midcentury comedies to watch
by bethwindsorr | created - 3 months ago | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne
Votes: 24,886
2. The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts
Votes: 42,475 | Gross: $12.00M
3. The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Music
A gangster hires a down-and-out press agent to make his airheaded girlfriend a singing star.
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London
Votes: 3,918
4. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
To save his career, a writer for television advertising wants a famous actress to endorse a lipstick. In return, he has to pretend to be her new lover.
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Tony Randall, Jayne Mansfield, Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell
Votes: 4,084
5. That Touch of Mink (1962)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A rich businessman and a young woman are attracted to each other, but he only wants an affair while she wants to save herself for marriage.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Cary Grant, Doris Day, Gig Young, Audrey Meadows
Votes: 10,877 | Gross: $14.63M
6. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 192,179
7. Cry Terror! (1958)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Duped by former Army pal Paul Hoplin into building a time-bomb, New York shop owner Jim Molner and his family become hostages of Hoplin who uses bomb-threats to extort money from airlines.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens, Neville Brand
Votes: 1,703
8. The Best of Everything (1959)
Approved | 121 min | Drama, Romance
An expose of the lives and loves of Madison Avenue working girls and their higher ups.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer
Votes: 2,354
9. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,223 | Gross: $13.28M
10. The Thrill of It All (1963)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Romance
A homemaker's sudden rise to fame as a soap spokesperson leads to chaos in her home life.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Doris Day, James Garner, Arlene Francis, Edward Andrews
Votes: 5,904 | Gross: $11.78M
11. Valley of the Dolls (1967)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Film version of Jacqueline Susann's best-selling novel chronicling the rise and fall of three young women in show business.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, Paul Burke, Sharon Tate
Votes: 9,749 | Gross: $44.43M
12. Boys' Night Out (1962)
Unrated | 115 min | Comedy
Four men bored with their Thursday nights out from their wives (and mom) rent a love nest in New York City, equipped with a blonde. What they don't know is that she's writing a postgraduate thesis on sexual fantasies of urban men.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff
Votes: 2,430
13. Bachelor in Paradise (1961)
Not Rated | 109 min | Comedy, Romance
A bachelor author of sleazy books moves to a family-oriented subdivision where he becomes an unofficial relationship advisor to unhappy local housewives, to the dismay of their respective husbands who suspect him of sexual misconduct.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton
Votes: 1,890
14. A Summer Place (1959)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Romance
A self-made businessman rekindles a romance with a former flame while their two teenage children begin a romance of their own with drastic consequences for both couples.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 3,851
15. Strangers When We Meet (1960)
Approved | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A suburban architect loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and with his work, so he takes up with the neglected, married beauty who lives down the street.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush
Votes: 2,635
16. A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
Approved | 89 min | Comedy, Romance
A man gives his friend a series of lessons on how to cheat on his wife without being caught.
Director: Gene Kelly | Stars: Walter Matthau, Inger Stevens, Sue Ane Langdon, Jackie Russell
Votes: 2,919
17. Funny Face (1957)
Not Rated | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An impromptu fashion shoot at a book store brings about a new fashion model discovery in the shop clerk.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair
Votes: 33,013
18. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 522,133 | Gross: $36.76M
19. I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
Passed | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
After aging criminal Roy Earle is released from prison he decides to pull one last heist before retiring - by robbing a resort hotel.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lori Nelson, Lee Marvin
Votes: 1,620
20. The Parent Trap (1961)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 23,979
21. The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
Approved | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Eddie thinks it is time for his father to remarry. However, in his opinion his father's taste in women leaves much to be desired. He believes the girl next door would be a far better choice...
