The 411 Movies Top 5 06.19.09: Week 170 - Top 5 Historical Comedies

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 06.19.2009

This week the 411 crew takes a look at their favorite historical comedies of all time.

In honor of this weekend's release of Year One, we're taking a look at some other movies and TV shows that tried to score laughs out of a past setting, with our takes on:


THE TOP 5 HISTORICAL COMEDIES



Trevor Snyder

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Happy Days - This show might have shown an idealized version of the 1950s that never really existed quite that way. But I think it speaks volumes for the show that it's vision of the era pretty much is how we choose to remember that period now.

Love and Death - Napoleon's invasion of the Russian Empire might not sound like great fodder for a comedy…but when you're Woody Allen in the ‘70s, pretty much anything could be great fodder for a comedy.

THE TOP 5

5. That ‘70s Show

It took me awhile to warm up to this show, mostly because of how irritating I find Ashton Kutcher. Once I taught myself to ignore him and instead concentrate on Eric and Hyde, I was finally able to enjoy it…a lot. The great thing about That ‘70s Show is how it uses its '70s setting sparingly – only when the story actually calls for some sort of cultural reference. Other than that, the show could really be taking place at any time and still be the same. That might seem like it should disqualify it from being considered a true historical comedy, but not so. It's actually the best way to use a historical setting. Check out the utter failure of That ‘80s Show - which had nothing to offer but joke after joke about its titular time period. That ‘70s Show got it right.

4. Kung Fu Hustle

I'm sure most people think of this as a kung-fu parody first and foremost, and therefore don't even really think about the fact that it's also a historical comedy. But amidst all it's Looney Types type buffoonery, there is also a pretty interesting look at the slums of 1930s Shanghai. And besides that, it also pokes fun at classic kung-fu film of yesteryear, making it a sort of double historical comedy. But at the end of the day, what's really important is that the action kicks ass and it's freakin' hilarious. Maybe not one of the most historically accurate pieces in this column, but definitely one of the most fun.

3. Dazed & Confused

Remember what I said about That ‘70s Show and its use of the time period setting? It wasn't that long ago, so if you don't, maybe you've been spending a little too much time "in the basement" yourself. But anyway, the point I made up there goes double for Dazed & Confused, which is set on the last day of school in 1976, but can easily be related to by just about anyone who went to school, regardless of the era they did so in. Even still, the ‘70s setting is an integral part of the movie, and adds an extra level of wistful nostalgia to the tale.

2. History of the World: Part 1

This Mel Brooks film often gets overshadowed by his classics like Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, but if you ask me it's right up there with them. And really, it's pretty much the perfect example of a "historical comedy," given that its premise is actually that of a series of history lessons. An all-star cast gives an uproarious skewering of various time periods, including the Roman Empire, the French revolution, and even the Spanish Inquisition (just try to get that song out of your head). This is back when Brooks was still at the top of his game, and I've always been a little disappointed that he never actually delivered on that History of the World: Part II.

1. Monty Python & The Holy Grail

So if I said History of the World: Part 1 was the perfect example of the topic, how could it not be #1 on my list, right? Simple – you just don't beat Monty Python when it comes to comedy. I wrestled with myself on which of their two historical comedies to include in my list (I would have just had them both, but I wanted to give someone else the spot for fairness sake). The brilliant Life of Brian is, in many ways, the better movie…at least in terms of actual story and characterization. But in the end, I just couldn't not go with Holy Grail, which definitely wins out in regards to the sheer number of laugh-out-loud moments. This is arguably the greatest comedy of all time, let alone "historical" comedy. Sure, Arthurian legend isn't necessarily "real" history, but the Python guys do a great job sending up the time period the legends were born from. I don't think anyone since has ever been able to approach a movie about knights with quite the same level of seriousness as they had before seeing this movie.



Shawn S. Lealos

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Monty Python's Life of Brian - I would have ranked this, but found it fair to only have one Monty Python movie in the Top 5. You don't really get much more historical then the life of Jesus.

Kind Hearts & Coronets - This 1949 film is a British black comedy about a man who plots the murder of eight people (all played by Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Alec Guinness) standing in his way to being an heir to dukedom. It's been ranked as one of the greatest comedies ever made in numerous lists and makes mine here.

Shanghai Knights - While it is a sequel to Shanghai Noon, I found Knights to be the funnier movie thanks to some inspired cameos.

