4 Most Important Comedy Movies That Define the Genre
Comedy is one of the oldest genres in the history of cinema. Since before the medium started to gain traction as a legitimate storytelling device, let alone as an art form, directors were already making short films whose sole purpose was to make audiences laugh until they teared up. Over the course of the years since cinema’s infancy, comedy has evolved an awful lot. Slapstick comedies, romantic comedies, stoner comedies, action comedies; the number of vibrant variations that the genre has grown over the years is too large to count. And over the course of that long history, comedy cinema has put out several masterpieces so great that they can even be counted among the best movies ever made.
But narrowing down history’s myriad of comedies to come up with a Mount Rushmore for the genre isn’t just about their quality: It’s also about their importance, their level of influence, and their timelessness. Being a great and absolutely hilarious comedy won’t be enough to get you a place in the genre’s Mount Rushmore: You’ll also need to be a movie that people can point to and say “that’s one of the most groundbreaking and iconic comedy movies ever made.” Given those qualities and looking back at the stellar, laugh-filled history that comedy cinema has had, there are still dozens upon dozens of candidates that fans of the genre would gladly chisel up on the side of a mountain. However, only four can come out on top, and it doesn’t get much better or more important than these four movies.
4
‘Sherlock Jr.’ (1924)
When having a conversation about cinematic comedy and its great history, the conversation is never complete without at least a mention of the legendary Buster Keaton. Famous for his deadpan style, his tremendous physical commitment to his roles (he made actors doing their own stunts cool decades before Tom Cruise was even born), and his innovative filmmaking style, he was one of the defining figures of the genre during its silent era and well into the talkie years. He made several great films over the course of his career, and it’s a delight for movie fans around the world that his magnum opus is fully available on YouTube and only 45 minutes long—almost a short film, but technically still a feature. It’s Sherlock Jr., about a film projectionist who longs to be a detective.
It’s one of the coziest mystery movies ever made, and probably the funniest detective film of all time. It’s Keaton’s highest-rated film on Letterboxd (as well as the highest-rated silent comedy on the platform), and deservedly so. Upon release, it received mixed critical reviews, which only goes to show that time can be the greatest ally for a film. Today, most cinephiles who have seen it would confidently count it among their favorite comedies from the era. Full of death-defying stunts, laughs that are still irresistible over a century later, and the kinds of clever bits of dreamlike surrealism that made Keaton a filmmaker far ahead of his time, this undeniable classic may not have made that big of a splash when it came out; but today, it can serve as a perfect introduction to silent cinema for those looking for a gateway.
3
‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)
Don Lockwood, Lina Lamont, and Cosmo BrownImage via MGM
Musicals today aren’t all that popular, at least not outside of animated cinema; but they were all the rage back during Hollywood’s Golden Age, particularly from the ’30s to roughly around the late ’50s. Singin’ in the Raincame onto the scene right as the genre was close to the beginning of its loss of popularity, and it couldn’t have possibly come at a more appropriate time. This is far and away the greatest movie musical in history, one of the best romantic comedies of all time, and one of the biggest bundles of heartwarming joy that the Seventh Art has ever granted to the world. Sure, its focus is more on music and romance than on laughter, but the film’s importance to and influence on the rom-com genre is so tremendous that the comedy Mount Rushmore couldn’t possibly be complete without Gene Kelly‘s face on it (perhaps with a nice brown fedora and a little umbrella also chiseled on the mountain).
People looking for a sweet cinematic pick-me-up when they’re feeling under the weather needn’t look any further than Singin’ in the Rain, a film that’s all charm, singing, laughing, and falling in love. But not only is it both a perfect rom-com and a perfect musical: It’s also an unexpectedly sharp and witty satire poking fun at Hollywood’s awkward transition from silent films to talkies, making it an essential watch for those interested in cinema’s history as well as just regular people who love heartwarming films. The acting, singing, and dancing are all fantastic; the musical numbers are as memorable as they are visually stunning; and the comedy is so perfectly utilized that it’s impossible to watch the film without smiling from ear to ear throughout its entire runtime.
2
‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ (1975)
A group of knights in Monty Python and the Holy GrailImage via EMI Films
Those looking for comedies that will have them struggling to catch their breath from how much and how often they’ll be laughing only need to look at Monty Python, the British comedy troupe that revolutionized sketch comedy television with their series Monty Python’s Flying Circus. A year after the show came to an end, they decided that they wanted to revolutionize sketch comedy cinema as well. So, armed only with less than £300,000 and a few coconut shells, they made Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a parody of Arthurian legend that’s as important to the history of comedy filmmaking as its source material is to European folklore and Medieval literature.
Its fame alone should be enough to earn it a spot on the comedy movie Mount Rushmore.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is beyond iconic, one of the best comedy masterpieces of all time. It’s so good and so popular, in fact, that its fame alone should be enough to earn it a spot on the comedy movie Mount Rushmore. But as if that weren’t enough, it’s also a landmark in the history of low-budget filmmaking,proof that you can make comedy work wonderfully even if you don’t have a massive budget. This masterpiece is a labor of pure love, passion, and commitment, filled to the brim with some of the most intelligently-constructed and absolutely hysterical gags, jokes, and comedic set pieces that cinema has ever seen. The movie can feel a bit episodic, but that’s a feature, not a bug; and it all culminates in one of the most unexpected and hilarious endings that the comedy genre has ever offered.
1
‘City Lights’ (1931)
Charlie Chaplin and Virginia Cherrill smiling while standing next to each other in City Lights.Image via United Artists
Including two silent films on this list may feel like not enough ground is being covered when looking at the most important, groundbreaking, and/or influential movie comedies ever made. However, no Mount Rushmore of the best comedy films could ever possibly be complete without both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin’s faces on it, and no movie better exemplifies Chaplin’s style and charm than City Lights. It’s the actor-director’s most timeless masterpiece, the film where he struck the most perfect balance between his absolute mastery of slapstick comedy and his love for pathos-filled romance and melodrama.
Is it Chaplin’s best or funniest? It doesn’t really matter, since it’s most definitely his most iconic and important. At a time when talkies were already becoming the norm around the entire globe, Chaplin decided to stay true to his timeless style and make his last-ever fully silent film. Audiences had already started growing bored of silent films, yet City Lights instantly became one of Chaplin’s most financially successful and critically acclaimed works. Today, this is many cinephiles’ favorite silent comedy of all time. Utterly foundational and incredibly influential for both rom-coms and slapstick comedies, this masterpiece is almost 100 years old, yet it’s still so funny, charming, beautiful, and romantic that it’s easy to immerse oneself in its magic so much that one forgets it wasn’t made recently. Chaplin’s face would have to be at the forefront of any comedy movie Mount Rushmore worth respecting, and none of the Tramp’s adventures would be more fitting of a spot on that Mount Rushmore than City Lights.
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best Picture Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite
🌀Everything Everywhere
☢️Oppenheimer
🐦Birdman
🪙No Country for Old Men
01
What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don’t just entertain — they leave something behind.
02
Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What’s yours?
03
How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
04
What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
05
What do you want from a film’s ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
06
Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what’s even possible.
07
What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
08
What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
09
How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
10
What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it’s ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn’t want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it’s about.
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it’s about. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor’s ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn’t be possible. Michael Keaton’s performance and Emmanuel Lubezki’s restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