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Glenn Ford, Ron Howard, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens
Votes: 3,328
22. Take Her, She's Mine (1963)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy
A father's attempts to protect his college-age daughter from trouble backfire and he finds himself in the middle of scandal after scandal.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: James Stewart, Sandra Dee, Audrey Meadows, Robert Morley
Votes: 1,504 | Gross: $7.41M
23. The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Romance
Nicky and Tacy are going to be married. Nicky wants to save up money for a house, but Tacy dreams of starting off with their own home on wheels--a trailer.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 5,507
24. Forever, Darling (1956)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy
TV's great comedy duo, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, star in this madcap comedy about a research chemist whose dedicated pursuit of a new pesticide wreaks havoc on his marriage.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, James Mason, Louis Calhern
Votes: 1,253
25. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,472 | Gross: $5.72M
26. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 70,348
27. The Opposite Sex (1956)
Not Rated | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Former nightclub singer Kay Hilliard, married 10 years and mother of a young daughter, is informed that her husband Steven is having an affair with chorus girl Crystal Allen, so she goes to Reno for a divorce.
Director: David Miller | Stars: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 1,964 | Gross: $6.02M
28. Dark Passage (1947)
Passed | 106 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try to prove his innocence.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 21,977
29. 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy
Hilarity ensues when a casino manager spends a day at Disneyland with a cute but troublesome little girl.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Tony Curtis, Phil Silvers, Suzanne Pleshette, Larry Storch
Votes: 1,129
30. Ocean's Eleven (1960)
Approved | 127 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
Danny Ocean gathers a group of his World War II compatriots to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas heist. Together the eleven friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford
Votes: 25,212 | Gross: $12.32M
31. The Ugly Dachshund (1966)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Family
The Garrisons live with a Great Dane who thinks he's a dainty dachshund. His identity crisis results in an uproarious series of household crises that reduce the Garrisons' house to shambles.
Director: Norman Tokar | Stars: Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Charles Ruggles, Kelly Thordsen
Votes: 4,662 | Gross: $13.52M
32. Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
Approved | 130 min | Comedy
To help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his wholesome and moral appearance.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, Dorothy Provine, Mike Connors
Votes: 3,121
33. Bigger Than Life (1956)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
A seriously-ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a "miracle" drug that begins to affect his sanity.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon
Votes: 8,146
34. Palm Springs Weekend (1963)
Unrated | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
College students on spring break in Palm Springs pursue romantic entanglements. Jim falls for Bunny, Biff for Amanda. Gayle poses as a student while Eric courts her. Their coach flirts with a motel owner amid her son's antics.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin, Stefanie Powers
Votes: 1,193
35. What's New Pussycat (1965)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy
A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own.
Director: Clive Donner | Stars: Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine
Votes: 11,063 | Gross: $18.82M
36. Don't Make Waves (1967)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy
Carlo goes on a vacation to Southern California, where he quickly becomes immersed in the easygoing local culture and becomes entangled in two beach-side romances.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, Robert Webber, Joanna Barnes
Votes: 1,945
37. How to Steal a Million (1966)
Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
The daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father's forgeries and protect his secret.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 29,866
38. The Big Knife (1955)
Passed | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Hollywood actor Charles Castle is pressured by his studio boss into a criminal cover-up to protect his valuable career.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen
Votes: 4,252
39. Harper (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cool private investigator Lew Harper is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill
Votes: 10,900
40. Cash McCall (1960)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance
James Garner put in a winning performance as a similarly unreconstructed capitalist in the grip of merger mania.
Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: James Garner, Natalie Wood, Nina Foch, Dean Jagger
Votes: 1,618
41. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 19,678 | Gross: $14.93M
42. Satan in High Heels (1962)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
A carnival burlesque dancer robs her junkie ex-husband, goes to New York, gets a job at a high-class club where she becomes the mistress of the wealthy owner. She seduces his son and causes a murder.
Director: Jerald Intrator | Stars: Meg Myles, Grayson Hall, Mike Keene, Robert Yuro
Votes: 569
43. Two for the Road (1967)
Not Rated | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron, William Daniels
Votes: 14,711 | Gross: $7.63M
44. Day the World Ended (1955)
Approved | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
In a post-Apocalyptic world after an atomic war seven disparate people find themselves in a protected valley in the home of a survivalist and his beautiful daughter.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Mike Connors
Votes: 2,609
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