5. Blazing Saddles

Released in 1974, this comedy takes place in the American Old West of 1874. When you look at spoof movies today, you see trash like Dance Flick and Epic Movie. These films rely simply on a number of sight gags and pop culture references stretched out over a feature length running time. Blazing Saddles was released at a time when filmmakers knew how to make a spoof right. While many movies were parodied here, including Destry Rides Again, Once Upon a Time in the West and High Noon, it is set up with a solid storyline of its own and presents itself as an honest-to-God western with ridiculous situations. Well, at least it is an honest western until the fight between the town folk and rustlers spills off the Blazing Saddles lot and onto the Warner Bros. lot where they interrupt a musical being performed and into the commissary where they end up in a pie fight. You don't see movies like this anymore.

4. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Many people seem to be growing tired of Will Ferrell but at one time he was a critical favorite and a box-office guarantee. In no movie was this more apparent then Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The movie presents us with the world of 1970's television news teams. At the time, women as on-air personalities were unheard of and when a new anchor (Christina Applegate) comes onto the scene, the team's (Ferrell, David Korchner, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd) world is turned upside down. This movie is stacked full of quotable moments that makes it as memorable as any movie on my list. Highlights include "Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch", Ron's conversations with his dog Baxter, Sex Panther, and finally the giant brawl between news teams with appearances by Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Tim Robbins and Luke Wilson.

3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I honestly believe this will be on everyone's list. It is probably the most popular historical comedy ever made and is the one movie on this list that I guarantee everyone has either seen or at least heard of. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones co-directed this movie starring the Python comedy troupe which spoofs the legend of King Arthur's quest to find the legendary Holy Grail. The gags are priceless, including the Black Knight who refuses to surrender in a fight despite losing all his appendages, insulting Frenchmen, a Trojan Rabbit, and the Knights who say Ni.

2. Army of Darkness

I almost forgot this one until my wife mentioned it as a choice, so I had to go in and make changes. It's sad when as big of a fan of Sam Raimi as I am forgot about this movie, even momentarily. At the end of Evil Dead II, Ash is swept back in time and ends up in the midevil period, with a tank of gas, his trusty chainsaw and his BOOMSTICK. It is a perfect conclusion to the fantastic Evil Dead trilogy. On a side note, it doesn't matter which version you watch, it remains a great time. Ash back in his own time having one last battle against the deadites in the hardware store is great fun but the dour ending with him overshooting his destination fits better with the overall feel of the story. This is the kind of Sam Raimi movie I really love.

1. M*A*S*H

Released in 1970, M*A*S*H presents us with the 4077 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Newcomers to the 4077, Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland) and Duke (Tom Skerritt) arrive as needed replacements. Always the jokesters, Hawkeye immediately clashes with uptight Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) before convincing Lt. Henry Blake (Roger Bowen) that the 4077 needs a new thoracic surgeon, who just happens to be Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould). The main plot of the movie is not what most people would expect, as it simply leads to a football game with a rival unit. The humor though comes from contrasting the horrors of war with the anti-establishment humor. Directed by Robert Altman, the film would go on to win the Golden Globe for Best Film (Musical or Comedy) in 1971 and is recognized as one of the American Film Institute's Top 100 films, as well as their seventh best comedy. It laid the groundwork for a television show that would become one of America's most beloved shows but the movie is a masterwork and one of the greatest films ever made. You have to give credit to a comedy whose theme song is Suicide is Painless.



Bryan Kristopowitz

HONORABLE MENTIONS

To Be or Not to Be (1983): This is the Mel Brooks version. Mel takes on the Nazis and the absurdity and horror of prejudice and war. He also manages to sing "Sweet Georgie Brown" in Polish with his wife Anne Bancroft. Ha.

History of the World: Part 1 (1981): Another great Mel Brooks movie, this one dealing with, well, the history of the world. We've got the start of Man, Biblical times, Rome, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution, among other bits. You can't get much more historical than that.

Back to the Future: Part III (1990): Marty McFly and Doc Brown back in the Old West. With the DeLorean. Just the description alone is funny.

THE TOP 5

5. That 70's Show (1998-2006)

It's a sitcom that chronicles the lives of suburban teenage hoodlums in Point Place (not a real place), Wisconsin. You've got Eric, his eventual girlfriend Donna the next door neighbor, Hyde the real hoodlum, Kelso the dumbass, Jackie the hot, rich new girl, and Fes the foreign exchange student. And they talk, hang out, go to the movies, smoke weed around a round table in Eric's basement, and it's all about the 1970's. Well, the late 1970's. I don't know how well the show actually chronicles the 1970's, but, hey, they're talking about all of the stuff that happened in pop culture in the late 1970's (AC/DC, "Star Wars," "Smokey and the Bandit," stuff like that), and they're all wearing bell bottom pants. That's all you really need, isn't it? I mean, when they eventually make a show about the 1990's what the hell is the show going to be about? Bill Clinton's blow job and Nirvana. So, I guess the show chronicles the 1970's in the way we would chronicle our own time.

