It’s not unusual to find a film with a strikingly ridiculous plot. I spent many Friday nights as a teen watching USA Up All Night (hosted by Gilbert Godfrey). How I loved taking in gloriously dumb films, hour after hour.
But to find movies with such plots that are genuinely good? That’s a whole other level of enjoyment. Now add 80 years or so, and the film is STILL GOOD, STILL FUNNY? That’s a comedic masterpiece.
Last Tuesday I wrote a post on feel-good silly films, and rated them according to their degree of silliness. (In a homage to Spinal Tap, I let the ratings go to eleven rather than ten.) So today, I’m going to list five films with plots so absurd they deserve that 11 silliness quotient fully. And not coincidentally, these films are a blast to watch. In no particular order:
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
A woman (Claudette Colbert) leaves her broke husband (Joel McCrea) so that she can marry a millionaire and use his money to fund her original husband’s brilliant project. She heads to Palm Beach to find such a millionaire, aided by a “wiener king ” and trigger-happy hunters. The writer/director is Preston Sturges, so you know you’re in for a treat.
Easy Living (1937)
A banker (Edward Arnold) in a fight with his extravagant wife (Mary Nash) throws her fur coat off the roof of their home. The coat hits the hat of a bus passenger (Jean Arthur). The banker’s attempts to compensate the passenger destroy her reputation, but do aid her income. If you need a teaser to be convinced, check out the banker’s and passenger’s hilarious fight about loan interest.
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer (Cary Grant) has always known his cousin (John Alexander) is a bit off. After all, his cousin thinks and acts like Teddy Roosevelt, building his canal. But in visiting his beloved aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair), Mortimer discovers they have some issues as well: they’re serial killers murdering lonely old men. “Teddy” assumes the dead bodies are yellow fever victims and takes them in stride. But Mortimer begins to fear for his DNA. A screwball classic.
I’m No Angel (1933)
A lion tamer (Mae West) becomes the talk of high society, even winning a classy lover who plans to marry her (Cary Grant). The circus fears losing her income, so they convince the lover that their star is cheating on him. When her lover leaves her, the tamer sues him for breach of promise. She acts as her own lawyer, spending 90 percent of the trial strutting and seducing the jury in what may be the funniest courtroom scene ever.
I Love You Again (1940)
A man (William Powell) gets hit on the head and becomes an old self he’s forgotten, a swindler, instead of the upright prude he now is. He decides to live the prude’s life as he looks for a score and becomes intrigued by the uptight man’s wife (Myrna Loy), whom the swindler version of himself never met. She, sick of his stodgy ways and unaware of his change, wants to divorce him. The question is, will the man’s wife fall in love with his older self? I feel dizzy just explaining this amnesia plot, but it’s The Thin Man’s Loy and Powell team, so what’s not to love?
There you have it. Five ridiculous plots. Five ridiculously fun movies. And I haven’t even scratched the surface of this topic! Anyone who wants to share their favorite silly plot, please do so in the comments!
Grand and funny stuff.
I Love You Again and Manhattan Melodrama are very different but they are my favourite Loy/Powell movies aside from the Thin Man series.
If someone doesn’t get/enjoy Sturges then they must have a screw loss.
I have a soft spot for Libeled Lady too, but I haven’t seen Manhattan Melodrama yet. I know they’re different films, but I clearly need to watch it if you’d reference it and I Love You Again together! So true. Sturges was so talented and so funny.
Love this list! “Arsenic and Old Lace” is the only one I’ve seen. “I Love You Again” sounds hilarious.
Thanks. Watch it. You can’t go wrong with William Powell and Myrna Loy!
“I Love You Again” is hilarious…Also try “Love Crazy” same cast even funnier.
Just looked it up. This sounds marvelous. Thank you!
“Midnight” with Claudette Colbert , John Barrymore , Don Ameche–I love screwball comedies and this one of the best but usually overlooked.
I LOVE Midnight. Barrymore on the phone with that dressing on the iceskate, was it? Gets me every time. One of my early posts was on party crashing, Claudette Colbert style (based on Midnight). She’s so riveting in that movie. Also love when she thinks it’s not real and then gets defensive about her age (with herself). So good.
Two movies I saw for the first time in the last year Fit this bill:
“Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife” with Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper. He’s a millionaire, Claudette is not. They meet in a store…so much more. Whacky amusing stuff.
And “The More the Merrier.” Jean Arthur has an apartment with an extra room. There’s a housing shortage in WWII D.C., where she lives, so she does her patriotic duty and advertises for a roommate. Only she forgets to say ‘female’ only, and ends up having to rent to a man…who then sublets 1/2 his room to another man! The scene where they all get ready one morning where she’s not aware there’s a second man in the apartment is very funny!
I love The More, The Merrier! That’s a perfect choice for a silly plot movie that’s just about perfect! You’re right–the getting-ready scene is brilliant. I haven’t even heard of Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife! And anything Colbert is something I want to see. Thank you for the recommendation.
This could go on forever…but if someone discovers a new film they weren’t aware of then it’s all good. That being said “Trouble in Paradise” with Herbert Marshall & Miriam Hopkins but most of all from that other wonderful director Ernst Lubitsch.
So true! Yes, that’s a fabulous one, and I hope people take your advice and watch it. Love Lubitsch.
Hey, I’ve never heard of I Love You Again, and why is that? I know I’ll love this movie, so thanks for the heads-up!
It’s a blast. Don’t miss it!
I Love You Again is such an underrated gem of a movie. Powell is hilarious from start to finish. His dancing by himself is priceless.
Isn’t it charming? And you’re right. Any time Powell is entertaining himself is priceless! I love the 2nd thin man, when he entertains himself while listening to the snoozing relatives.