Great British Comedies
I personally think the British are the undisputed masters of comedy. Although I believe their genius is more particularly evident in television than film (see such shows as Black Books, Yes, Minister/Prime Minister, and Fawlty Towers), their contributions to cinematic comedy are not to be underestimated... as I hope to demonstrate here.
Listed in order of release.
Listed in order of release.
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21 titles
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.10/10
Original British Release. - DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsAlec GuinnessStanley HollowaySidney JamesA meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.8/10
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessJoan GreenwoodCecil ParkerAn altruistic chemist invents a fabric which resists wear and stain as a boon to humanity, but big business and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.9/10
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveRichard WattisMichael DenisonWhen Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion.8/10
- DirectorAnthony KimminsStarsAlec GuinnessPeter BullCharles GoldnerThe captain of a ferry boat between the restricted British colony in Gibraltar and Spanish Morocco has a woman of differing appeal and temperament in each port.9/10
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessPeter SellersCecil ParkerFive oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.10/10
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsPeter SellersJean SebergWilliam HartnellAn impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose, but things don't go according to plan.10/10
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseMichael PalinBorn on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.7/10
- DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.10/10
Extended Version. - DirectorCharles CrichtonJohn CleeseStarsJohn CleeseJamie Lee CurtisKevin KlineIn London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.9/10
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsEric IdleRobbie ColtraneCamille Coduri2 criminals want out but their boss kills those leaving. When the men are ordered to rob the triad, they keep the money and hide from the boss, triad and police at a convent, dressed as nuns.9/10
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.9/10
- DirectorNiall JohnsonStarsRowan AtkinsonKristin Scott ThomasMaggie SmithA pastor preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon fails to realize that his wife is having an affair, and his children are up to no good.9/10
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanAn overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.9/10
- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsJessica BielBen BarnesKristin Scott ThomasA young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.7/10
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellBrendan GleesonCiarán HindsAfter a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.8/10
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsBill NighyEmily BluntRupert GrintA hit-man tries to retire but a beautiful thief may change his plans.9/10
- DirectorChristopher MorrisStarsWill AdamsdaleRiz AhmedAdeel AkhtarFour incompetent British terrorists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.9/10
- DirectorCrispian MillsChris HopewellStarsSimon PeggPaul FreemanAmara KaranA crime novelist whose research on Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck must confront his worst fears when a film executive takes a sudden interest in his movie script.8/10
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostMartin FreemanFive friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.8/10
- DirectorArmando IannucciStarsSteve BuscemiSimon Russell BealeJeffrey TamborMoscow, 1953. After being in power for nearly 30 years, Soviet dictator, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, takes ill and quickly dies. Now the members of the Council of Ministers scramble for power.10/10