Favorite Movie Comedies from the Last 90 Years

Collecting movies can be expensive and take up a lot of space in the home, but what joy they bring. The art of comedy is said to be one of the most difficult forms of cinematic achievement. When it's done right you get snickers, guffaws, tears and the occasional pee in the pants. When it's done wrong, well you understand.

Timing is everything. As early as the late 1800's and early 1900's silent comedy movies have provided unforgettable hi-jinks with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. In the 20's we transition into "talkie" films staring the multi-talented Marx Brothers and the dynamic duo of Laurel and Hardy just to name a few. Here are my favorite comedy selections that I have seen starting from 1915 until today.

1915 - The Champion: Charlie Chaplin, his dog and a horse shoe in a boxing glove bring him luck in the boxing world.

1917 - The Poor Little Rich Girl: Mary Pickford is a rich girl whose parents are too busy to spend time with her but something happens that makes them regret their behavior.

1918 - Shoulder Arms: An awkward Charlie Chaplin is in the Army fighting the Germans and becomes a hero.

1925 - The Gold Rush: Charlie Chaplin is a gold prospector who has run out of luck. This is the movie with the famous boiled leather shoe for dinner scene.

1926 - Battling Butler: Buster Keaton makes the mistake of impersonating a champion boxer. The boxer finds out and the fun starts.

1927 - The Kid Brother: Harold Lloyd plays an not-so-loved son of the towns Sheriff. Lloyd comes to the rescue in the end.

1928 - The Circus: Charlie Chaplin is mistaken for a pickpocket in the circus. When police try to arrest him the hilarity ensues.

1929 - The Cocoanuts: The Marx Brothers first film.

1930 - Animal Crackers: The Marx Brothers are involved in a painting heist at a dinner party with comical results.

1931 - Monkey Business: The Marx Brothers are stow-aways who have to use their wits to survive.

1932 - The Kid from Spain: Eddie Cantor plays a young man booted out of college who then travels to Mexico and is mistaken for a great Matador. He now has to prove himself to win his loves heart.

1933 - Dancing Lady: Stars Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and acting debut of Fred Astaire, features the three stooges. HAVE TO MENTION - Duck Soup: The Marx Brothers are trying to get twenty million dollars from a wealthy socialite and cook up a scheme to get Groucho a dictatorship of Freedonia.

1934 - You're Telling Me: W.C. Fields is an unsuccessful inventor who seeks the help of a Princess.

1935 - A Night at the Opera: The Marx Brothers poke fun at the rich and famous lifestyle.

1936 - Anything Goes: Bing Crosby finds himself on a cruise ship vying for the affections of Ida Lupino while pretending to be a henchman for a criminal who has slipped aboard.

1937 - A Day at the Races: The Marx Brothers try to find financial backing for Maureen O'Sullivans' character at the horse races.

1938 - Didnt see any comedy movies that I liked for this year.

1939 - At the Circus: The Marx Brothers try to help a failed circus.

1940 - One Night in the Tropics: Abbott & Costello debut in this film about love and insurance policies.

1941 - Buck Private: A couple of con artists Abbott & Costello hide themselves in the Army. This movie debuts 'Boogie Woogie Bugle boy' sung by the Andrew Sisters.

1942 - A-Haunting We Will Go: The dynamic duo of Laurel and Hardy are perplexed by a musician's coffin used as a prop. They picked up the wrong coffin.

1943 - Hit the Ice: Abbott & Costello are in the wrong place at the wrong time; a bank hold up.

1944 - The Navy Way: Two men, one from the Navy and one from the Army set their sites on the same woman.

1945 - Anchors Aweigh: Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra star in this romantic comedy musical. This movie has the famous dance scene with Kelly and the animated mouse.

1946 - The Sin of Harold Diddlebock: Harold Lloyd shows you what happens when you drink too much; you end up with a circus.

1947 - Road to Rio: Bing Crosby and Bob Hope help a hypnotized Dorothy Lamour escape an arranged marriage.

1948 - Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein: Abbot & Costello have adventurous hi-jinks with Frankenstein's monster, Dracula and the Wolfman.

1949 - Africa Screams: Abbott & Costello go on safari to the jungles of Africa where the find cannibals and lions but no diamonds.

1950 - Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion: Abbott & Costello wrestling promoters on a quest to find their missing wrestler when suddenly they are swindled into joining the French Foreign Legion.

