What Is Your Favorite War or Military Comedy?
While we all know that war is really not funny, it hasn’t prevented filmmakers and writers from creating comedies or comedic dramas set in a war or in the military. In fact some of these films dramatize certain aspects of war generally not shown in war films. And also, in fact, if used right, the comedy actually intensifies the serious dramatic parts of the war film. Which one of these war comedies is your favorite? No tv shows! Movies only.
If you want to talk about this list, report for duty here. (We will draft anybody).
Note: This was inspired by ElMaruecan’s list Word War Two live poll.
If you want to talk about this list, report for duty here. (We will draft anybody).
Note: This was inspired by ElMaruecan’s list Word War Two live poll.
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- 31 titles
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.(Suggested by Riverotter)
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyJean ParkerOllie has fallen in love with the innkeeper's daughter in Paris. The only problem - she's very much in love with her husband. To forget her he joins the Foreign Legion with Stan. Bad idea.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardJack OakieDictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloLee BowmanTwo sidewalk salesman enlist in the army in order to avoid jail, only to find that their drill instructor is the police officer who tried having them imprisoned.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloDick PowellRuss Raymond, America's number one crooner, disappears and joins the Navy under the name Tommy Halstead. Dorothy Roberts, a magazine journalist, is intent on finding out what happened to Russ and she tries everything she can to get a picture of him to prove he's Russ Raymond. Tommy's friends, Pomeroy Watson and Smokey Adams,help him while Pomeroy writes love letters to Patty Andrews. But because Smokey makes Pomeroy lie about himself in the letters, and when Patty comes to the Navy base, she's furious at Pomeroy. When Pomeroy, Smokey, Tommy and the Andrews sisters set sail for Hawaii, Pomeroy discovers there's a tomato in the potato locker, and she's been snapping shots of Tommy the whole trip. Whether Pomeroy's proving that 7 x 13 = 28 - three different ways, having Smokey help him play ship captain for Patty, or falling out of his hammock, it's an Abbott and Costello classic.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsGeorge FormbyEdward RigbyFrank PettingellGeorge Formby joins the home guard.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsGeorge FormbyAnne FirthReginald PurdellNazi spies are out to destroy a new submarine killer, the "Firefly", being developed by the British navy. A hapless waiter named George, after being rejected for military service three times, finally joins up when, during an air raid, he is mistaken for a real sailor. He soon unwittingly stumbles into the secret hideout of the Nazi spies trying to destroy the Firefly. Complications ensue.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantAnn SheridanMarion MarshallAfter 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.Suggested by Dan Dassow
- DirectorHal WalkerStarsDean MartinJerry LewisMike KellinAlvin Corwin is low man on the totem pole, and goes from one mishap to another at an army training camp in World War II.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsDavid WayneTom EwellMarina BertiBased on the famed World War II cartoons, lowbrow G.I.s Willie and Joe, on the Italian front, are good soldiers in combat, but meet the antics of gung-ho Captain Johnson and other military SNAFUs with a barrage of wry comments. On a 3-day pass in Naples, Joe's penchant for wine and women involves the pair with luscious Emi Rosso and her moonshiner father, whose tangled affairs land them in ever deeper trouble.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenDon TaylorOtto PremingerAfter two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
- DirectorsJohn FordMervyn LeRoyJoshua LoganStarsHenry FondaJames CagneyWilliam PowellIn the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsRossano BrazziMitzi GaynorJohn KerrOn a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsAndy GriffithMyron McCormickNick AdamsWill Stockdale is a country bumpkin from Georgia who is drafted into the United States Air Force and is too dumb to realize that he is driving everyone around him crazy, no one more so than Sergeant King.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsCary GrantTony CurtisJoan O'BrienDuring World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
- DirectorRichard MurphyStarsJack LemmonRicky NelsonJohn LundDuring WW2, Lt. Rip Crandall, who was a yachtsman before the war, takes command of the USS Echo, a sailing ship, for a secret mission in waters patrolled by Japanese warships.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsCary GrantLeslie CaronTrevor HowardDuring World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsJames GarnerJulie AndrewsMelvyn DouglasAn American Naval Officer's talent for living the good life in wartime is challenged when he falls in love and is sent on a dangerous mission.
- DirectorEdward MontagneStarsErnest BorgnineTim ConwayJoe FlynnThe crazy crew of McHale decide to use their PT boat as an off-track betting parlor and run in to lots of trouble when they owe money to some marines and a horse they bought causes a Japanese sub to run aground.
- 19641h 35mPG97Metascore8.3 (537K)DirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenA mentally unstable American general orders a hydrogen bomb attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to global nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.(Suggested by Riverotter)
- DirectorEdward MontagneStarsJoe FlynnTim ConwayBob HastingsThe crew of PT-73 are in trouble again when Ensign Parker poses as an Air Force pilot and sinks the Japanese fleet, without McHale.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsDonald SutherlandElliott GouldTom SkerrittThe staff of a Korean War field hospital uses humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsAlan ArkinMartin BalsamRichard BenjaminA military pilot makes a valiant effort to be certified insane during World War II so that he can be excused from flying missions. But there's a catch.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsClint EastwoodTelly SavalasDon RicklesA group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines in WWII France to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure.
- DirectorHoward ZieffStarsGoldie HawnEileen BrennanArmand AssanteA sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.