AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs

Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 funniest movies in American cinema. A wide variety of comedies, totalling 500 films, were nominated for the distinction; genres included slapstick comedy, action comedy, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, satire, black comedy, musical comedy, comedy of manners, and comedy of errors. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 13, 2000.[1][2]

AFI 100 Years... series

1998	100 Movies
1999	100 Stars
2000	100 Laughs
2001	100 Thrills
2002	100 Passions
2003	100 Heroes & Villains
2004	100 Songs
2005	100 Movie Quotes
2005	25 Scores
2006	100 Cheers
2006	25 Musicals
2007	100 Movies (Updated)
2008	AFI's 10 Top 10

Cary Grant has the most appearances on the list, with eight films.

Criteria

According to the AFI, the criteria for nomination are:[3]

• Feature-Length Fiction Film: The film must be in narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length;
• American Film: The film must be in the English language with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States;
• Funny: Regardless of genre, the total comedic impact of a film’s elements that creates an experience greater than the sum of the smiles;
• Legacy: Laughs that echo across time, enriching America’s film heritage and inspiring artists and audiences today.

The list

#	Movie	Director	Year
1	Some Like It Hot	Billy Wilder	1959
2	Tootsie	Sydney Pollack	1982
3	Dr. Strangelove	Stanley Kubrick	1964
4	Annie Hall	Woody Allen	1977
5	Duck Soup	Leo McCarey	1933
6	Blazing Saddles	Mel Brooks	1974
7	M*A*S*H	Robert Altman	1970
8	It Happened One Night	Frank Capra	1934
9	The Graduate	Mike Nichols	1967
10	Airplane!	Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker	1980
11	The Producers	Mel Brooks	1967
12	A Night at the Opera	Sam Wood	1935
13	Young Frankenstein	Mel Brooks	1974
14	Bringing Up Baby	Howard Hawks	1938
15	The Philadelphia Story	George Cukor	1940
16	Singin' in the Rain	Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen	1952
17	The Odd Couple	Gene Saks	1968
18	The General	Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton	1927
19	His Girl Friday	Howard Hawks	1940
20	The Apartment	Billy Wilder	1960
21	A Fish Called Wanda	Charles Crichton	1988
22	Adam's Rib	George Cukor	1949
23	When Harry Met Sally...	Rob Reiner	1989
24	Born Yesterday	George Cukor	1950
25	The Gold Rush	Charlie Chaplin	1925
26	Being There	Hal Ashby	1979
27	There's Something About Mary	Peter Farrelly, Robert Farrelly	1998
28	Ghostbusters	Ivan Reitman	1984
29	This Is Spinal Tap	Rob Reiner	1984
30	Arsenic and Old Lace	Frank Capra	1944
31	Raising Arizona	Joel Coen	1987
32	The Thin Man	W. S. Van Dyke	1934
33	Modern Times	Charlie Chaplin	1936
34	Groundhog Day	Harold Ramis	1993
35	Harvey	Henry Koster	1950
36	Animal House	John Landis	1978
37	The Great Dictator	Charlie Chaplin	1940
38	City Lights	Charlie Chaplin	1931
39	Sullivan's Travels	Preston Sturges	1941
40	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Stanley Kramer	1963
41	Moonstruck	Norman Jewison	1987
42	Big	Penny Marshall	1988
43	American Graffiti	George Lucas	1973
44	My Man Godfrey	Gregory La Cava	1936
45	Harold and Maude	Hal Ashby	1971
46	Manhattan	Woody Allen	1979
47	Shampoo	Hal Ashby	1975
48	A Shot in the Dark	Blake Edwards	1964
49	To Be or Not to Be	Ernst Lubitsch	1942
50	Cat Ballou	Elliot Silverstein	1965
51	The Seven Year Itch	Billy Wilder	1955
52	Ninotchka	Ernst Lubitsch	1939
53	Arthur	Steve Gordon	1981
54	The Miracle of Morgan's Creek	Preston Sturges	1944
55	The Lady Eve	Preston Sturges	1941
56	Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein	Charles Barton	1948
57	Diner	Barry Levinson	1982
58	It's a Gift	Norman Z. McLeod	1934
59	A Day at the Races	Sam Wood	1937
60	Topper	Norman Z. McLeod	1937
61	What's Up, Doc?	Peter Bogdanovich	1972
62	Sherlock Jr.	Buster Keaton	1924
63	Beverly Hills Cop	Martin Brest	1984
64	Broadcast News	James L. Brooks	1987
65	Horse Feathers	Norman Z. McLeod	1932
66	Take the Money and Run	Woody Allen	1969
67	Mrs. Doubtfire	Chris Columbus	1993
68	The Awful Truth	Leo McCarey	1937
69	Bananas	Woody Allen	1971
70	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Frank Capra	1936
71	Caddyshack	Harold Ramis	1980
72	Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House	H. C. Potter	1948
73	Monkey Business	Norman Z. McLeod	1931
74	9 to 5	Colin Higgins	1980
75	She Done Him Wrong	Lowell Sherman	1933
76	Victor/Victoria	Blake Edwards	1982
77	The Palm Beach Story	Preston Sturges	1942
78	Road to Morocco	David Butler	1942
79	The Freshman	Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor	1925
80	Sleeper	Woody Allen	1973
81	The Navigator	Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp	1924
82	Private Benjamin	Howard Zieff	1980
83	Father of the Bride	Vincente Minnelli	1950
84	Lost in America	Albert Brooks	1985
85	Dinner at Eight	George Cukor	1933
86	City Slickers	Ron Underwood	1991
87	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Amy Heckerling	1982
88	Beetlejuice	Tim Burton	1988
89	The Jerk	Carl Reiner	1979
90	Woman of the Year	George Stevens	1942
91	The Heartbreak Kid	Elaine May	1972
92	Ball of Fire	Howard Hawks	1941
93	Fargo	Joel Coen	1996
94	Auntie Mame	Morton DaCosta	1958
95	Silver Streak	Arthur Hiller	1976
96	Sons of the Desert	William A. Seiter	1933
97	Bull Durham	Ron Shelton	1988
98	The Court Jester	Melvin Frank, Norman Panama	1956
99	The Nutty Professor	Jerry Lewis	1963
100	Good Morning, Vietnam	Barry Levinson	1987

References

1. "List of 500 Movies Nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies" (PDF). American Film Institute. September 26, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
2. "List of America's 100 Funniest Movies" (PDF). American Film Institute. September 26, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 16, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
3. "AFI's 100 YEARS…100 LAUGHS". American Film Institute. p. Learn More. Retrieved December 28, 2019.