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What comedy movies defined their decades?
"The Seven Year Itch" (1955), to me, is the quintessential '50s movie. Marilyn Monroe was an icon of that decade, the story reflected the attitudes of the day, and the sets were typical of the period. What movies do that for other decades?
Rules: They must be comedies. They must be set in the year they were made. They must feature a star who is commonly associated with the decade.
Great suggestions, everyone.
@peterknh I really appreciate that you touched on all those decades, and I agree with a lot of your ideas. Except I wouldn't discard Austin Powers. Most of the movie was set in the '90s and made a point of showing how life had changed since the '60s.
One way to approach this is to pretend you were going to explain a time period to someone who is too young to remember it, and you wanted to use a film to do that. You would look for movies that derived their comedy from the current trends and attitudes.
For instance, I might choose Mr. Mom for the '80s because, like Austin Powers, Michael Keaton's character was a fish out of water, so the comedy was focused on daily life. John Hughes was saying,"A man? Raising children? That's funny!" This could only work in the '80s because prior to that it would have been too rare to resonate with audiences, and later it would have been too commonplace to be worth highlighting.
3 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
1910's - The Tramp, Charlie Chaplin. Still iconic 100 years later.
1920's - Big Business, Laurel & Hardy. Preserved in the national film archive for it's cultural significance. Vaudeville ruled then. And this team has been the model for comedy duos ever since. (Jake & Elwood Blues, John Candy & Steve Martin, David Spade & Chris Farley, etc.)
1930's - Animal Crackers,The Marx Brothers. The first & most-often quoted of the Marx films that defined that comedy era. The glasses/big nose/fuzzy mustache remains in joke shops everywhere.
1940's - Adam's Rib or Woman of the Year, Tracey & Hepburn. They owned the romantic comedy era, and it marked the emergence of women in American society as they filled the roles of their men away fighting WWII. There's a million musicals during this era, as well as soldier-centric cinema (Betty Grable's "Four Jills In A Jeep" leaps to mind). But the Tracey & Hepburn films remain a favorite icon.
1950's - 7 Year Itch (agreed!), maybe Some Like It Hot as well.
1960's - I want to say Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), but I have to go with The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman). The first highlighted how the Cold War that ruled the decade, but the latter reflected the growing rebelliousness of youth and the changing attitudes towards sex that WAS the sixties. And everyone knows who Mrs. Robinson was.
1970's - Animal House, John Belushi, no arguments. It smashed the barriers of restraint & censorship - nothing was taboo after that. 40 years later it's referenced in Bing! commercials.
1980's - I like the John Hughes movies suggestion - and Airplane! kicked off this decade. But I'd suggest it was predominantly decade of SNL stars with Stripes (Bill Murray), The Blues Brothers (Belushi/Aykroyd), Beverly Hills Cop (Eddie Murphy), Caddyshack (Bill Murray & Chevy Chase), and Ghostbusters (Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd). Anyone with a pulse can quote from any one of those movies.
1990's - I think the early 90's were unremarkable comedy-wise. Then we got the best golf comedy since Caddyshack (Happy Gilmore). Austin Powers movies are regretfully disqualified by the contemporary setting requirement. And the American Pie series began here, but lacked the big name. So I'm going to have to go with There's Something About Mary.
2000's - My Big Fat Greek Wedding noted the continued emergence of independent film, but it doesn't have the identifiable star - nor can I say Will Ferrell/Elf defined the era. So I'll have to go with Superbad & Seth Rogan. In terms of defining the decade, nearly everyone knows who McLovin' is, and Rogan's career has taken off like a rocket ever since.
- smokemonsterjackLv 61 decade ago
I think Hughes did with his Brat Pack films. Ferris Beuhler's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club.
- 1 decade ago
I think fo rthe eighties it's between Vacation with Chevy Chase and Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy!
