Screwball Comedy: 1931-1956 Definitive List of Early Films
by FilmCuckoo | created - 06 Mar 2017 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicRegarding the subject of debate which films are to be considered as "Screwball Comedy", the problem we have is much the same as with Film Noir, where the results are greatly depending on criteria used to define each film.
-It is worth pointing out in this context, that both Screwball Comedy and Film Noir share striking similarities, even up to a point they are actually overlapping each other. A good example of this is "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944) - which could easily be thought as a Screwball Comedy with Film Noir thematic and style.
Screwball Comedy by its most rigid terms is, to put it plainly, an exaggerated style of comedy, which makes it relatively easy to apply to any genre, such as Western.
And finally, here is a list of my own rather loose interpretation of the guide lines for the standard themes and plot devices commonly used in Screwball Comedy. However, in order for any comedy to "qualify" as a screwball comedy, at least five of the conditions mentioned below must be filled.
- General set-up is within upper class or upper middle-class.
- The film is utilizing any variation of the "opposites attract" or "Battle of Sexes" -theme, which often means verbal jousting between people from completely different social classes and/or backgrounds, or when seemingly totally incompatible couple first fight with words and actions of malice, then usually find attraction towards each other somewhere along the line. Often there's some kind of a hurdle or a problem seemingly preventing happy ending.
- Witty, intelligent, and often hilarious, well polished dialogs
- Gender-roles reversed/challenged
- Authority or age status reversed/challenged (such as a child is presumed, or takes a role as an adult or an adult is presumed as a child or is placed in similar situation)
- Drag (straight) skits
- Divorce/Remarrying scenario
- Multiple love interests competing (courting)
- Comic situations created or arise from "Force majeure" -lies/cheats
- Elements of screwy slapstick/pantomime/gag routines in situations, where in regular comedy they would be deemed inappropriate or unrealistic. This also includes plot devices which clearly would break established conventions in so called "normal" comedy.
- Mistaken/false identity providing comic content, followed by comedy drawn from the rising issues as a result.
- The events in the film occur around Christmas time.
- Alcohol, drugs or medicine congested has a significant role with comedy/farcical issues following as a result, and usually would have a profound effect regarding the main plot or the story-line.
- Plus in addition, as a loose rule of thumb: If a romantic comedy involves New York or Connecticut - or New England in General as a location, plus there are any three or more of the themes mentioned above included.
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1. After the Thin Man (1936)
Passed | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Private detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi
Votes: 12,109 | Gross: $4.34M
2. A Night to Remember (1942)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A mystery writer and his newlywed wife move into a Greenwich Village apartment and find themselves with a corpse and a half dozen red herrings.
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Loretta Young, Brian Aherne, Jeff Donnell, William Wright
Votes: 1,424
3. A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
Stephen is a shy, quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the opera where she had his seats, and the next day she shows up as his temporary secretary. Then Coffee... See full summary »
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: George Murphy, Lucille Ball, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Travers
Votes: 532
4. A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
Passed | 86 min | Comedy, Romance, Western
Facing forty, a NYC spinster on a bus tour of the West encounters a handsome rodeo cowboy who helps her forget her unsuitable city suitors.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Jean Arthur, John Wayne, Charles Winninger, Phil Silvers
Votes: 1,456
5. A Millionaire for Christy (1951)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
A secretary is sent on a business trip to inform a radio personality he's just inherited two million dollars. She falls for him instantly, but he's on his way to get married.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Eleanor Parker, Richard Carlson, Una Merkel
Votes: 540
6. A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
Approved | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with forclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly
Votes: 2,566
7. Adam's Rib (1949)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell
Votes: 22,904
8. Annabel Takes a Tour (1938)
Passed | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Movie star Annabel Allison has further comic adventures with her wacky publicity agent.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Jack Oakie, Lucille Ball, Ruth Donnelly, Bradley Page
Votes: 337
9. Another Thin Man (1939)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger
Votes: 8,151 | Gross: $3.32M
10. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson
Votes: 74,934
11. Bachelor Mother (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
An unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
Director: Garson Kanin | Stars: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson
Votes: 4,601
12. Ball of Fire (1941)
Approved | 111 min | Comedy, Romance
A group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers
Votes: 14,037
13. Bedtime Story (1941)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Romance
A playwright attempts to stop his wife from retiring so she can star in his next play.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Fredric March, Loretta Young, Robert Benchley, Allyn Joslyn
Votes: 707
14. Blithe Spirit (1945)
96 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford
Votes: 7,993
15. Blond Cheat (1938)
Approved | 62 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Socially prominent Michael Ashburn, is the chief assistant to Rufus Trent, wealthy London loan broker. He has allowed himself to become engaged to the Rufus' daughter, Roberta, the match ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Joan Fontaine, Derrick De Marney, Cecil Kellaway, Cecil Cunningham
Votes: 315
16. Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Romance
After learning her multi-millionaire fiancé has already been married seven times, the daughter of a penniless marquis decides to tame him.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Edward Everett Horton, David Niven
Votes: 4,539
17. Bombshell (1933)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone
Votes: 3,134
18. Boy Meets Girl (1938)
Passed | 86 min | Comedy, Romance
Two screenwriters in a rut come up with a story idea starring a bankable cowboy and the baby of the studio's waitress.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Marie Wilson, Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 802
19. Breakfast for Two (1937)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Romance
Texan debutante Valentine Ransome tries to reform a bankrupt playboy.