4. Yellowbeard (1983)

"They'll have to kill me before I die!" And there we have the essential essence of the very nasty and very funny pirate played by Graham Chapman, Yellowbeard. Back in the days of the superior British Navy and pirates and wacko Spanish Conquistadors and buried treasure, there's Yellowbeard, getting out of prison after twenty years and attempting to get his buried treasure back (stagger, stagger, crawl, crawl). He fights off rival pirates (Mr. Moon, as played by the great Peter Boyle), the dastardly British Secret Service (Eric Idle), and eventually actual wacko ex-Conquistadors (Cheech and Chong), all the while meeting his only son Dan (who he hates because that's what pirates do) and refusing to rape his wife Betty (Madeline Kahn, and that's Yellowbeard's wife, not Dan's wife). I bet this is exactly how it was back in the day of real pirates. Too bad Chapman never got a chance to make a sequel. It would have been a hoot seeing Yellowbeard face off against American Indians and American settlers.

3. Forrest Gump (1994)

Tom Hanks in his Academy Award winning role as Forrest Gump, the simple minded man with a heart of gold who ends up figuring into some of the biggest events of the middle and late 20th century. Elvis on Ed Sullivan, Vietnam, Hippies, meeting several Presidents, Chinese ping pong, Watergate, and a bunch more. Lots of people seem to think this is a drama, as there's a bunch of heavy dramatic stuff in it, lots of personal pain and whatnot. But when I first saw it I did nothing but laugh. Subsequent viewings have elicited the same response. It's all a big goof, regardless of the pain and suffering. "Life's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." That isn't cute or quaint. It's hilarious.

2. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Ah, yes, the world of 1970's local TV news, when anchormen were "real" men and women were finally getting their collective foot in the door, much to the chagrin of those "real" men. Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy is the lead anchorman that has to deal directly with Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), the smart and resourceful new chick that just wants a chance. They fight and argue, become a couple, have sex, have a big argument, and eventually make up. That about sum up the 1970's when it comes to men and women? Because isn't that what the movie is about? I think so. And, yeah, that anchorman street brawl is pretty cool. I bet you wouldn't see competing anchorwomen do that.

1. Monty Python's The Life of Brian (1979)

While not as universally loved and admired as the great Holy Grail, Life of Brian is easily the comedy group's most realized movie. It's the story of Brian of Nazareth, who is born at the same time as Jesus, just down the street. As an adult, Brian is mistaken for the Messiah (apparently there were quite a few Messiah types running around at the time) and has to fend off the Roman Empire and the foolish people who just refuse to believe that he isn't the real Messiah. But of course that's not the real point of the movie, is it? Think about that first scene with the real Jesus giving his sermon on the mount. Brian and the other people at the back can't hear what Jesus is saying. Brian's mother wants to go to a stoning, and the other people around them are arguing about noses. No one is making an effort to listen. Then think about that scene where Brian is questioned by those people on the street. Did they care about what Brian was saying? No, they just argued over the minutia. No one is looking at the bigger picture. Terry Jones, the flick's director, summed it up years later beautifully: "Instead of listening to what Jesus said about love thy neighbor and all the rest of it, we've been killing each other for thousands of years over how he said it." Indeed.



Len Archibald

Once again, listing is in alphabetical order (I refuse to outright rank films):

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Conspicuously absent is Monty Python and the Holy Grail - I figured most everyone else will take a swipe at that one...

Caligula/Salo,or The 120 Days of Sodom: Hahahahahaha…Okay, okay, this isn't a *true* honorable mention, but I have to place these on here because when both of these reviled "historical" films ended, I found myself laughing (uncontrollably and uncomfortably) at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. The first is a big-budget porn film that takes place in ancient Rome, starring Malcolm McDowell and a drunk off his arse Peter O'Toole and…Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren? Geez, what did the producer of this film have over these three talents to sign them to this? Hilarity ensues…I think. And, oh yes, when I say this is a BIG-budget porn film, I mean just that. You have to go to YouPorn to find clips. The second – from Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini is about a group of libertines during Nazi-occupied Italy who eighteen teenage boys and girls, subjecting them to humiliation, torture and degradation. There's a scene where they sit at a table and eat shit together…That's funny, I guess. Right? RIGHT???

