By Michael Lyons
There was a time when comedies were big summer blockbusters, standing alongside superheroes and sequels as a fellow box-office success.
Somehow, through industry shifts and changing audience tastes, that's no longer the case, and comedy movies now seem to be relegated more and more directedly to streaming services and living in a world of diminishing box-office returns.
However, there were summers past when this wasn't the case, and there were three comedies that ruled at the box office. They've all gone on to become embraced by successive generations, with iconic lines of dialogue and scenes that live hilariously in our memory.
They also all celebrate anniversaries this month, so there's no better time to look back and celebrate...
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Released June 11, 1986) - 35th Anniversary
When it comes to John Hughes' 80s movies, many believe that they don’t get more “John Hughes” or more “80s” than this.
Matthew Broderick is perfect as the title character, a likable, smooth-talking high schooler who has a lock on “most popular” at his school.
Deciding that he needs a day off, he pretends he is sick and conns his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck, hysterical and pitiful), and girlfriend Sloane (luminous Mia Sara) to play hookey and venture off to Chicago for the day.
Out to expose his ruse is his distrusting sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey, doing the funniest slow burn) and Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), Ferris’ arch enemy.
What follows in the film is scene after scene that are immensely quotable and always funny, no matter how many times you’ve seen them:
“NINE times!”
“Hey, Battah! Battah! Battah!”
“Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago”
...the list goes on and on.
Thanks to Hughes's style, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off worked so well and endured for over three decades. Unique, stunning camerawork and fourth wall breaking make this Day Off seem even grander.
And underneath it all is a message that rings true, whether you’re an 80s teenager or a middle-ager in 2021. As Ferris says: “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Stripes (Released June 26, 1981)- 40th Anniversary
If you’re looking for Bill Murray at his smirking, smart-aleck best, look no further.
Murray plays John Winger, who feels that his life is going nowhere and decides to enlist in the Army. He even convinces his best friend, played by Harold Ramos, to join him.
Not only does Murray clash with his drill sergeant, Hulka (Warren Oats, perfectly playing the surly straight man), he and Ramis get a plum assignment, where they wind up rescuing their entire squad when they are caught behind Communist lines.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, Stripes, in many ways, seems like a “warm-up” for his team up with Murray and Ramis in Ghostbusters three years later, in how it combines comedy with another genre.
Murray truly takes the reigns here in the lead. His singing of “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” while marching is still inspired after all these years. Additionally, Ramis and Oats, along with John Candy and John Larroquette, all provide solid supporting roles, each having their moment in the film.
It’s been forty years since Stripes debuted. Is it still as funny as it was four decades ago? As Murray himself simply declares: “That’s the fact, Jack!”
Silent Movie (Released June 16, 1976) - 45th Anniversary
After the success of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (both 1974) and eleven years before his beloved Spaceballs (1987), Mel Brooks dared to make a silent film comedy, fifty years after the golden age of the silent film era.
And, it indeed was silent! There is only a music soundtrack, and when the actors speak, their dialogue appears on title cards (just as they did in the actual age of the silent films). Silent Movie is daring, original, and a heck of a lot of fun.
Brooks (who co-wrote and directed) stars as Mel Funn, a once-great movie director and now a recovering alcoholic, looking for his comeback. He decides to make a silent movie and, with his partners (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise), pitches the idea to the chief of Big Picture Studios (Sid Caesar), who agrees, but only if Funn can get the biggest names in Hollywood.
The trio searches for celebrities and tries to convince Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, James Cann, and Anne Bancroft (Brooks’ real-life wife), all of whom have cameos in the film, to be part of their movie. There’s also mime Marcel Marceau who, humorously has the one line of spoken dialogue in the movie. When Brooks asks him to be in the silent movie, he answers, “No!”
With a beautiful, upbeat score by Brooks’ usual collaborator, composer John Morris, Silent Movie is wall-to-wall sight gags and jokes from beginning to end. All of them with the typical Mel Brooks touch:
The studio is being taken over by the corporation “Engulf and Devour.”
An EKG turns into a video game and almost causes a patient his life.
Mel and his sidekicks turn up in Burt Reynolds’ shower...while he’s taking a shower.
Paul Newman and Mel race in wheelchairs.
And a scene where a merry-go-round horse relieves itself is so creatively funny!
Not all of the jokes have aged well and a recurring gag, once considered “funny,” now comes off as insensitive.
Still, while not often discussed in many conversations about Brooks’ films, Silent Movie definitely should be part of the conversation.
It just wants to be fun. It just wants to be funny. It succeeds at both!
All of these movies succeed at both. It’s no wonder that each was a comedy blockbuster.
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