Director: Alfred Santell | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, Glenda Farrell, Eric Blore
Votes: 1,167
20. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy
While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett
Votes: 66,028
21. Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy
Three comrades graduate from Viriginia Military Institute. Bing has a chance to return to VMI as a football coach.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan, Eddie Albert
Votes: 342 | Gross: $0.12M
22. By Candlelight (1933)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Beautiful woman mistakes a prince's butler for the prince.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Elissa Landi, Paul Lukas, Nils Asther, Dorothy Revier
Votes: 300
23. Cafe Society (1939)
83 min | Comedy, Romance
A wealthy young lady marries a reporter on a bet, but things might not work out so well when he finds out the truth.
Director: Edward H. Griffith | Stars: Madeleine Carroll, Fred MacMurray, Shirley Ross, Jessie Ralph
Votes: 114
24. Call It a Day (1937)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
The first day of spring has a profound affect on the Hilton family. The father, an accountant, finds himself unable to work, and when he tries to work, he is wooed by an actress whose taxes... See full summary »
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Ian Hunter, Anita Louise, Alice Brady
Votes: 333
25. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 12,012
26. Christmas in July (1940)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. What will happen when the ruse is discovered?
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, Alexander Carr
Votes: 4,262
27. Cinderella Jones (1946)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Judy Jones, sings with a band and also works at an aircraft plant. She takes part in a "missing heirs" radio program and is discovered to be an heiress to a fortune. But the will provides ... See full summary »
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, Julie Bishop, William Prince
Votes: 297
28. Curtain Call (1940)
Approved | 63 min | Comedy, Romance
A naive playwright sells her awful play, "The End of Everything," to two Broadway producers who want to get even with an ungrateful star.
Director: Frank Woodruff | Stars: Barbara Read, Alan Mowbray, Helen Vinson, Donald MacBride
Votes: 236
29. Danger - Love at Work (1937)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Romance
A young lawyer is unable to get the Pembertons to sign a land sale contract until their daughter falls in love with him.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Ann Sothern, Jack Haley, Mary Boland, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 360
30. Day-Time Wife (1939)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Romance
When a young wife discovers her husband of two years is involved with his beautiful secretary, she applies for a job as secretary to a business rival.
Director: Gregory Ratoff | Stars: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Warren William, Binnie Barnes
Votes: 787
31. Design for Living (1933)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
A woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 7,744
32. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,533 | Gross: $0.35M
33. Double Wedding (1937)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Romance
Two sisters of differing temperaments, the younger's milquetoast fiancé, and a free-spirited artist in an auto trailer are all experiencing romantic complications.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Florence Rice, John Beal
Votes: 2,523
34. Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)
Passed | 64 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
After losing their fortune in the Great Depression, a wealthy family embarks on a yacht voyage to the South Seas, leading to screwball antics. A musical comedy.
Director: Paul Sloane | Stars: Mary Boland, Polly Moran, Ned Sparks, Sidney Fox
Votes: 284
35. Easy Living (1937)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
When a wealthy banker throws his wife's expensive fur coat off a roof and it lands on the head of a stenographer, everyone assumes she is his mistress and has access to his millions.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Ray Milland, Luis Alberni
Votes: 4,163
36. Eternally Yours (1939)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Anita Halstead, swept off her feet by magician Arturo, finds the results less than magical.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Loretta Young, David Niven, Hugh Herbert, Billie Burke
Votes: 879 | Gross: $0.18M
37. Ever Since Eve (1937)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Romance
Lecherous bosses make it difficult for an attractive secretary to keep jobs, so she decides to appear considerably more homely in hopes of holding onto work.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Frank McHugh, Patsy Kelly
Votes: 1,577
38. Family Honeymoon (1948)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
A bachelor marries a widow and her three kids join the honeymoon.
