Most joke-dense movies of the 70s?
August 18, 2013 9:22 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for movies from the 70s that have the highest joke density. They don't have to be good jokes, they don't have to be a particular type of joke and I'm not even looking for good movies - I'm looking for quantity over quality, a dizzying number of joke attempts per hour. What should I watch?
Difficulty: please assume I've seen every Mel Brooks and Cheech & Chong film as well as Kentucky Fried Movie, and Airplane! is disqualified because it's from 1980. If you mention any of these films, I will hit the gong and pull you off the stage with a giant hook.
Difficulty: please assume I've seen every Mel Brooks and Cheech & Chong film as well as Kentucky Fried Movie, and Airplane! is disqualified because it's from 1980. If you mention any of these films, I will hit the gong and pull you off the stage with a giant hook.
Monty Python movies like the Life of Brian and Monty Python and the Holy Grail are pretty joke dense.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:29 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by MuffinMan at 9:29 AM on August 18, 2013
Mod note: No, you can't have my hook. Or my gong.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:35 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:35 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Animal House?
posted by clavicle at 9:35 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by clavicle at 9:35 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Muppet Movie.
posted by mefireader at 9:43 AM on August 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by mefireader at 9:43 AM on August 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Best answer: If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind!!!
and the sequel:
Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?
Remember, you asked for it.
posted by 445supermag at 9:47 AM on August 18, 2013
and the sequel:
Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?
Remember, you asked for it.
posted by 445supermag at 9:47 AM on August 18, 2013
Richard Pryor made a few of these types of movies in the 70's -- Uptown Saturday Night, Which Way Is Up?
posted by Mittenz at 10:02 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by Mittenz at 10:02 AM on August 18, 2013
Helpful link for those who don't know what movies Mel Brooks (disqualified in the original question) directed in the 70s.
posted by LionIndex at 10:04 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by LionIndex at 10:04 AM on August 18, 2013
Yes, stoneandstar is right -- early Woody Allen. Sleeper, Love & Death, and Bananas are the key ones you need to see.
posted by Unified Theory at 10:05 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Unified Theory at 10:05 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Annie Hall.
posted by John Cohen at 10:18 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by John Cohen at 10:18 AM on August 18, 2013
There were also three Pink Panther movies made in the 70s.
posted by googly at 10:19 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by googly at 10:19 AM on August 18, 2013
Well, Airplane (1980) was filmed in 1979 and it's about the 70s, if that makes sense.
posted by Nomyte at 10:22 AM on August 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Nomyte at 10:22 AM on August 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
The Groove Tube from the early 70s
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:36 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:36 AM on August 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
*facepalm* sorry - I missed the Mel Brooks and Cheech/Chong disclaimer. That ringing in my ears must be the gong.
In apology I will offer Groove Tube, What's Up Doc, and John Waters' early Female Trouble. And on preview, ROU_Xenophobe beat me to the first, there.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:37 AM on August 18, 2013
In apology I will offer Groove Tube, What's Up Doc, and John Waters' early Female Trouble. And on preview, ROU_Xenophobe beat me to the first, there.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:37 AM on August 18, 2013
Mod note: This is turning a bit slapstick - please, please, read the question before you answer.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:46 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:46 AM on August 18, 2013
Rocky Horror Picture Show
posted by Thorzdad at 10:57 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 10:57 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you're up for anything with subtitles (or if you understand French), the movies that Louis de Funes made from the mid-sixties onwards may be worth looking into. (Disclaimer: I last saw any of these movies when I was a kid, but I remember them as extremely joke-dense.)
posted by rjs at 11:36 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by rjs at 11:36 AM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Catch-22, Being There, Manhattan, Wha'ts up Doc?, Silver Streak
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:39 AM on August 18, 2013
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:39 AM on August 18, 2013
Whoops sorry about Kentucky fried... But damn did I laugh.
1941? A laugh riot despite Senor Speilbergo's attempt to appeal to a larger audience, panned by critics at the time.
Maybe The bad News Bears; pretty irreverent, almost a laugh a minute. Considering millions of families took their kids to see this it's a pretty good meta- joke as well.
posted by Max Power at 11:43 AM on August 18, 2013
1941? A laugh riot despite Senor Speilbergo's attempt to appeal to a larger audience, panned by critics at the time.
Maybe The bad News Bears; pretty irreverent, almost a laugh a minute. Considering millions of families took their kids to see this it's a pretty good meta- joke as well.
posted by Max Power at 11:43 AM on August 18, 2013
The Sunshine Boys
The Sting
Apparently, 9-5 is from 1980, even though I'd swear I saw it in 1979. Swear.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:50 AM on August 18, 2013
The Sting
Apparently, 9-5 is from 1980, even though I'd swear I saw it in 1979. Swear.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:50 AM on August 18, 2013
Carl Reiner's 1970 film Where's Poppa? with Ruth Gordon and George Segal probably fits.