1951 - My Favorite Spy: Substituting for a murdered secret agent, Bob Hope is sent to compete the mission.

1952 - Monkey Business: A pet monkey sabotages Cary Grants scientific potion and when he and Ginger Rogers drink it they become children again.

1953 - Road to Bali: Bob Hope and Bing Crosby fight animals and cannibals when trying to regain a lost treasure which belongs to Dorothy Lamour.

1954 - The Long, Long Trailer: Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball attempt to travel from work site to work site in a forty foot travel trailer.

1955 - You're Never Too Young: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis hide from a thief in a school for girls.

1956 - The Court Jester: Danny Kaye plots to bring the rightful king to the throne by becoming the court jester.

1957 - The Delicate Delinquent: Jerry Lewis, delinquent attempts to join the police department.

1958 - The Geisha Boy: Jerry Lewis travels to Japan to try his luck as a magician with disastrous results.

1959 - Operation Petticoat: Cary Grant and Tony Curtis are serving on the pink U.S.S. Sea Tiger a WWII sub charged with the duty of transporting nurses through the Pacific.

1960 - The Bellboy: Jerry Lewis stars as a bumbling bellboy trying to get it right.

1961 - Pocketful of Miracles: Glenn Ford and Bette Davis attempt to make a poor girls dreams come true; if just for one day.

1962 - The Wackiest Ship in the Army: Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson are instructed to sail Japanese waters during WWII.

1963 - Who's Minding the Store?: Jerry Lewis, a clerk in a department store romances the owner's daughter.

1964 - Father Goose: Cary Grant who is commissioned to watch for enemy Japanese raiders on a tiny island comes to the rescue of a teacher and her students when their plane crashes.

1965 - What's New, Pussycat?: Peter O'Toole is a womanizer with problems and seeks the help of Peter Sellers a magazine editor.

1966 - The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!: During the cold war of the 60's Alan Arkin realizes Russians have landed of the little island of Nantucket. It's up to him and his neighbors to stop the invasion.

1967 - Barefoot in the Park: Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are newlyweds who can only afford a tiny apartment on the top floor of a run down apartment building with no elevator.

1968 - The Odd Couple: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's wives have kicked them out so they have to share an apartment. One is a clean freak while the other is a slob.

1969 - The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes: Kurt Russell is accidentally imprinted with computer information that is wanted by a mobster.

1970 - The Out of Towners: Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis move to New York from Ohio and meet disaster after disaster.

1971 - The Million Dollar Duck: Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan become owners of a duck that lays golden eggs when it hears the family dog bark.

1972 -Rentadick: Not what you think! Accident prone detectives set out after criminals who stole a below-the-waist-only paralyzing nerve gas.

1973 - Paper Moon: Ryan O'Neal is a con man who must transport an old flames daughter to relatives after the girls mother pass away. Along the way Ryan realizes this 10 year old girl is just as crafty as he is.

1974 - Blazing Saddles: Poking fun at westerns, Mel Brooks leads an all-star cast through racist satire and fart jokes.

1975 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail: King Arthur and his knights are on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Unfortunately for them they have to face a killer bunny, the Knights who say "Ni" and the Black Knight who will keep fighting no matter what you do to him.

1976 - Mother, Jugs & Speed: Independent ambulance drivers compete to meet their quota. Starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel.

1977 - Slap Shot: Paul Newman is an old hockey player/coach who realizes violence will bring in the crowds and the money.

1978 - The One and Only: Henry Winkler (The Fonz) is a down and out actor who takes on different persona's in the wrestling rink just to pay the bills. Battered and bruised he finally finds the acting roll of a lifetime.

1979 - The In-Laws: Alan Arkin is a simple dentist who gets sucked into the life of espionage by Peter Falk who is an undercover CIA operative. Oh, and Arkin's son is going to marry Falk's daughter.

1980 - Caddyshack: Young aspiring golf caddy's have to put up with the ridiculous antics of the rich and deranged. Starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray.

1981 - Caveman: Ringo Starr (Beatles, the) and Dennis Quaid are cavemen just looking for love and trying not to get eaten.

1982 - Fast Times at Ridgemont high: Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold and Jennifer Jason Leigh are teenagers whose lives aren't turning out as they expected.

1983 - Christmas Story, A: A little boy wants a BB-gun for Christmas but is told it's too dangerous by everyone including the Mall Santa Clause.