Director: Claude Binyon | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Rita Johnson, William H. Daniels
Votes: 271
39. Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)
Approved | 83 min | Comedy, Romance
Feeling unwanted by his wife and children, a wealthy industrialist hires an unemployed young woman to pose as his mistress.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, James Ellison
Votes: 1,771
40. First Love (1939)
Approved | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
An orphaned boarding school graduate secretly attends a prestigious ball, where she falls for the boyfriend of her snobbish cousin.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette, Helen Parrish
Votes: 762
41. Fools for Scandal (1938)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After meeting her in Paris, a penniless marquis relentlessly pursues a famous actress.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Carole Lombard, Fernand Gravey, Ralph Bellamy, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 601
42. Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A respected investment advisor has a double life as a mystery writer and becomes involved in the real murder of a shady client.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Hale
Votes: 1,423
43. Forsaking All Others (1934)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Dill leaves Mary standing at the altar in order to marry his old flame, Connie, instead. Knowing that Mary still has feelings for Dill, Jeff keeps quiet about his own love for her.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Charles Butterworth
Votes: 1,570
44. Four's a Crowd (1938)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Robert will do anything to get the big account that has eluded him. His public relations business makes public angels of rich scoundrels. Jean needs someone to save the paper and she wants Robert.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles
Votes: 1,317
45. Good Girls Go to Paris (1939)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Midwesterner waitress, scheming to gold-dig her way to Paris, gets mixed up with a wealthy New York family.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Walter Connolly, Alan Curtis
Votes: 593
46. Goodbye Again (1933)
Unrated | 66 min | Comedy, Romance
Flirtatious mix-ups abound when a celebrated novelist tangles with an old flame and her befuddled husband in Cleveland. Will his savvy secretary save his neck if she is secretly in love with him also?
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Genevieve Tobin, Hugh Herbert
Votes: 650
47. Guest Wife (1945)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
A newspaper correspondent who has convinced his publisher he is married implores his friend's wife to pose as his bride.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Dick Foran, Charles Dingle
Votes: 498
48. Hands Across the Table (1935)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Romance
A loafer and a manicurist, both planning to marry money, meet and form an uneasy alliance.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Astrid Allwyn
Votes: 2,147
49. Having Wonderful Time (1938)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy, Romance
Bored New York office girl Teddy Shaw goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.
Director: Alfred Santell | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Peggy Conklin, Lucille Ball
Votes: 998
50. He Married His Wife (1940)
Approved | 83 min | Comedy
Race horse owner pays so much attention to business he winds up divorced from his wife. His alimony payments are so steep he plots with his lawyer to get her married off.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Joel McCrea, Nancy Kelly, Roland Young, Mary Boland
Votes: 270 | Gross: $0.05M
51. He Stayed for Breakfast (1940)
Approved | 89 min | Comedy
In Paris, the estranged wife of a wealthy banker hides a fiery communist fugitive in her apartment.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Loretta Young, Melvyn Douglas, Alan Marshal, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 213
52. Heartbeat (1946)
Approved | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In Paris, a young woman runs away from a reform school, joins a pickpocket academy, and finds herself falling for the handsome diplomat she's been blackmailed into stealing from.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Adolphe Menjou, Melville Cooper
Votes: 823
53. Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Approved | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Musical
Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert
Votes: 3,480
54. Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
Approved | 72 min | Comedy, Musical
When the bride's mother is supposedly swindled out of her money by a spurned suitor, the groom's father orchestrates a scheme of his own to set things right. He is aided by a cabaret singer, while placating a jealous wife.
Directors: Andrew L. Stone, Friz Freleng | Stars: Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Pola Negri, Dennis O'Keefe
Votes: 691
55. Hired Wife (1940)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Romance
CEO Stephen marries his secretary Kendal in name only, an arrangement made to protect his finances from an attempt at a hostile business takeover. Once the threat is neutralized, he asks Kendal for a divorce but she refuses.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Virginia Bruce, Robert Benchley
Votes: 459
56. His Girl Friday (1940)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 63,103 | Gross: $0.30M
57. Holiday (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A young man in love with a girl from a rich family finds his unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long-suffering brother.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres
Votes: 18,225
58. Honeymoon for Three (1941)
Approved | 75 min | Comedy, Romance
Noted writer Kenneth Bixby, in love with his witty secretary Anne Rogers, nevertheless agrees to a tete-a-tete with a former college fling, loopy Danish girl Julie who is married to ... See full summary »
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Ann Sheridan, George Brent, Charles Ruggles, Osa Massen
Votes: 589
59. Honeymoon in Bali (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A Manhattan career woman tries to resist a man who wants her to be his wife.
