What Is Your Favorite War or Military Comedy?
by dgranger | created - 28 Apr 2019 | updated - 29 Apr 2019 | PublicWhile we all know that war is really not funny, it hasn’t prevented filmmakers and writers from creating comedies or comedic dramas set in a war or in the military. In fact some of these films dramatize certain aspects of war generally not shown in war films. And also, in fact, if used right, the comedy actually intensifies the serious dramatic parts of the war film. Which one of these war comedies is your favorite? No tv shows! Movies only. If you want to talk about this list, report for duty here. (We will draft anybody). Note: This was inspired by ElMaruecan’s list Word War Two live poll.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Duck Soup (1933)
Not Rated | 69 min | Comedy, Musical
Rufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx
Votes: 62,716
(Suggested by Riverotter)
2. The Flying Deuces (1939)
Approved | 69 min | Comedy, Family, War
Ollie has fallen in love with the innkeeper's daughter in Paris. The only problem - she's very much in love with her husband. To forget her he joins the Foreign Legion with Stan. Bad idea.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 5,735
3. The Great Dictator (1940)
G | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 237,242 | Gross: $0.29M
4. Buck Privates (1941)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, War
Two sidewalk salesman enlist in the army in order to avoid jail, only to find that their drill instructor is the police officer who tried having them imprisoned.
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lee Bowman, Jane Frazee
Votes: 4,728 | Gross: $4.00M
5. In the Navy (1941)
Passed | 86 min | Comedy
Russ Raymond, America's number one crooner, disappears and joins the Navy under the name Tommy Halstead. Dorothy Roberts, a magazine journalist, is intent on finding out what happened to ... See full summary »
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell, Claire Dodd
Votes: 3,212
6. Get Cracking (1943)
96 min | Comedy, War
George Formby joins the home guard.
Director: Marcel Varnel | Stars: George Formby, Edward Rigby, Frank Pettingell, Ronald Shiner
Votes: 174
7. Bell-Bottom George (1944)
97 min | Comedy, War
Nazi spies are out to destroy a new submarine killer, the "Firefly", being developed by the British navy. A hapless waiter named George, after being rejected for military service three ... See full summary »
Director: Marcel Varnel | Stars: George Formby, Anne Firth, Reginald Purdell, Peter Murray-Hill
Votes: 231
8. I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
Approved | 105 min | Comedy, Romance, War
After marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan, Marion Marshall, Randy Stuart
Votes: 9,212
Suggested by Dan Dassow
9. At War with the Army (1950)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, War
Alvin Corwin is low man on the totem pole, and goes from one mishap to another at an army training camp in World War II.
Director: Hal Walker | Stars: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mike Kellin, Jimmie Dundee
Votes: 2,623
10. Up Front (1951)
Approved | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Based on the famed World War II cartoons, lowbrow G.I.s Willie and Joe, on the Italian front, are good soldiers in combat, but meet the antics of gung-ho Captain Johnson and other military ... See full summary »
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: David Wayne, Tom Ewell, Marina Berti, Jeffrey Lynn
Votes: 116
11. Stalag 17 (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, War
After two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
Votes: 58,786
12. Mister Roberts (1955)
Passed | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, War
In the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan | Stars: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon
Votes: 18,226 | Gross: $21.20M
13. South Pacific (1958)
Approved | 157 min | Musical, Romance, War
On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Walston
Votes: 9,798
14. No Time for Sergeants (1958)
Approved | 119 min | Comedy, War
Will Stockdale is a country bumpkin drafted into the Air Force and too dumb to realize he's driving everyone around him crazy, no one more than Sergeant King.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, Nick Adams, Murray Hamilton
Votes: 4,438
15. Operation Petticoat (1959)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill
Votes: 15,865 | Gross: $23.30M
16. The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, War
During WW2, Lt. Rip Crandall, who was a yachtsman before the war, takes command of the USS Echo, a sailing ship, for a secret mission in waters patrolled by Japanese warships.
Director: Richard Murphy | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, John Lund, Chips Rafferty
Votes: 2,531
17. Father Goose (1964)
Approved | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
During World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.
Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard, Jack Good
Votes: 12,310 | Gross: $12.50M
18. The Americanization of Emily (1964)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An American Naval Officer's talent for living the good life in wartime is challenged when he falls in love and is sent on a dangerous mission.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas, James Coburn
Votes: 5,658
19. McHale's Navy (1964)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, War
The crazy crew of McHale decide to use their PT boat as an off-track betting parlor and run in to lots of trouble when they owe money to some marines and a horse they bought causes a Japanese sub to run aground.
Director: Edward Montagne | Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Joe Flynn, Bob Hastings
Votes: 1,155
20. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, War
An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 517,745 | Gross: $0.28M
(Suggested by Riverotter)
21. McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, War
The crew of PT-73 are in trouble again when Ensign Parker poses as an Air Force pilot and sinks the Japanese fleet, without McHale.
Director: Edward Montagne | Stars: Joe Flynn, Tim Conway, Bob Hastings, Gary Vinson
Votes: 408
22. M*A*S*H (1970)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman
Votes: 76,892 | Gross: $81.60M
23. Catch-22 (1970)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
Votes: 26,489 | Gross: $24.91M
24. Kelly's Heroes (1970)
GP | 144 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
A group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines in WWII France to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure.
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor
Votes: 53,680 | Gross: $1.38M
25. Private Benjamin (1980)
R | 109 min | Comedy, War
A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.
Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber
Votes: 28,671 | Gross: $69.85M
26. Hot Shots! (1991)
PG-13 | 85 min | Action, Comedy
A parody of Top Gun (1986) in which a talented but unstable fighter pilot must overcome the ghosts of his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers.
Director: Jim Abrahams | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 116,553 | Gross: $69.47M
27. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
PG-13 | 86 min | Action, Comedy
"Rambo" parody in which Topper Harley leads a rescue team into Iraq to save Iraqi war prisoners and all of their previous rescue teams.
Director: Jim Abrahams | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges, Valeria Golino, Richard Crenna
Votes: 97,302 | Gross: $38.91M
28. Down Periscope (1996)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy
Lt. Cmdr. Tom Dodge is assigned as Captain to the USS Stingray, an old diesel driven submarine that has seen better days.
Director: David S. Ward | Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton
Votes: 26,675 | Gross: $25.79M
29. McHale's Navy (1997)
PG | 108 min | Action, Comedy
A retired Navy officer returns to active duty, along with a group of misfit sailors, to battle his former nemesis.
Director: Bryan Spicer | Stars: Tom Arnold, Dean Stockwell, Ernest Borgnine, Debra Messing
Votes: 7,098 | Gross: $4.53M
30. Tropic Thunder (2008)
R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Kahn
Votes: 447,773 | Gross: $110.52M
31. Dad's Army (2016)
Not Rated | 100 min | Comedy, War
The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Mark Tandy, Russell Balogh, Andrew Havill, Heinz
Votes: 8,519
Tell Your Friends