1984 - Bachelor Party: Tom Hanks is getting married so his best friend Adrian Zmed decided to through him a bachelor party. It gets out of control.

1985 - Brewster's Millions: Richard Pryor is set to gain $300 million dollars if he can spend $30 million in 30 days. The catch is he can't tell anyone including his best friend John Candy.

1986 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Matthew Broderick is the most popular kid in school and gets away with just about everything. The school principle is going to do everything he can to catch Ferris when he decides to ditch for the day.

1987 - Blind Date: Bruce Willis is told not to get his blind date Kim Basinger drunk so he does and the craziness follows. John Larroquette is Kim's ex-boyfriend who won't let go.

1988 - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Steve Martin is a petty thief who takes woman for small amounts of money until he meets Michael Caine. Caine is in for the big take but both may have meet their match when Glenne Headly comes to town.

1989 - Erik the Viking: Vikings like Erik (Tim Robbins) are tired of the same old everyday in and outs of being a Viking so he gathers a motley crew and sets sail.

1990 - Men at Work: Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen are garbage collectors who find a murdered victim on their route and all hell breaks loose. Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez.

1991 - Necessary Roughness: What About Bob?: Bill Murray is five cans short of a six pack until he meets Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, Dreyfuss is off on vacation with his family until Bill finds him.

1992 - Captain Ron: Kurt Russell is Captain Ron who hires himself out to ferry boats across open waters. Martin Short has just inherited his uncle's boat and hires Ron to sail the boat to Florida but end up in Cuban waters.

1993 - Benny & Joon: Aidan Quinn is taking care of his sister Mary S. Masterson who is mentally challenged when Johnny Depp comes to visit.

1994 - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: Jim Carrey loves all animals and sets out to rescue as many as he can. When the Miami Dolphin's mascot is kidnapped Ace Ventura is called to investigate.

1995 - Tommy Boy: Chris Farley must take over his dead fathers auto parts manufacturing plant. With the help of David Spade they uncover a plot by Rob Lowe and Bo Derek, Farley's step-mom, who are trying to steal it.

1996 - Down Periscope: Forced to Captain a diesel powered submarine, Kelsey Grammer uses the help of Lauren Holly and Rob Schneider do the best with what they have.

1997 - Booty Call: Jamie Foxx and Tommy Davidson set out to find 'protection' for safe sex with their dates but one thing after another gets in the way.

1998 - The Waterboy: Adam Sandler is a mentally challenged adult who provide water service for the local college football team. That is until the coach (Hernry Winkler) sees him tackle. Now Adam has to hide the fact that he's playing "foosball" from his momma.

1999 - Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo: Needing cash fast, Rob Schneider, becomes a male gigolo with the help of a pimp, Eddie Griffin.

2000 - The ladies Man: Tim Meadows is a womanizing radio talk show host whose taken one too many ladies. The husbands lead by Will Farrell want revenge.

2001 - Bubble Boy: Jake Gyllenhaal has lived his entire life in a germ free home until he falls in love. When the girl next door moves away Jake builds a bubble he can wear in the hopes of finding the girl of his dreams.

2002 - Eight Legged Freaks: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer and a young, hot Scarlett Johansson must save the town from over-grown killer spiders. Surprisingly funny.

2003 - Malibu's Most Wanted: Jamie Kennedy is kidnapped by black thugs. When he finds out it was planned and fake he puts himself in danger thinking its part of the set up.

2004 - Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle: John Cho and Kal Penn get stoned and crave White Castle burgers but getting there if filled with distractions and detours.

2005 - Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo: Rob Schneider is back and has traveled to Amsterdam where he's accused of killing the competition.

2006 - Clerks II: Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran have to find new jobs after the convenient store burns down. Now they have to work for Rosario Dawson at a fast food joint.

2007 - Good Luck Chuck: Dane Cook's ex-girlfriends are all getting married. They all think its because they slept with Cook (Chuck). Now rumor is spreading and single women are looking for him to test this theory.

2008 - Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais is unlucky in love because his attitude stinks. When he finds out he can speak to the dead all hell breaks loose.

2009 - 17 Again: Matthew Perry's life is going down the tubes and wishes he could change his life. He gets his wish when he turns 17 and happens to look like Zac Efron.

2010 - Dinner for Schmucks: Steve Carell is invited to dinner by a junior executive (Paul Rudd) who is trying to get points with his boss. The dinner is to see who can bring the biggest loser.