Ren you'll never believe it, but it was on last night here in France! I'd only seen "les vacances de Mr. Hulot" before this. I see what you mean!
I'm wondering if the writers of Colombo didn't get the idea for the character and the overcoat from the Tati character!

I would have to say Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy.

I'd put this at the top of my list as well. Not only funny but, in the end, moving too.

For pure laughs I still get alot of pleasure from good old 'Laurel and Hardy' films. They are even a bit before my time (so that is old!) but I always stop what I'm doing to watch them should they come on TV.

It's a timeless sort of comedy. This is proved by the fact that our children and grandchildren laugh at them too.

One of the funniest movies has to be Just Visiting, about a French nobleman and a peasant from 12th century transported to modern day Chicago. I also think Shrek is very funny.

The Full Monty, I can watch it and watch it and still crack up. Then we have Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill - both hilarious.

I'm telling you guys, I've asked my friends and family, and they stll all say 'Dumb and Dumber', with the first 'Austin Powers' a distant second. Might say something about myself, my friends, and family... And third would probably be 'Planes Trains and Automobiles'.

Bear in mind moose bites can be pretty nasty....

from the mis-matched sub-titles in the opening credits of the Greatest Film Comedy of all time

Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I love blazing saddles, "Candygram for Mongo", as well as the Pink Panther, and the Marx brothers, but If I had to pick One its gotta be Python.

Monty Python movies, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (a really stupid funny movie) and Robin Hood: Men in tights...Shrek and Chicken RUn also really cool!

My favorite comedies are:

Caddy Shack
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstien
All of the Monty Python Movies
Lost and found
Dumb and Dumber
History of the World Part 1
Mystery Science theater 3000
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Men In Black
Men in Black 2
and much, much more

I used to list "Annie Hall" as my favorite comedy but I see that movie more as a sad romantic comedy anymore.

I always laugh at the Cheech & Chong movies, dumb as they are. It's dated humor but Cheech & Chong remind me of some
guys who I used to live near. So it's a nostalgic laugh for me.

"Animal House" is still a good comedy for me as well as most of the Monty Python films.

If I had to pick one, I think I might say Arsenic and Old Lace. But it is impossible to pick one. Here are my other tops:

When Harry Met Sally
Midnight Run
Monty Python's Holy Grail
Spinal Tap
A Mighty Wind
Shrek
Better Off Dead
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
My Big, Fat Greek Wedding
Young Frankenstein
Dr. Stangelove
Sabrina (the original)
Charade

These are movies I laughed my way through, and could watch again and still laugh.

I can't speak for the BEST comedy ever, but one of my favorites is Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen and Sigurney (sp?) Weaver. As a Star Trek TNG fan, I thought it was absolutely hilarious- "I'm just a glorified extra Fred- I'm a dead man anyway."

It's hard to explain what makes people laugh. My favorites:

My Man Godfrey
It's a Gift
Arsenic and Old Lace
Adam's Rib
Some Like It Hot
Sullivan's Travels
Young Frankenstein
Airplane!

and three recent entries...
Swingers
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

and ten more I'll think of later.

My favourite funny movies have to be "Three To Tango" and "The Whole Nine Yards" which both feature matthew Perry, one of the funniest actors I know of.

Just watched "Raising Arizona" again. Hilarious. And what's the name of the Danny Kaye movie - you know - "the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle"?

"Chicken Run", but only if you have already seen "The Great Escape".
Anything with Jacques Tati, the car show one was just brilliant.
Will think of some more.

The Court Jester. Quote from imdb.com.

Hawkins: I've got it! I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right?
Griselda: Right. But there's been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace!
Hawkins: They *broke* the chalice from the palace?
Griselda: And replaced it with a flagon.
Hawkins: A flagon...?
Griselda: With the figure of a dragon.
Hawkins: Flagon with a dragon.
Griselda: Right.
Hawkins: But did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?
Griselda: No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!
Hawkins: The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.
Griselda: Just remember that.

That's the one, all right! Get it? Got it! Good.

We used to say the "get it, got it, good" line when I was a kid. If I remember right, Danny Kaye also said the line "no way, no how, no can do" in TCJ, which I also used to say a lot. You know how kids are.

There's just so much neat trivia about movies available online. The following is also from imdb.com:

"Danny Kaye's daughter, Dena, said for the rest of his life, when people recognized Danny in a restaurant, they would walk up and spout the entire "brew that is true" speech."

Comedies don't hold up as well as dramas for me. They rely more on surprise, I suppose, and once I'm familiar with the script I'm not going to laugh.

[digressive paragraph theorizing on why television comedies do well in syndacation omitted]

Anyway, my list of top comedies might go something like:

The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, The Big Lebowski, Dr. Strangelove, Take the Money and Run, M*A*S*H, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Animal House, A Christmas Story, Trading Places, Airplane!, Annie Hall, Zelig, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python and the Meaning of Life, Clerks, Heathers, Beat the Devil, The Lady Eve, Adam's Rib, His Girl Friday, There's Something About Mary, Harold and Maude, Diner, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco, Fargo, Pulp Fiction.

Pity I haven't seen more Chaplin movies.

hi all
yes, i know all these movies were being discussed in 2002 and the year is now 2007 but even so this is one great question and i would like to have my chance to report my personal laugh memory and that would be (drumroll)
abbott and costello doing their who's on first routine. it was funny then and it is still funny now and i also like all the ripoffs that have been created since.
good memory.
perhaps this type question best x ever can be expanded to include (my choice would be:
what is the greatest piece of music ever (could even be something not classical music --big hearted of me, yes? or rather, am aware that all too few folks here say little about classical music--which has always been a major focus in MY life.
actually i am not firm on my choice which right now is bach b minor mass. sometimes it might be mahler kindentotenleider (to include the whole history surrounding that work).

For my money.....

Animal House
The Flying High movies
The Odd Angry Shot (Aussie movie)
Wacko
Evil Roy Slade

to name but a few of my faves....

I love the comedies that spoof real movies. My favorite are the one with Leslie Nielsen including:

The Scary Movies
The Naked Gun Movies
Spy Hard
Airplane
Repossessed
Wrongfully Accused

can watch any movie with him in it.

They are all great movies. Here are a few of mine that come immediately to mind; my all time favourite is Ruthless People with Bette Midler, (I enjoy anything she does) Overboard with Goldie Hawn, the Odd Couple movies,I especially enjoy Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau together, they are hilarious and there is one I can't remember the
name, Patrick Swazye and two other guys are dressed in drag.

LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN & LOVE MUCH

Oh yes autumn, most of those I enjoyed too. There are so many realy good ones it is hard to remember them all/

Yes, Danny Kaye and "The Court Jester" are right up there on my list of top ten all-time funny films.

Also, "The Party" with Peter Sellers in his unforgettable role.

Another one that had me rolling in the aisle was " Meet The Parents" with Ben Stiller who was brilliant in it.

"Laughter In Paradise" is an old British movie that I was fortunate to have come across on TV a while back. One of the main characters was played by Alistair Sim - yes, the classic "Ebenezer Scrooge" himself. He was great in it, and the whole story line was incredibly funny.