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The 25 best movie comedies of all time

Humor's subjective, to be sure – but there are some movies that everyone can agree are sterling examples of what can get people rolling in the aisles. From the comedy stylings of the Marx brothers to Peter Sellers playing multiple parts, here are the 25 movies the American Film Institute declared to be the most hilarious of all time.

1. 'Young Frankenstein'

  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Director Mel Brooks' 1974 movie stars Gene Wilder as the grandson of Victor Frankenstein (he pronounces it Frahnkensteen) who inherits the old family home in Transylvania and travels there, only to become fascinated with his relative's experiments and whether his theories of reanimation could be made possible. Marty Feldman plays Igor and Teri Garr plays the young laboratory assistant.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Brooks said it was Wilder who pitched the idea of a new "Frankenstein" film to him. His pitch, said Brooks, was that "the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein wanted nothing to do with the family whatsoever. He was ashamed of those wackos. I said, 'That's funny.'"

Their only disagreement came when Wilder wanted the monster (Peter Boyle) to sing and dance to "Putting on the Ritz." Brooks said he thought it was "just going to be silly." "Shame on me... we shot it and I said, 'This is the best thing in the movie,'" he said.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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