By Rom Watson
c. The late 1980’s
I’ve seen many movies over the course of my life, and below is a list of my favorite comic film performances. Many of the films listed may seem at first glance to be too dramatic to contain comic performances. In some instances I hesitate to label the performance comic. However, the very best acting always contains a blend of both comic and dramatic elements, the better to mirror life.
Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld
Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo
Marlon Brando in A Dry White Season
Robert DeNiro in Bang the Drum, Slowly
John Gielgud in Arthur
Joel Grey in Remo Williams
Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie
Kevin Kline in a Fish Called Wanda
Steve Martin in All of Me
Margaret Rutherford in The V.I.P.s
Susan Tyrrell in Fat City
Barbara Harris in Who is Harry Kellerman and why is he saying those terrible things about me?
Not necessarily the ones you expected, huh? Well, that’s my taste for you. Some famous, some obscure. Some predictable, some surprising. But wait, there’s more. On a slightly lower tier, but still funny and amazing:
Carroll Baker in Bad
Charles Chaplin in City Lights and The Circus
Jean Hagen in Singin’ in the Rain
Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby
Judy Holliday in It Should Happen to You
Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon
Buster Keaton in The General
Diane Keaton in Baby Boom
Harold Lloyd in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou
Giulietta Masina in La Strada and Nights of Cabiria
Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick
Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance
Peter O’Toole in Creator and My Favorite Year
Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite
Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl
Gene Wilder in The Producers
Also notable:
Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier
Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Thelma Ritter in Pickup on South Street
Addendum:
I compiled the lists above in the late 1980’s. My more recent favorite comic performances include, in alphabetical order:
Amy Adams in Enchanted
Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger
Enrico Colantoni in Galaxy Quest
Paul Giamatti in Sideways
Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost
Tom Hanks in Big
Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give
Lena Olin in Casanova
Oliver Platt in Casanova
Octavia Spencer in Dinner for Schmucks
Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway
Not all of the films in the lists above are good, but the performances listed are those that made me not only laugh, but laugh and recognize myself in their mirror of life.
Thanks Rom. Please keep on writing. Your writings are insightful, open and honest. I would have a different list, including notables such as Geoffrey Rush in ‘The Kings Speech’ and Tom Hanks in ‘Philadelphia’ but yours is a good and honest list! Thank goodness I can still multiply!