I'm not even looking for good movies
1971's Cold Turkey, directed by Norman Lear with Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke, Jean Stapleton and lots of other comedians, is about a town trying to quit smoking to win $25 million. It tries, anyway, for the zany lotsa jokes thing. It's on YouTube.
posted by mediareport at 12:12 PM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm not even looking for good movies
1971's Cold Turkey, directed by Norman Lear with Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke, Jean Stapleton and lots of other comedians, is about a town trying to quit smoking to win $25 million. It tries, anyway, for the zany lotsa jokes thing. It's on YouTube.
posted by mediareport at 12:12 PM on August 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Maybe this short list of comedy anthology films would be useful.
posted by megancita at 2:23 PM on August 18, 2013
posted by megancita at 2:23 PM on August 18, 2013
Tunnel Vision
(It's by Phil Proctor, of Firesign Theater)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:26 PM on August 18, 2013
(It's by Phil Proctor, of Firesign Theater)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:26 PM on August 18, 2013
Response by poster: Yes, brujita - you devil! - this thread is really getting out of hand.
First, thank you restless_nomad for being vigilant and escorting those individuals who recommended Airplane, Cheech & Chong, Mel Brooks or the Kentucky Fried Movie out. Except for Nomyte, who gets personally gonged and escorted off of the Internet with a hook, in spite of their attempted justification of such tomfoolery. GOOOOOOONG!
Of course, Woody Allen's 1970s films were hilarious, and I've seen them all. Especially Interiors!
I now have a lot on my plate, but special thanks to 445supermag, whose recommendations, in spite of being just awful, appear to have a remarkably high joke density. If You Don't Stop It... is like a magnificent time capsule, a time capsule copied to VHS and then badly digitized.
But man, Where's Poppa does not have a high joke density. It is a sad movie about sad people masquerading as a comedy, one that has something that might ostensibly be called a joke once every 10 minutes. I swear, there are more jokes in Schindler's List. Or Interiors!
Thanks, everyone.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 5:42 PM on August 18, 2013
First, thank you restless_nomad for being vigilant and escorting those individuals who recommended Airplane, Cheech & Chong, Mel Brooks or the Kentucky Fried Movie out. Except for Nomyte, who gets personally gonged and escorted off of the Internet with a hook, in spite of their attempted justification of such tomfoolery. GOOOOOOONG!
Of course, Woody Allen's 1970s films were hilarious, and I've seen them all. Especially Interiors!
I now have a lot on my plate, but special thanks to 445supermag, whose recommendations, in spite of being just awful, appear to have a remarkably high joke density. If You Don't Stop It... is like a magnificent time capsule, a time capsule copied to VHS and then badly digitized.
But man, Where's Poppa does not have a high joke density. It is a sad movie about sad people masquerading as a comedy, one that has something that might ostensibly be called a joke once every 10 minutes. I swear, there are more jokes in Schindler's List. Or Interiors!
Thanks, everyone.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 5:42 PM on August 18, 2013
;-P IET, the scene with all the people mobbing John Denver on his lawn was filmed at a neighbor's.
posted by brujita at 8:11 PM on August 18, 2013
posted by brujita at 8:11 PM on August 18, 2013
Might fail the pure density test, but...
The Muppet Movie
Real Life
Maybe some of the Disney's, like "No Deposit, No Return," or "Snowball Express." Also: Bad News Bears!
posted by rhizome at 12:18 AM on August 19, 2013
The Muppet Movie
Real Life
Maybe some of the Disney's, like "No Deposit, No Return," or "Snowball Express." Also: Bad News Bears!
posted by rhizome at 12:18 AM on August 19, 2013
Not the 70s, but try The Aristocrats http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436078/ and Borat http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443453/.
(Sorry, with the new MFA format, the link function isn't working.)
posted by KRS at 6:24 AM on August 19, 2013
(Sorry, with the new MFA format, the link function isn't working.)
posted by KRS at 6:24 AM on August 19, 2013
But man, Where's Poppa does not have a high joke density.
Oops, sorry! It's been ages since I watched. I remember it being hilarious as well as sad, but I was much younger then.
posted by mediareport at 7:44 AM on August 19, 2013
Oops, sorry! It's been ages since I watched. I remember it being hilarious as well as sad, but I was much younger then.
posted by mediareport at 7:44 AM on August 19, 2013
Why has no one here mentioned 1977's The Kentucky Fried Movie?
Edit: because they all read the question first. D'oh!
posted by tckma at 8:43 AM on August 20, 2013
Edit: because they all read the question first. D'oh!
posted by tckma at 8:43 AM on August 20, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by stoneandstar at 9:23 AM on August 18, 2013