AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 funniest movies in American cinema. A wide variety of comedies were nominated for the distinction that included slapstick comedy, action comedy, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, satire, black comedy, musical comedy, comedy of manners, and comedy of errors. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 13, 2000.
Cary Grant has the most appearances on the list, with eight films.
The list
# |
Movie |
Director |
Year |
1. |
Some Like It Hot |
Billy Wilder |
1959 |
2. |
Tootsie |
Sydney Pollack |
1982 |
3. |
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb |
Stanley Kubrick |
1964 |
4. |
Annie Hall |
Woody Allen |
1977 |
5. |
Duck Soup |
Leo McCarey |
1933 |
6. |
Blazing Saddles |
Mel Brooks |
1974 |
7. |
MASH |
Robert Altman |
1970 |
8. |
It Happened One Night |
Frank Capra |
1934 |
9. |
The Graduate |
Mike Nichols |
1967 |
10. |
Airplane! |
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker |
1980 |
11. |
The Producers |
Mel Brooks |
1968 |
12. |
A Night at the Opera |
Sam Wood |
1935 |
13. |
Young Frankenstein |
Mel Brooks |
1974 |
14. |
Bringing Up Baby |
Howard Hawks |
1938 |
15. |
The Philadelphia Story |
George Cukor |
1940 |
16. |
Singin' in the Rain |
Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen |
1952 |
17. |
The Odd Couple |
Gene Saks |
1968 |
18. |
The General |
Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton |
1927 |
19. |
His Girl Friday |
Howard Hawks |
1940 |
20. |
The Apartment |
Billy Wilder |
1960 |
21. |
A Fish Called Wanda |
Charles Crichton |
1988 |
22. |
Adam's Rib |
George Cukor |
1949 |
23. |
When Harry Met Sally... |
Rob Reiner |
1989 |
24. |
Born Yesterday |
George Cukor |
1950 |
25. |
The Gold Rush |
Charlie Chaplin |
1925 |
26. |
Being There |
Hal Ashby |
1979 |
27. |
There's Something About Mary |
Peter Farrelly, Robert Farrelly |
1998 |
28. |
Ghostbusters |
Ivan Reitman |
1984 |
29. |
This Is Spinal Tap |
Rob Reiner |
1984 |
30. |
Arsenic and Old Lace |
Frank Capra |
1944 |
31. |
Raising Arizona |
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
1987 |
32. |
The Thin Man |
W. S. Van Dyke |
1934 |
33. |
Modern Times |
Charlie Chaplin |
1936 |
34. |
Groundhog Day |
Harold Ramis |
1993 |
35. |
Harvey |
Henry Koster |
1950 |
36. |
National Lampoon's Animal House |
John Landis |
1978 |
37. |
The Great Dictator |
Charlie Chaplin |
1940 |
38. |
City Lights |
Charlie Chaplin |
1931 |
39. |
Sullivan's Travels |
Preston Sturges |
1941 |
40. |
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
Stanley Kramer |
1963 |
41. |
Moonstruck |
Norman Jewison |
1987 |
42. |
Big |
Penny Marshall |
1988 |
43. |
American Graffiti |
George Lucas |
1973 |
44. |
My Man Godfrey |
Gregory La Cava |
1936 |
45. |
Harold and Maude |
Hal Ashby |
1971 |
46. |
Manhattan |
Woody Allen |
1979 |
47. |
Shampoo |
Hal Ashby |
1975 |
48. |
A Shot in the Dark |
Blake Edwards |
1964 |
49. |
To Be or Not to Be |
Ernst Lubitsch |
1942 |
50. |
Cat Ballou |
Elliot Silverstein |
1965 |
51. |
The Seven Year Itch |
Billy Wilder |
1955 |
52. |
Ninotchka |
Ernst Lubitsch |
1939 |
53. |
Arthur |
Steve Gordon |
1981 |
54. |
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek |
Preston Sturges |
1944 |
55. |
The Lady Eve |
Preston Sturges |
1941 |
56. |
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein |
Charles Barton |
1948 |
57. |
Diner |
Barry Levinson |
1982 |
58. |
It's a Gift |
Norman Z. McLeod |
1934 |
59. |
A Day at the Races |
Sam Wood |
1937 |
60. |
Topper |
Norman Z. McLeod |
1937 |
61. |
What's Up, Doc? |
Peter Bogdanovich |
1972 |
62. |
Sherlock, Jr. |
Buster Keaton |
1924 |
63. |
Beverly Hills Cop |
Martin Brest |
1984 |
64. |
Broadcast News |
James L. Brooks |
1987 |
65. |
Horse Feathers |
Norman Z. McLeod |
1932 |
66. |
Take the Money and Run |
Woody Allen |
1969 |
67. |
Mrs. Doubtfire |
Chris Columbus |
1993 |
68. |
The Awful Truth |
Leo McCarey |
1937 |
69. |
Bananas |
Woody Allen |
1971 |
70. |
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town |
Frank Capra |
1936 |
71. |
Caddyshack |
Harold Ramis |
1980 |
72. |
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House |
H. C. Potter |
1948 |
73. |
Monkey Business |
Norman Z. McLeod |
1931 |
74. |
9 to 5 |
Colin Higgins |
1980 |
75. |
She Done Him Wrong |
Lowell Sherman |
1933 |
76. |
Victor Victoria |
Blake Edwards |
1982 |
77. |
The Palm Beach Story |
Preston Sturges |
1942 |
78. |
Road to Morocco |
David Butler |
1942 |
79. |
The Freshman |
Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor |
1925 |
80. |
Sleeper |
Woody Allen |
1973 |
81. |
The Navigator |
Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp |
1924 |
82. |
Private Benjamin |
Howard Zieff |
1980 |
83. |
Father of the Bride |
Vincente Minnelli |
1950 |
84. |
Lost in America |
Albert Brooks |
1985 |
85. |
Dinner at Eight |
George Cukor |
1933 |
86. |
City Slickers |
Ron Underwood |
1991 |
87. |
Fast Times at Ridgemont High |
Amy Heckerling |
1982 |
88. |
Beetlejuice |
Tim Burton |
1988 |
89. |
The Jerk |
Carl Reiner |
1979 |
90. |
Woman of the Year |
George Stevens |
1942 |
91. |
The Heartbreak Kid |
Elaine May |
1972 |
92. |
Ball of Fire |
Howard Hawks |
1941 |
93. |
Fargo |
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
1996 |
94. |
Auntie Mame |
Morton DaCosta |
1958 |
95. |
Silver Streak |
Arthur Hiller |
1976 |
96. |
Sons of the Desert |
William A. Seiter |
1933 |
97. |
Bull Durham |
Ron Shelton |
1988 |
98. |
The Court Jester |
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama |
1956 |
99. |
The Nutty Professor |
Jerry Lewis |
1963 |
100. |
Good Morning, Vietnam |
Barry Levinson |
1987 |
Criteria
- Feature-length fiction film: The film must be in narrative format typically over 40 minutes long.
- American film: The film must be in the English language with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States.
- Funny: Regardless of genre, the total comedic impact of a film’s elements must create an experience greater than the sum of the smiles.
- Legacy: Laughs must echo across time, enriching America’s film heritage and inspiring artists and audiences today.
External links