Classic Comedies:

Funniest Movie
Moments and Scenes


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Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
Screenshots

Safety Last (1923)

  • the mild-mannered and timid Boy's (Harold Lloyd) suspenseful, slapstick-filled daredevil climb up the side of a twelve-story building in the big city, culminating in the famous image of him hanging from the arms of a huge clock high above the busy street below - at every floor, the Boy was beset by an incredible array of problems (pesky, flapping pigeons who feasted on nuts that had fallen on him from above, a volleyball net that became enveloped around him, painters who thrust a protruding 2 x 4 wooden paint platform/trestle at him, a swinging window, a rope without a counterweight, a vicious dog, a flagpole, a mouse that climbed up his pants leg, a photographic subject who was posing with a gun pointed at him at the exact moment the flash exploded, a revolving anemometer, and a second rope entangled around his ankle which swung him pendulum-like from the top of the building)

Scared Stiff (1953)

  • the dance impersonation scene of Carmen Miranda by dimwitted busboy-waiter Myron Mertz (Jerry Lewis) in a Havana nightclub, singing Mama Yo Quiero
  • the end joke (an unexpected cameo) - a view of skeletons with the heads of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby

Scary Movie (2000)

  • the crude, low-brow, semi-sexually-explicit, satirical, Airplane!-style jokes (skewering the slasher film genre, such as Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and more); the name of the school (B.A. Corpse High) and the female gym teacher Miss Mann (Jayne Trcka), and the character of the masked and hooded killer - Ghostface (Dave Sheridan)
  • the well-advertised, outrageous early scene of wet underwear-wearing 18 year-old Drew Decker (Carmen Electra) stabbed in her silicon-enhanced left breast with a knife when pursued by Ghostface, and then hit by a car (driven by her father who was receiving fellatio) and killed
  • the interview scene, when Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans) was speaking to hack news reporter Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri) about victim Drew Decker's death: (Gail: "What would have been your last words to Drew?" Shorty: "Run, bitch, run!")
  • the Teen Beauty Pageant scene - the winning of the contest by bimbo contestant Buffy Gilmore/aka Miss Fellatio (Shannon Elizabeth) who performed a real "dramatic reading" - a true-life warning as Ghostface slit the throat of Greg Cox (Lochlyn Munro) within her view
  • Ghostface's phone call to Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), asking: "Do you know where I am?" and playing a mocking game of hide-and-seek
  • the "Death by Penis" scene in which moviegoer Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) had proceeded to the theatre's men's room where at a urinal, he heard a strange noise through a hole in the wall; when he placed his left ear up to the spot, he was tickled by an erect penis, that caused him to ask: "Hey, who is that?"; when he requested: "Go ahead, do it again" - he was violently violated and lobotomized by a plunging penis that extended into his entire brain and emerged from his other ear!
  • also, the scene in the motion picture theatre of Ray's rude, cell-phone using date Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) who was holding a video camera; she was knifed to death - not by the serial killer Ghostface (sitting next to her) - but by a number of audience members around her, for spoiling the movie Shakespeare in Love: ("I don't know why ya'll is actin' like this! My girlfriend already seen the movie and she says they don't even stay together in the end!"); she died in front of the screen - bloodied and screaming
  • the outrageous sex scene between virginal Cindy and her crazed boyfriend Bobby Prinze (Jon Abrahams); she was experiencing vigorous sex on top of him, screaming out: "What's my name, Bobby?", slapping him across the face, and growling; she was propelled to the ceiling with a gusher when he had an explosive orgasm as she was grinding on him; his volcanic ejaculation caused a massive firehose stream of whitish liquid to shower her upwards, where she was plastered to the ceiling; Bobby was so emptied out and drained that his chest frame became dessicated










Scrooged (1988)

  • a mildly-funny updating of the Dickens' A Christmas Carol - featuring mean-spirited and selfish IBC Network-TV executive Francis Xavier "Frank" Cross' (Bill Murray)
  • the film's opening - Cross and his associates previewing new holiday season promos, including Lee Majors in the action flick The Night the Reindeer Died (with Santa holding an AK-47 and machine gun-armed elves at the North Pole), and a strange variety show - Bob Goulet's Old Fashioned Cajun Christmas. One of the promos was for Scrooge, which was set to air live on Christmas Eve. Cross screamed his distaste at his staff: "You guys have got an ad with America's favorite old fart reading a book in front of a fireplace! Now I have to kill all of you!"
  • Cross' encounter with the sing-song, squeaky-voiced, physically-abusive, sweetly-violent, and sadistically-gleeful fairy-like Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane), a sugar-plum pixie fairy who pulled him by the tie, pushed him, head-butted him, and then upper-cut him with a toaster oven ("The bitch hit me with a toaster!"), among other abuses: (Ghost (gleefully): "You know I like the rough stuff, don't you, Frank?")
  • and the outrage of the network's Lady Censor (Kate McGregor-Stewart) over the exposed nipples of one of the Solid Gold Dancers' costumes for a multi-million dollar Christmas Eve performance of a musical titled Scrooge! (Frank: "I want to see her nipples." Censor: "But this is a Christmas show." Frank: "Well, Charles Dickens would have wanted to see her nipples, then")