Director: Edward H. Griffith | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Allan Jones, Akim Tamiroff
Votes: 451
60. If You Could Only Cook (1935)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Romance
An executive lets an attractive cook talk him into taking a job as butler.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Herbert Marshall, Jean Arthur, Leo Carrillo, Lionel Stander
Votes: 1,422
61. I Live My Life (1935)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Kay, a bored society girl from New York, takes a trip to Greece, where she meets Terry, an archaeologist. She flirts with him and he falls for her. She heads back to New York and he follows... See full summary »
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, Frank Morgan, Aline MacMahon
Votes: 769
62. I Love You Again (1940)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe
Votes: 3,799
63. I Married a Witch (1942)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A beautiful 17th-century witch returns to life to plague politician Wallace Wooley, descendant of her persecutor.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward
Votes: 9,509 | Gross: $0.31M
64. I Met Him in Paris (1937)
Passed | 86 min | Comedy, Romance
Kay Denham, romanced in Paris by friends Gene and George, can't figure out why George disapproves of Gene.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young, Lee Bowman
Votes: 483
65. 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: 9,211
66. Idiot's Delight (1939)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn
Votes: 1,711
67. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)
Passed | 116 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore
Votes: 6,299
68. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,148 | Gross: $4.36M
69. It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
When a tycoon (Ernest Truex) is accused of murder, the private eye (James Stewart) tracking him finds himself roped in as an accessory and attempts to evade police, kidnapping a poetess (Claudette Colbert) along the way.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 3,414
70. It's All Yours (1937)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Jimmy Barnes arrives from Europe to be educated by his multi-millionaire uncle, Edward J. Barnes and in five years the extravagant escapes of Jimmy, now a lawyer, are the talk of San ... See full summary »
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Madeleine Carroll, Francis Lederer, Mischa Auer, Grace Bradley
Votes: 103
71. It's in the Bag! (1945)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy
The ringmaster of a flea circus inherits a fortune...if he can find which chair it's hidden in.
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Don Ameche, William Bendix
Votes: 631
72. It's Love I'm After (1937)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy
An actor of the stage finds himself pursued by a lovestruck fan while trying to patch up a tempestuous relationship with his actress lover.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles
Votes: 2,653
73. Jimmy the Gent (1934)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Allen Jenkins, Alan Dinehart
Votes: 2,033
74. John Loves Mary (1949)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy
A GI marries the English girlfriend of his best friend to get her into the U.S. for his friend who lost track of her in the war only to find on returning home that he is stuck with the girl because the friend has married someone else.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Ronald Reagan, Jack Carson, Wayne Morris, Edward Arnold
Votes: 500
75. Joy of Living (1938)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Broadway star Margaret Garrett has spent her whole life working to support her sponging relatives. When she meets carefree Dan Webster, she learns how to have fun for the first time.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Alice Brady, Guy Kibbee
Votes: 918
76. Julia Misbehaves (1948)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A London chorus girl tries to rekindle her relationships with her daughter, whom she gave up as an infant, and her estranged husband, when the former becomes engaged.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor
Votes: 1,191
77. June Bride (1948)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy
A magazine's staff, including bickering ex-lovers Linda and Carey, cover an Indiana wedding, which goes slightly wrong...
Director: Bretaigne Windust | Stars: Bette Davis, Robert Montgomery, Fay Bainter, Betty Lynn
Votes: 2,089
78. Just Around the Corner (1938)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Shirley helps her idealistic architect father get his dream of a slum-clearance project; the little miss dances with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Based on Paul Gerard Smith's book "Lucky Penny."
