All-Time Greatest Screen Comedian?

[The Write Profile]

Agreed with the noms regarding Groucho Marx, Chaplin, Keating, Allen, Sellers et al. So I'll (mainly) talk about others, regardless of their supposed greatness or lackthereof.

Phil Hartmann was amazing, exactly what Ferril could never be in that you never once felt he over(or under)sold a line. It might be the reason why he was such a great voice actor on the Simpsons- any episode that featured either Troy McClure or Lionel Hutz was going to be entertaining because you knew that Hartman would get the most out of the script the writers gave him. Unfortunately, I don't think he ever got the film roles he deserved, but his Television CV more than makes up for it.

Will Ferril is way too loud and overbearing and not in a good way. It's the Chevvy Chase sydrome writ large- you always get the feeling that he think he's better than the script and support cast. There's no real sense of just surrendering to the character- I don't think he could do a Sacha Baron Cohen and stay within his role for too long. He even nearly spoiled one of his finest moments--the SNL "More Cowbell" sketch--by nearly cracking up mid-scene. That said, some of the film's he's in are pretty funny, but that's more down to his support act, particularly the great Steven Carrel.

Bill Murray's interesting in that he's trying to move well away from his sardonic clown image and he's essentially finetuned his act through the last decade or so- the turning point being Groundhog Day, still his finest performance and one of the great American comedies of the last ten to fifteen years. I like the fact that it can also be seen as a meditation on the acting process and what you can get out of the same scene if done in as many variations as possible and for all the black humour and cynicism, I feel the upbeat ending is completely earned- his protagonist becomes a better version of himself, not a different one.

And there was something about his performance in Jarmusch's Broken Flowers that was really fascinating, as if he was trying to really play havoc with his image. I mean, that character was pathologically detached- I don't think he can go any further with it.

Fred Willard and Harry Shearer crack me up whenever I see them in anything. They get exactly the right notes to their characters and there's something about the way they work their mannerisms. Even though Willard seems to play similar variations on the same jackass character, I don't feel like complaining about it.

As for Jack Lemmon, he's one of the finest screen actors there was, wasn't he? I think working with Wilder must've really advanced his craft. Apparently Billy Wilder always asked Lemmon to give the take "a little less" and there's something in that advice. It means that Lemmon gets the beats right, whether he's shaking his maracas in Some Like it Hot or
desperately trying to claw his way out of a hole in Glengarry Glenn Ross.

Peter Sellers is interesting. I don't think he was ever as naturally funny or inventive as Peter Cook, but Cook was always too wooden and aloof to work as a succesful film comedian, certainly he would never be able to be quite the chameleonic comedian that Sellers was. Yet Sellers had something didn't he? A force unto himself, which meant he could never be a support actor. That said for all the great Sellers performances, they're probably outnumbered by the atrocious films he appeared in for money. It saw a lot that the haunting, moving, darkly comic Being There wasn't really his last film- it was the aborted Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu

Funny that I've (mostly) mentioned Americans- maybe it's down to the fact that the Brit comic actors best work is usually on television. That said, Bill Nighy has managed to be genuis in practically everything he does by dint of playing the same, mockingly weary character--I loved his performance in Lawless Heart, for instance.

[Tapiocahead]

Not mentioned yet but Leslie Nielsen cracked me up in Naked Gun and Airplane, his timing was immaculate.

The Pythons must get a mention as well.

[sloopjohnc]

Bill Murray's interesting in that he's trying to move well away from his sardonic clown image and he's essentially finetuned his act through the last decade or so- the turning point being Groundhog Day, still his finest performance and one of the great American comedies of the last ten to fifteen years.

Actually, he's been doing this for years. Check out the version of Razor's Edge, the adaptation of the E. M. Forrester novel, I think it is. It ain't bad, and completely serious.

I also like Where the Buffaloes Roam, his take on Hunter S. Thompson. Murray at his most wild and derelict.

[Count Machuki]

[sloopjohnc]

Good call.

[borofan]

Stan Laurel.


End of thread.

[king feeb]

Some really good choices so far. I'd go with Groucho, Peter Sellers, John Cleese, Richard Pryor, Woody Allen, Laurel AND Hardy and this guy:


Bile, bitterness, untrustworthiness, meanness and spite were never funnier than they were when done by W.C. Fields.

[Tactful Cactus]

All you guys are going to pick the old guard. Chaplin, Jack Lemon, Groucho....about as funny as a heartattack.

I notice you didn't suggest an alternative.

Nothing came immediately to mind, and Im still struggling now! As for the old guard I rubbished yesterday, I think I was being a bit harsh. I can appreciate a comedian that can make 8-80 year olds laugh, thats not easy, and as Neige said, many of them wrote their own material which is almost unheard of nowadays. Having said that, Chaplin, L&H, Buster Keaton etc have never made me laugh. It's just not my kind of humour.

I don't think they'll go down in the annals as greatest onscreen comedians ever, but Christopher Guest and John Cleese (for 'Life of Brian' alone) would be my picks.