Seven Chances (1925)

  • the frantic chase sequence by failing businessman-broker James Shannon (Buster Keaton), who would inherit $7 million (from a deceased relative) if he became married by 7 pm on his 27th birthday (that day) - and his frantic race home -- down a steep hill and cliffside to evade and dodge an avalanche of dislodged boulders, that also threatened to flatten a large group of potential marriage partners dressed in bridal gowns - the exciting climax included the question of whether he would marry in time to claim the money


The Seven Year Itch (1955)

  • a romantic sex comedy about the dilemma of a married Manhattanite Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) after seven years of marriage to Helen (Evelyn Keyes) - in a fantasy scene with his wife, he bragged: "Seven years we've been married. l've never done anything like that. Don't think l couldn't have either. Because l could have, plenty. Plenty. Don't laugh, Helen. l happen to be very attractive to women. This isn't a thing one likes to tell his wife, but women have been throwing themselves at me for years. That's right, Helen. Beautiful ones, plenty of them. Acres and acres of them" - and then fantasized in three scenarios about attempted seductions that he refused, including a spoof of the From Here to Eternity beach kissing scene
  • the scene of plain, nudism-loving and middle-aged health-food waitress (Doro Merande) in a vegetarian restaurant on 3rd Avenue who espoused the virtues of nudity and naturism to customer Richard - she explained that although she didn't accept tips, she did solicit contributions for a fund established for a nudist camp: "Nudism is such a worthy cause. We must bring the message to the people. We must teach them to unmask their poor suffocating bodies and let them breathe again. Clothes are the enemy. Without clothes, there'd be no sickness, there'd be no war. I ask you, sir, can you imagine two great armies on the battlefield, no uniforms, completely nude? No way of telling friend from foe. All brothers, together"
  • the introduction of light-headed, gorgeous and voluptuous upstairs neighbor - The Girl (Marilyn Monroe as a quintessential blonde) to her married New Yorker neighbor Richard Sherman, a paper-back publisher; she had . forgotten her outer building key so she hit his buzzer to get in, allowing her entrance to the upstairs apartment that she had rented for the summer
  • the "balcony scene" when the Girl told Richard: Let me just go put something on. I'll go into the kitchen and get dressed...Yes, when it's hot like this - you know what I do? I keep my undies in the icebox"
  • Richard's fantasy of seducing the Girl by playing Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, while wearing an elegant red dressing gown, as she begged him: "Rachmaninoff...It isn't fair...Every time I hear it, I go to pieces...It shakes me, it quakes me. It makes me feel goose-pimply all over. I don't know where I am or who I am or what I'm doing. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't ever stop!"
  • the 'party' scene of him helping to fasten the straps of her seductive white dress, while she was holding a bottle of champagne and a bag of potato chips: "I figured it just isn't right to drink champagne in matador pants. Would you mind fastening my straps in the back?...Potato chips, champagne, do you really think you can get it open?" - there was a long struggle to open the bottle, then the Girl's reassurances: "Hey, did you ever try dunking a potato chip in champagne? It's real crazy. Here...Isn't that crazy?...Everything's fine. A married man, air-conditioning, champagne and potato chips. This is a wonderful party"
  • the memorable sequence of the two playing Chopsticks on the piano - she joined him on the piano bench, banging and singing out the tune with him in a child-like manner; after she told him: "I don't know about Rachmaninoff and this shakes you and quakes you stuff, but this really gets me...and how...I can feel the goose pimples...Don't stop. Don't stop," he attempted to kiss her, they fell backwards off the piano bench
  • the Girl's famous pose in a white dress flying and billowing up around her knees when a train whooshed by as she stood spread-legged astride a New York subway grating to cool herself during a hot summer: ("Isn't it delicious?"); Richard standing nearby observed: "Sort of cools the ankles, doesn't it?"