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Shirley Temple, Joan Davis, Charles Farrell, Amanda Duff
Votes: 687
79. Kid Glove Killer (1942)
Passed | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Crime lab expert Gordon McKay uses the latest forensic techniques to solve murders in a city plagued by political corruption and mob rackets.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, Lee Bowman, Samuel S. Hinds
Votes: 1,158
80. Lady in a Jam (1942)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
A psychiatrist's patient, a nutty heiress, travels west to find gold in her grandfather's abandoned mine. The psychiatrist, unable to talk her out of it, decides to follow her out there.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Irene Dunne, Patric Knowles, Ralph Bellamy, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 320
81. Larceny, Inc (1942)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy
Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford, Jack Carson
Votes: 3,141
82. Libeled Lady (1936)
Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
When a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
Votes: 8,902
83. Live, Love and Learn (1937)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Bob is a struggling artist who paints for his own amusement. Julie is a rich society girl. When they meet, it is cute and they are soon married. Living in a small apartment with the ... See full summary »
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Robert Benchley, Helen Vinson
Votes: 457
84. Lost Honeymoon (1947)
Passed | 71 min | Comedy
After an Englishwoman dies, leaving behind two children, her devoted friend decides to take the children to find the woman's husband, an American serviceman who had returned to the USA. But... See full summary »
Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Franchot Tone, Ann Richards, Tom Conway, Frances Rafferty
Votes: 207
85. Love Before Breakfast (1936)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Romance
A rich businessman stalks another man's fiancée.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, Cesar Romero, Janet Beecher
Votes: 897
86. Love Crazy (1941)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick, Jack Carson
Votes: 3,431
87. Love Is News (1937)
Approved | 77 min | Comedy, Romance
A financier's daughter spars with a newspaper reporter: he by writing about her, she by announcing their engagement.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, Slim Summerville
Votes: 933
88. Love on the Run (1936)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Reginald Owen
Votes: 1,350 | Gross: $1.14M
89. Lucky Partners (1940)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two strangers share a sweepstakes ticket and then embark on an "imaginary" honeymoon with their "winnings".
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson, Spring Byington
Votes: 1,100
90. Make a Million (1935)
68 min | Comedy
A college economics professor's "radical" ideas about capitalism get him fired. When he decides to put those ideas into practice, he finds that they actually do generate him huge amounts of... See full summary »
Director: Lewis D. Collins | Stars: Charles Starrett, Pauline Brooks, George E. Stone, James Burke
Votes: 103
91. Married Before Breakfast (1937)
Passed | 71 min | Comedy
After a leading razor company pays inventor Tom Wakefield a quarter of a million dollars not to publicize a hair-removing shaving cream that makes razors obsolete, he makes plans to take ... See full summary »
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Robert Young, Florence Rice, June Clayworth, Barnett Parker
Votes: 251
92. Marry the Girl (1937)
Approved | 68 min | Comedy, Romance
The offices of a great newspaper syndicate are presided over by John B. Radway, obviously a nut, and his sister Ollie Radway, obviously the brains in the family. David "Party" Partridge, ... See full summary »
Director: William C. McGann | Stars: Mary Boland, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Carol Hughes
Votes: 162
93. Meet the Missus (1937)
60 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Mrs. Emma Foster of Fosterboro, Ohio loves to enter contests - which she never wins - the time she spends on which is much to the chagrin of her exasperated husband, barber Otis Foster. It ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Anne Shirley, Alan Bruce
Votes: 164
94. Merrily We Live (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
Dizzy society matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest find is a handsome "tramp" who shows up at her doorstep and soon ends up in a ... See full summary »
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Alan Mowbray, Billie Burke
Votes: 2,260
95. Midnight (1939)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A chorus girl stranded in Paris is set up by a millionaire to break up his wife's affair with another man, while being romantically pursued by a cab driver.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Francis Lederer
Votes: 5,601
96. Mister Cinderella (1936)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Romance
Automotive mogul Peter Randolph needs backers for his diesel engine. Eccentric millionaire Aloysius P. Merriweather is invited to dinner, but he sends barber Joe Jenkins in his place.
Director: Edward Sedgwick | Stars: Jack Haley, Betty Furness, Arthur Treacher, Raymond Walburn
Votes: 85
97. Monkey Business (1952)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A chemist finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn
Votes: 15,558
98. More Than a Secretary (1936)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Romance
When the co-owner of a secretarial school visits a magazine editor to find out why he runs through secretaries, she's mistaken for an applicant. Drawn to him, she accepts the position.
Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Jean Arthur, George Brent, Lionel Stander, Ruth Donnelly
Votes: 651
99. Mr. and Mrs. North (1942)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Jerry North (William Post Jr.) and his wife, Pam (Gracie Allen) return home after a night away in a holiday spirit. That soon vanishes when the body of a man falls out of the liquor closet.... See full summary »
Director: Robert B. Sinclair | Stars: Gracie Allen, William Post Jr., Paul Kelly, Rose Hobart
Votes: 335
100. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A couple who have been married for three years are shocked to learn that their marriage is not legally valid.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson
Votes: 11,304
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