Brian: Look, you’ve got it all wrong! You don’t NEED to follow ME, You don’t NEED to follow ANYBODY! You’ve got to think for your selves! You’re ALL individuals! The Crowd: Yes! We’re all individuals! Brian: You’re all different! The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different! Man in crowd: I’m not… ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/17 "2013-06-13T09:06:29Z")
One that sprang to mind - _The Emperor’s New Groove_. If you haven’t seen it, treat yourself, and don’t dismiss it as “just a Disney {/sneer} movie”. The previous ones are good, too - just not as funny, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/18 "2013-06-13T09:34:24Z")
Oh man. So conflicted. I’m really at a 3 way tie but I’ll go with : Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/19 "2013-06-13T09:47:02Z")
Some worthy runners-up mentioned so far in this thread (_Young Frankenstein, Holy Grail, Life of Brian, The Producers_), but the all-time funniest movie is _A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877/20 "2013-06-13T11:39:37Z")
I dunno, Biffy. I feel that \*A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum \*lost its pacing with the chariot chase scene (it appears that car chased were “the funniest thing ever” in the 1960s. and were therefore shoehorned into everything). I have to go with either _Airplane!_ for unrelenting absurdity, or _Duck Soup_ for witty absurdity. I like my comedies absurd. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-funniest-movie-youve-ever-seen/660877.md?page=2)