Shampoo (1975)

  • the numerous sex scenes between studly, liberated, seductive playboyish Beverly Hills hair-dresser George Roundy (Warren Beatty) and three women - all in one day, and his quintessential question: "Want me to do your hair?" - and George's inarticulate repeated expression: "You're great!" to all of his female conquests; and the sensual way that George 'did' his clients' hair in the salon
  • the love triangle between conservative, wealthy businessman Lester's (Jack Warden) mistress Jackie Shawn (Julie Christie) - George's old girlfriend, Lester's wife Felicia (Oscar-winning Lee Grant), and George's current pert girlfriend Jill (Goldie Hawn), an aspiring actress
  • Lester's seductive teenaged daughter Lorna (Carrie Fisher) - who wanted to avenge her cheating mother through sex with her hairdresser, with her forward request: "You're my mother's hairdresser...Do you wanna f--k?"
  • the scenes of having sex with Jackie in a steamy bathroom when interrupted by Lester (and they pretended to be doing her hair and telling him to close the door and not let the steam out)
  • the 1968 Nixon election-night victory dinner where Jackie groped between George's legs under the table - and her famous bold response to executive Sid Roth (William Castle) about her sexual desire: "Most of all, I'd like to suck his c--k!", causing George to do a spit-take and almost choke on a piece of chicken
  • the scene of Lester and Jill's stumbling upon George in a boathouse during a party - where he was having sex with Jackie, and Lester's amused first reaction (without knowing their identities) when a refrigerator door slowly opened, illuminated and caught Jackie and George in the act: "That's what I call f--king! Am I right, or am I right?" - then followed by George's innocent statement to an enraged Jill: "Honey, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you"
  • George's excuse told to Lester about his sexual proclivities with so many women: "How am I gonna tell you what they got against you. I mean, Christ, they're women aren't they? You ever listen to women talk, man? Do ya? 'Cause I do till it's runnin' outta my ears! I mean, I'm on my feet all day long listening to women talk, and they only talk about one thing: how some guy f--ked 'em over. That's all that's on their minds. That's all I ever hear about! Don't you know that?...We're always trying to nail 'em and they know it. They don't like it. They like it and they don't like it, it's got nothin' to do with you, Lester. It just happened"






Shaun of the Dead (2004, UK)

  • Edgar Wright's feature debut film, an amusing zombie parody and situational comedy with a pun for a title, about suburban zombie survival; the witty, non-stop horror comedy spoof (dubbed a "rom-zom-com") had many clever references to former zombie films
  • the two main characters: an electronic goods sales store clerk - the hapless, direction-less loser, almost 30-something Shaun (Simon Pegg), and his buddy - unemployed, vulgar, slacker TV-addicted drinking pal Ed (Nick Frost), and their frequent trips to the Winchester, a pub in North London
  • their oblivious awakening with hangovers on a Sunday morning to a zombie apocalypse outbreak, when they were attacked in their garden by two flesh-hungry zombies
  • their mission to rescue Shaun's mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton), and then Shaun's ambitious and smart girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) (to win her heart back) and her two roommates, David (Dylan Moran) and Dianne or "Di" (Lucy Davis), and their pretense to be undead in order to survive, while taking sanctuary and refuge in their favorite pub



She Done Him Wrong (1933)

  • a melodramatic/comic story that involved white slavery and an unlikely romance between Gay Nineties saloon singer Lady 'Diamond' Lou (Mae West) and Salvation Army officer Captain Cummings (Cary Grant)
  • another of voluptuous Mae West's funny vehicles as an excuse to throw off unabashed one liners: ("You know, it takes two to get one in trouble"), brazen and naughty innuendoes and double-entendres (the famed "Why don't you come up sometime 'n see me? I'm home every evening"), and other liberated quips ("Listen, when women go wrong, men go right after them" and "You know it was a toss-up whether I go in for diamonds or sing in the choir. The choir lost")

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

  • the scene of lovelorn projectionist, a wanna-be Sherlock, Jr. (actor/director Buster Keaton) trying unsuccessfully to court his sweetheart (Kathryn McGuire) with a cheap $1 dollar box of candy
  • his pacing after and shadowing his suspect/rival suitor the Sheik (Ward Krane) when they took drags upon the same cigarette
  • the series of quick, jump-cutting film edits and abruptly-changing montage of scenes behind Sherlock Jr. after he fell asleep in the projection booth and his doppelganger dream figure walked around the theatre (unnoticed) and then stepped into the 'silver screen' and magically became part of the projected shifting scenes
  • the 'movie in a movie' - Sherlock Jr. walked down stairs and fell over a garden bench or pedestal, found himself on a busy street, a mountainous precipice, a lion's den, a desert in the middle of tracks with an approaching train, and a rock surrounded by the ocean where he dove headfirst into a snowbank, and then a return to the opening garden
  • the tense scene when Sherlock was set up to be murdered by his rival the Sheik during a pool game with an explosive #13 ball
  • Sherlock's miraculous dive out of a window and into a hoop dress set up in an outer window sill
  • the amazing stunt of his near-fatal collision with a train (he covered his ears and ducked his head) as he rode on the handlebars of a driverless motorcycle
  • the final boy-gets-girl sequence in the projection booth when the flustered 'detective' followed the cues of the leading-man actor on screen and kissed his girlfriend