Caveman: Look, this is simple – A comedy, bankrolled by George Harrison and starring Ringo Starr. GEORGE HARRISON AND RINGO STARR??? Yes my friends, that George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Starr is Atouk, a grunting mess of a caveman who has been outcast from his own tribe. He starts a new tribe full of misfits and decides to ambush their old tribe out of REVENGE! There is like, all of 50 words of dialogue said in the entire movie – most of it primitive caveman-speak. This would have been absolute perfection if there was a certain John and Paul involved. If I ever become a famous filmmaker, hell-bent on making a quick buck via a remake, this is the one I would do. I would probably cast the Wu-Tang Clan in it – maybe give Redman an extended cameo. $$$

History of the World, Part 1: Ahhh, Mel Brooks. He has given us Young Frankenstein (pronounced Frank-in-SCHTEEN!), Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Spaceballs, but this is some brilliant, inspired shit right here. Broken into segments from the Dawn of Man, Old Testament, and on to the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution – with Brooks playing significant parts in each, is nothing short of rib-breaking hilarious. C'mon, you know you wanna hear the joke of the 20,000 year old man again – right Chief Wiggum?

THE TOP 5

5. Life is Beautiful

"YOU SICK BASTARD! How could you place this here?"; Look, as incredibly sad and heart-wrenching this Best Foreign-Language Picture winner is, it's still pretty bloody hilarious. Roberto Benigni's major fingerprint on the film world (unless you're a masochist and count Return of the Pink Panther) had as many laughs as it did cries. And isn't that what it's all about? Your laughs and cries, Alonzo?
Alonzo: My *****!

4. M*A*S*H*

Where do I start with this one? To be honest - I was never a big fan of the show while growing up, so blame my youthful ignorance for avoiding this film until I was around 19. While working at Rogers Video (shout out!), me and my stoner friend decided to…Get stoned and watch a movie. He picked M*A*S*H*, which he had not ever seen either. It's safe to say we were unsure with the choice, but from the out-of-nowhere opening and brilliant song, Donald Sutherland's misadventures with a stolen jeep ("Racist!") to the mocking of "The Last Supper" - we were hooked. Hell, one of the single funniest moments in the history of movies is right here, during the random football game (which is IMHO, one of the greatest comedic montages ever shot):

Gunshot goes off.
Hot Lips: Oh my God! They shot him!
Henry: Hot Lips, you incredible nincompoop, that's just the end of the quarter.

Of course, my fondness of this film may be skewed because I was terribly stoned, and y'know…Stoners laugh at EVERYTHING.

3. Monty Python's Life of Brian

In doing my initial research for my films, I realized that George Harrison had somewhat of a stranglehold on the Historical Comedy: He bankrolled Caveman, bankrolled Time Bandits (which is a good film in its own right) and this one. The story is in fact he formed "HandMade Films" in 1979 just to finance The Life of Brian, after the original backers, EMI, pulled out after reading the script – EMI wasn't too fond of the film's scathing parody of organized religion. Well, EMI didn't like The Sex Pistols either, so posh to them. Poor Brian, though. Born not too far from The Christ, he can't avoid being mistaken for Jesus at every turn – even at the defining moment of…Both men's lives. Man, I'd hate to be the guy born next to and resembling the Antichrist. Or would I…? No, eternal damnation and all at the end – it would suck to be mistaken as the spawn of Satan. Poor Obama. [/end tangent]

2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I am a maaaaan, of constant sorrow… Look, quite simply, The Coen Brothers are GODS of film because they do whatever the hell they want, take on whatever genre they want and leave the finished film as genre-less as possible. How in the hell did they take The Odyssey, set it in the dust-bowl, Depression-era, Mississippi south, tackle politics, racism and bluegrass and STILL make this not only one of the funniest, but best films of this new decade? Genius, man. Genius.

1. That 70's Show

I can't sleep on this show. While the quality of comedies like The Simpsons would waiver, and sub-par fare like 2 and a Half Men were on the air, *this* may have been the funniest show on television for a couple of years. I remember watching the pilot episode and within the first 10 minutes I was like, "meh" - Until the kids got into "the circle" - "Why does everything look so distorted, what's that smoke surrounding them; how come they're suddenly acting so...Holy shit, their high off WEED!" The show launched the careers of...Basically most every major teen star at the beginning of the decade, including Topher Grace and the guy who's married to Demi Moore. Don't mess with Point Place, Wisconsin...DUMBASS!