...as opposed to Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey or Ben Stiller?

The last two are very funny guys, given the right role. All-time greatest? Absolutely not.

[Mr Maps]

It's the Chevvy Chase sydrome writ large- you always get the feeling that he think he's better than the script and support cast.

Indeed. I remember reading an article about the first years of SNL. When they had a few minutes of air time left to fill all the writers would jot down ideas for a short skit. They would be collected, read aloud and then they would choose the best idea. Chase would write down, "Me being funny"

Sometimes it worked.

He was funny at times then but I think all of his films universally suck.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

It's the Chevvy Chase sydrome writ large- you always get the feeling that he think he's better than the script and support cast.

Indeed. I remember reading an article about the first years of SNL. When they had a few minutes of air time left to fill all the writers would jot down ideas for a short skit. They would be collected, read aloud and then they would choose the best idea. Chase would write down, "Me being funny"

Sometimes it worked.

He was funny at times then but I think all of his films universally suck.

Which cannot be said of Will Farrell. He's established a really strong flmography in a short amount of time. I think he dust's Chevy Chase by a wide margin.

Anyhow - so how about the ladies? I should have titled this thread "all-time greatest screen comic" to include comediennes. Who stands out on the other side of the gender divide?

A few obvious candidates:









Who else would you nominate?

[sloopjohnc]

I'd go with Judy Holliday but followed very closely by Carol Lombard.

I'll have to think about it though.

Katherine Hepburn was also a very good comedienne.

[Snarfyguy]

Catherine O'Hara!

[king feeb]

Margaret Dumont was pretty funny. She was sure great with Groucho.

[Bungo the Mungo]

I'd have to go for W.C. Fields, too. But I really like Matthau doing comedy - The Sunshine Boys, Plaza Suite, The Odd Couple all feature splendid turns. George Burns in the former film could well be one of the funniest all-round performances I've ever seen. There's a kind of unique style there - so laid-back and deadpan it's almost not there - and it's absolutely hysterical. I think he got an Oscar for it.

[toomanyhatz]

Speaking of George Burns, Gracie Allen had absolutely exquisite comedic timing. And she didn't just "play dumb," her character on Burns and Allen had her own wacky logic. She was an incredibly original creation (and a big influence on Jean Stapleton in "All in the Family," among others). So if we're including TV, she gets my vote.

[sloopjohnc]

Speaking of George Burns, Gracie Allen had absolutely exquisite comedic timing. And she didn't just "play dumb," her character on Burns and Allen had her own wacky logic. She was an incredibly original creation (and a big influence on Jean Stapleton in "All in the Family," among others). So if we're including TV, she gets my vote.

They did do some movies together, I believe. They were so popular on radio, the movie studios had to have extended that logic that people would see their movies.

I like Gracie Allen too. For awhile in the mid '80s, some cable channel decided to show the old TV shows, where I got a real appreciation for Gracie's talent, which before then was only hearsay from my folks.

Even George Burns said she was the real talent between the two. Now, those are two folks I'd love to have to a dinner party.

Can you imagine some of those old Hollywood parties with Groucho, Jack Benny, George Burns, etc?

[peterae2]

Robbie Coltrane in Nuns On The run.......absolutely hilarious!!
Sid James in the Carry Ons, funny in other films too.
Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee, a great one off character creation.
John Wayne could have been a great comic actor, his roles as Rooster Cogburn and Sean Thornton, "The Quiet Man", were excellent!

[Carl's Son]

Has Steve Martin had a mention yet? He can be a master and he can be crap.

Bill Murray is an amazing comic actor but I have admit I wish he'd do an out and out comedy with a bit less of the deadpan stillness. He's proved he can give subtle, clever performances but I just want him to make me laugh like he did in Stripes or Groundhog Day.

Woody Allen is great. I'm not too enamoured of his slapstick stuff but his delivery of his own lines is always sublime.

Dudley Moore was a great comic actor and proved it when he had the chance but sadly drink then illness took away his chances of having a truly great film resume.

[The Modernist]

Surprised there's been no mention of Jacques Tati.

I would put in a mention for Tony Hancock too, although sadly he only made one film -but what a performance!

Anyway I'm going to concur with Borofan and go for Stan Laurel, the perfect comic creation.
What this thread proves to me is how marked the decline in great comedy and comedy acting has been. It's why I avoid most contemporary American comedies. Most of them are aimed towards 14 year old boys anyway and are peurile nonsense.

[Bungo the Mungo]

What this thread proves to me is how marked the decline in great comedy and comedy acting has been. It's why I avoid most contemporary American comedies. Most of them are aimed towards 14 year old boys anyway and are peurile nonsense.

Absolutely true. And you say this, and people accuse you of looking through rose-coloured glasses, or of being an old fart. There's a subtlety and a lot of thought in these older comedies in general - these days I mostly feel insulted with the dross that passes for humour.