A Shot In the Dark (1964, UK/US)

  • the character of bumbling, linguistically-challenged French Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) and his exasperated, long-suffering and bug-eyed Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who promised: ("Give me ten men like Clouseau and I could destroy the world!")
  • Clouseau's innumerable attempts to bed suspected murderess and French chambermaid Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer): ("I believe everything and I believe nothing. I suspect everyone, and I suspect no one")
  • Clouseau's pronunciation of the word 'bomb' ("beumb"), and his elaborate chalkboard drawing of the crime scene: ("Facts, Hercule, facts! Nothing matters but the facts. Without them, the science of criminal investigation is nothing more than a guessing game")
  • Clouseau's setting his trenchcoat on fire after lighting a cigarette for Maria and pocketing the still-flaming cigarette lighter ("My coat is on fire!")
  • during one romantic encounter, an untimely and inopportune interruption and sneak attack from Clouseau's own judo-attacking, karate-chopping expert-aide and Chinese manservant Kato (Burt Kwouk), who specialized in surprise attacks
  • during Clouseau's questioning of Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders), the Parisian owner of the palace where the murder was committed, he struggled with the game of billiards using an upturned curved cue stick, and dueled with an uncooperative cue rack
  • the visit of Clouseau to find Maria at Camp Sunshine - a nudist resort, where he found a dead corpse ("Dead Dudu"), and afterwards, their embarrassing unclothed drive through the crowded streets of Paris
  • in the office of his psychoanalyst, Dreyfus' nervous breakdown about Clouseau's inept investigation of the case: ("He released her again, and he's taking her out to dinner. Every paper in Paris has the story, including the Christian Science Monitor; and he gave them the story. You see, he claims he's protecting her lover, and the best way to force him into the open is to make him jealous. Jealous! That nincompoop, that megalomaniac. He's setting the science of criminal investigation back a thousand years, and I can't do anything about it...What if he's right?...I'm finished. Washed up. Sanity and reason become things of the past. Madness reigns...Relax? Don't you think l want to relax? Don't you think l'd give my arm for a good night's sleep? I haven't closed my eyes in three days. I've only eaten a chicken leg and some clear broth since Wednesday. I'm cracking up. I'm coming apart at the seams. Look at my eye. I used to have a perfectly good eye. Two eyes, l mean. No, Doctor, there is no hope. There is no hope unless l can get rid of Clouseau. I must get rid of Clouseau")








Showgirls (1995)

  • the unintentionally cheesy acting and dialogue, and rampant nudity (almost boring)
  • the scene of Al Torres (Robert Davi), manager of the topless, pole-clinging dancers at the Cheetah, detailing requirements for a lap dance to new girl Penny (Rena Riffel): "Fifty bucks a pop, you take 'em in the back. Touch and go. They touch, they go. You can touch them. They cannot touch you...Now if they come, that's okay. If they take it out and come all over you, call the bouncer, unless he gives you a big tip. If he gives you a big tip, it's okay. You got that?...lf you want to last longer than a week, you give me a blow job. First l get you used to the money, then l make you swallow"
  • the sequences of naked dancing at two contrasting locales in Las Vegas - the low-class Cheetah and the higher-class hotel shows and headliner dancers at the Stardust
  • the love-hate relationship and rivalry between bi-sexual "Goddess" headliner Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon) at the Stardust Hotel and aspiring Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) and their unbelievable dialogue and discussion about their breasts: (Cristal: "You've got nice tits. I like nice tits." Nomi: "I like having nice tits")
  • the bare-breasted "Chorus Line" showgirl audition sequence, with Tony Moss' (Alan Rachins) introduction of himself: ("Okay, ladies. I'm Tony Moss. I produce this show. Some of you have probably heard that I'm a prick - I am a prick. I got one interest here, and that's the show. I don't care whether you live or die. I want to see ya dance and I want to see ya smile. I can't use you if you can't smile, I can't use you if you can't show, I can't use you if you can't sell"), his threat to one of the losing contestants: ("Come back when you've f--ked some of this baby fat off. See ya!"), and his insulting comment to Nomi: ("You got something wrong with your nipples?...I'm erect. Why aren't you erect?")
  • Nomi's extended lap dance sequence offered by Cristal to her boyfriend for $500, the Stardust Hotel's talent director Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan)
  • the scene of Nomi's orgasmic thrashing sex romp in a swimming pool with Zack