Steve Gustafson

HONORABLE MENTION

Wagons East! and Almost Heroes - I put these together because one has John Candy and the other has Chris Farley in similar movies. These two are a perfect double feature. While one is set in the 1860's Wild West, with a bunch of ragged misfit settlers and the other about two guys whose mission is to beat Lewis and Clark, both are guilty pleasures of mine.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - Speaking of guilty pleasure! While not a "true" historical comedy, this uses history to tell a funny (and entertaining) story. "Seven minutes ago...we, your forefathers, were brought forth upon a most excellent adventure conceived by our new friends, Bill...and Ted. These two great gentlemen are dedicated to a proposition which was true in my time, just as it's true today. Be excellent to each other. And...PARTY ON, DUDES!"

THE TOP 5

5. Life of Brian

Brian is born in a stable on Christmas...yes, if you haven't seen this, then you are missing out on an irreverent satire of the Bible and religion all around. We follow the adventures of Brian, who hooks up with an anti-Roman political organization, is mistaken for a prophet, and becomes a reluctant Messiah. This is how Brian's life goes. A great example of its awesomeness is Brian's attempt to persuade a crowd of his followers to think for themselves:

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 yourselves! You're all individuals!
The Crowd (in unison): Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd (in unison): Yes, we are all different!
Man in Crowd: I'm not...
The Crowd: Shhh!

Not for the sensitive religious types.

4. The General

This one is dedicated to those commenter's who complain we don't show enough love to older films! A Buster Keaton classic! He brings it with this tale about Union solders who have stolen The General, a Confederate train. The Union plans to use the train to supply its soldiers in a sneak attack against the Confederates. It's one of those "silent films" that used to be all the rage and while the film was a box-office disaster at its original release, it is now considered by critics as one of the greatest films ever made. Still, it gets laughs from me and my respect when you think about the various stunts Keaton did in a time before safety was mandatory and special effects was something you got when you went into an opium house.

3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

The only shocking thing about this being on my list is it isn't number one, right? REBEL! Do I even need to do a write up of what it's about? King Arthur is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table...blah, blah, blah...If I need to explain it to you, what are you doing here? This is a classic in every sense of the word. Walk into any comic book store, library, or Staples and start talking to a stranger about the Black Knight, the flight patterns of swallows, "I fart in your general direction", "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!", Killer Rabbit attacks, or the dreaded Knights who say Ni and you'll get instant recognition. Or the security called on you.

2. 1941

Where to start with this one? Starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd this period comedy covers the panic in the Los Angeles area that occurs after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, plot is loosely based on an incident that has come to be known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 as well as the shelling of the Ellwood oil refinery, near Santa Barbara by a Japanese submarine. It's overlooked, especially when you look at the names involved, but it deserves its cult status. Many of the other events in the movie were based on real incidents, including the Zoot Suit Riots and an incident where the army really did put an anti-aircraft gun in the yard of a homeowner on the coast. As much fun as I had watching what went on-screen, what happened off-screen is just as entertaining. When John Belushi's Captain Wild Bill Kelso slipped off the wing of his aircraft after being lifted by two soldiers, it was a real accident and was left in the movie as it fitted his character. During the USO riot scene, when the naked MP is tossed into the window of the restaurant from the fire truck, John Belushi plays the patron eating spaghetti. He is in makeup to look like Marlon Brando in The Godfather, which he parodied on Saturday Night Live. Belushi told Spielberg he wanted to appear in another part of the movie and Spielberg thought that would be hilarious. And at the beginning of the USO riot scene, one of the "extras" dressed as sailors, is none other than actor James Caan. Forget what you heard about this movie. Grab it and watch for yourself!

1. History of the World, Part 1

Mel Brooks. That's all I need to say. He wrote, produced. Directed, and acted in 5 roles. Respect! Look at the line up involved in this movie: Sid Caesar, Shecky Greene, Gregory Hines, Charlie Callas, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Andreas Voutsinas, Spike Milligan, Bea Arthur, Hugh Hefner, John Hurt, Barry Levinson, Jackie Mason, Paul Mazursky, Henny Youngman, and Orson Welles narrates the film, and briefly appears on screen. From the birth of man to the distant future, the evolution of mankind is traced. And ridiculed. We get the true story of the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, The Spanish Inquisition, The French Revolution...If only school could have been this educational. My favorite part is at the very end of the film, there is a teaser trailer for History of the World: Part II, which previews Hitler on Ice, a Viking funeral, and Jews in Space. Maybe the most valuable lesson this movie teaches us is how to test eunuchs. And that's something we all need to know.

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