Comedy
Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb? A: The fish. Much like that joke, comedy comes down to personal taste and what one finds funny or not. Some like their humour light and frothy and very generalised, while others like it to have an edge and go for a more twisted, darker humour. The motherlode of this genre can be scrolled below. Either way, we're sure there will be something for everybody in the subsections on the left.
Right: There's Something About Mary's hairdo...
Down Among the Z Men ( The Goon Show Movie ) (1952)
4.7/10
Director: Maclean Rodgers
Starring: Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Michael Bentine
The only feature film made by the fabulously funny Goons: Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. This has The Goons in a story of crominals... Read more
The Importance Of Being Earnest (1952)
7.6/10
Director: Anthony Asquith
Starring: Michael Redgrave, Richard Wattis, Michael Denison
Oscar Wilde's play took over 57 years to reach the big screen but it was worth the wait. A colourful theatrical film about mating rituals in Great Bri... Read more
Limelight (1952)
8.1/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Claire Bloom, Charlie Chaplin, Sydney Chaplin, Nigel Bruce, Norman Lloyd, Buster...
Chaplin blends dark comedy and tragedy in the story of an ageing music hall comic who's convinced he can no longer move people to laughter. With Chapl... Read more
Love Nest (1952)
6.4/10
Director: Joseph M Newman
Starring: Frank Fay, William Lundigan, Marilyn Monroe, June Haver
Marilyn Monroe co-stars as the 'other woman' in this post-war romantic comedy about an apartment building full of crazy characters. With June Haver, W... Read more
Monkey Business (1952)
7/10
Director: Howard Hawks
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe
A romping screwball comedy about a genius chemist who invents a formula that delays the ageing process. A chimpanzee in the lab pours the formula in a... Read more
Road To Bali (1952)
6.8/10
Director: Hal Walker
Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour
The only colour "Road" film of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, with many guest stars, as they save Dorothy Lamour from an evil princess and the dangers of t... Read more
We're Not Married! (1952)
6.4/10
Director: Edmund Goulding
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Marilyn Monroe
Grand comedy served up in several episodes as six married couples discover their weddings weren't legal! Superb cast includes Ginger Rogers, Marilyn M... Read more
Mr Hulot's Holiday ( Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot ) (1952)
Director: Jacques Tati
Starring: Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Michelle Rolla
This wonderfully comic plotless movie about Monsieur Hulot's vacation trip to the seashore features hilarious situations and a brilliant performance b... Read more
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
7.2/10
Director: Frank Tashlin, Sidney Lanfield
Starring: Bob Hope, Fred Clark, Jane Darwell, Lloyd Nolan, Andrea King, William Frawley
When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally steers Moose Moran's girl away from a winning bet, he is forced to come up with $10,000 to repay the angry gangst... Read more
The Ealing Comedy Collection: The Lavender Hill Mob / Whisky Galore! / Passport to Pimlico / School for Scoundrels / The Maggie (1951)
Director: Alexander Mackendrick, Charles Crichton, Henry Cornelius, Robert Hamer
Starring: Alastair Sim, Alec Guinness, Basil Radford, Ian Carmichael, James Robertson Just...
The legendary Ealing Studios were home to some of Britain's most enduring - and endearing - comedies. It is the oldest continuously-working studio fac... Read more