Shrek (2001)

  • the opening Sleeping Beauty (1959) reference (through the use of a stylized storybook), and many other fairy tale references and one-liners
  • the character of surly, sarcastic, wisecracking, Scottish-accented green, smelly but affable ogre Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) in his swamp home, bathing in mud, brushing his teeth with caterpillar goo, and using the outhouse
  • Shrek's love/hate relationship with the faithful, talkative, wisecracking, annoying tag-a-long sidekick Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy)
  • Shrek's rescue of the pouty, fiercely independent Princess Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) on a mission to save her from the Dragon for the nefarious, narcissistic midget Lord Farquaad (voice of John Lithgow) - who had banished fairy tale characters into exile, and tortured the Gingerbread Man on a cookie sheet
  • Donkey's romance with the female fire-breathing Dragon
  • the scene of a mechanical Information Booth featuring a spoof of Disney's sugary It's a Small World (It's a Perfect Place) with vaguely sarcastic wooden puppets, tiny welcome dolls
  • the unlikely romance between Shrek and Fiona, who initially rejected him for being an ogre
  • the revelation of the plot twist: Fiona was a maiden by day, and an ogre by night
  • the climax in which the forced marriage between Fiona and Farquaad was interrupted by the dragon, and Donkey's quip after Lord Farquaad was eaten by the dragon: "Celebrity marriages! They never last, do they?"
  • the sharing of their true love's first kiss when Shrek kissed Fiona to free her from her enchantment -- resulting in a glorious explosion of light, shattering the church's stained glass windows
  • in another twist, Fiona remained an ogre permanently -- love's true form
  • also the celebratory party finale in which Donkey and the other fairy tale characters sang The Monkees' "I'm a Believer"






Shrek 2 (2004)

  • the pre-opening credits sequence in which effeminate, narcissistic Prince Charming (voice of Rupert Everett) stormed the Dragon's castle tower believing that he was rescuing Princess Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) - but found the Big Bad Wolf (dressed in grandmother's clothing), reading Pork Illustrated
  • the popular blockbuster sequel with many filmic, fairy tale, nursery rhyme, and other cultural references in the opening credits sequence and sprinkled throughout the film - including Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) and Fiona's (voice of Cameron Diaz) honeymoon kiss in the beach surf, a parody of From Here to Eternity (others include nods to Flashdance, The Sound of Music, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Spider-Man, The Little Mermaid (1989), and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, etc.) - to the tune of the Counting Crows' Oscar-nominated song "Accidentally in Love"
  • also, the journey in an onion-carriage to the land of Far, Far Away (the Hollywood/Beverly Hills-inspired town with Farbucks and Old Knavery), with the extremely impatient Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy) continually asking: "Are we there yet?"
  • the stunned reaction of the crowd to ogres Shrek and Fiona -- punctuated by a distracted dove crashing into the castle wall
  • the Meet the Parents (2000)-inspired strained dinner party with Fiona's shocked royal parents King Harold (voice of John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (voice of Julie Andrews)
  • the plotting Fairy Godmother (voice of Jennifer Saunders) singing the "Fairy Godmother Song," a bouncy parody of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (1991), and the Fairy Godmother's scheme to kill Shrek and marry Fiona to her rich son Prince Charming
  • the memorable, swashbuckling, Spanish-accented, Zorro-like Puss In Boots assassin (voice of Antonio Banderas): ("Pray for mercy from Puss-in-Boots!")
  • also, the scene of a TV show called KNIGHTS - a parody of the TV show COPS - culminating with Puss In Boots caught possessing an illegal narcotic - catnip
  • Shrek's drinking of a Happily Ever After Potion that turned him into a hunky man (and transformed Donkey into a white stallion to his personal delight - "I'm trotting!") -- as well as Fiona changing back to her original human form
  • the Academy Awards red-carpet parody, complete with Joan Rivers (as Herself)
  • the giant Gingerbread man character of Mongo (named after Alex Karras' character from Blazing Saddles (1974) and inspired by Ghostbusters (1984))
  • Donkey and Puss In Boots' concluding celebratory rendition of "Livin' La Vida Loca" (with Puss' homage to the chair water-dousing from Flashdance (1983))






Greatest Funniest Movie Moments and Scenes
(alphabetical order, by film title)
Intro | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 | C2 | D1 | D2 | E | F | G | H-I | J-K-L
M1 | M2 | N-O | P1 | P2 | Q-R | S1 | S2 | T | U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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