Best Comedy Movies of 1936

Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a "forgotten man" to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two.

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

Nick and Nora Charles investigate when Nora's cousin reports her disreputable husband is missing, and find themselves in a mystery involving the shady owners of a popular nightclub, a singer and her dark brother, the cousin's forsaken true love, and Nora's bombastic and controlling aunt.

Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding again and has to make $25,000 so her father allows him to marry Margaret. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky Romero.

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.

The Stooges are key witnesses at a murder trial. Their friend Gail Tempest, who dances at the Black Bottom cafe where the Stooges are musicians, is accused of killing Kirk Robin.

I Love to Singa depicts the story of a young owl who wants to sing jazz, instead of the classical music that his German parents wish him to perform. The plot is a lighthearted tribute to Al Jolson's film The Jazz Singer.

Two sailors get caught in a mountain of mix-ups when they meet their long-lost twins. Laurel and Hardy play themselves and their twins.

When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.

When the fleet puts in at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker tries to rekindle the flame with his old dancing partner, Sherry Martin, while Bake's buddy Bilge Smith romances Sherry's sister, Connie. But it's not all smooth sailing—Bake has a habit of losing Sherry's jobs for her and, despite Connie's dreams, Bilge is not ready to settle down.

Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.

Magazine publisher Van Stanhope is a hard-working, dynamic executive very happily married to his beautiful wife Linda. Although their relationship is built on unconditional trust, friends, and even Van's mother, caution Linda about the dangers of allowing Whitey, her husband's extremely sexy secretary, to continue to have access to him. Although Whitey has a faithful boyfriend, she secretly harbors unrequited feelings for her boss. When they take a business trip to Havana, circumstantial evidence convinces Linda that the rumors she's heard may have a basis in fact.

A little girl named Star lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school but she's rescued by relatives.

Two sailors Sindbad and Popeye decide to test themselves in order to prove their supremacy. Popeye is then presented with a series of daunting tasks by Sindbad.

Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses US engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.

The small-town prudes of Lynnfield are up in arms over 'The Sinner,' a sexy best-seller. They little suspect that author 'Caroline Adams' is really Theodora Lynn, scion of the town's leading family. Michael Grant, devil-may-care book jacket illustrator, penetrates Theodora's incognito and sets out to 'free her' from Lynnfield against her will. But Michael has a secret too, and gets a taste of his own medicine.

While visiting the circus with his family, Charlie is recruited by the big top's co-owner to investigate threatening letters that he's received.

Sassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring and solve the murder of a baby.

The three Craig sisters Penny, Kay, and Joan, go to New York to stop their divorced father from marrying gold digger Donna Lyons and re-unite him with their mother.

A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.

A bored millionaire wagers his doctor that he can support himself at a working class job for year without touching his inheritance.

A Swedish princess boards an ocean liner in Europe en route to an acting career in America, and finds herself getting inconveniently attached to a bandleader returning home. To complicate matters, a blackmailer on board apparently knows she is not who she claims to be - and he has his sights set on other passengers with secrets of their own. In the meantime an escaped killer has stowed away under someone else's identity, and is killing again to cover his tracks; five international police detectives on board are heading the investigation to find him. When evidence points to the princess and bandleader, they must find the killer themselves - before he finds them.

An ordinary man, while vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them.

Minnie's old friend, Mortimer Mouse, drops in on Mickey and Minnie's picnic. His practical jokes and coming on to Minnie soon have Mickey stewing, and their car isn't happy either. When Mortimer gets a nearby bull enraged and takes off, the car comes to the rescue after Mickey gets tangled up in a red blanket.

The "Our Gang" kids stage a production of "Romeo and Juliet," but the show is threatened when leading lady Darla walks out on star Alfalfa.

Ted meets and falls in love with Nora Paige, an aspiring Broadway dancer who tries out for a show starring Lucy James. After Ted rescues Lucy's pet dog during a public relations campaign on his submarine, Lucy falls for him. Ted is ordered to meet Lucy for a date at a night club, who later sees their picture in the newspaper and no longer wants anything to do with him.

Timid milkman, Burleigh Sullivan, somehow knocks out a boxing champ in a brawl. The fighter's manager decides to build up the milkman's reputation in a series of fixed fights and then have the champ beat him to regain his title.

The partners of stage-producer J.?J. Hobart gamble away the money for his new show. They enlist a gold-digging chorus girl to help get it back by conning an insurance company. But they don’t count on the persistence of insurance man Rosmer Peck and his secretary Norma Perry.

A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.

A chorus girl and a heavyweight boxer are paired romantically as a publicity stunt.

A fake heiress marries a common reporter to thwart the advances of gold-digging playboys.

Aspiring Producer Michael McCreigh convinces Uncle Carlton to finance a play on the condition that he lives the play's ridiculous plot. If Michael fails, he must work in Carlton's meat packing plant.

A lonely, rich, hypochondriac is celebrating her 65th birthday in the same manner in which she observes the other 364 days of the year by complaining, berating her servants, taking her pills and grumping about everything around her, including the sunshine. A toy airplane comes flying through an open window and breaks a vase, and when its owner, Spanky, comes in search of it he is informed he will have to pay seventy-five cents for the broken vase. Spanly has never seen six-bit, much less having it in his pants, so he offers his and his friend's help in cleaning up the yard in exchange. Before the kids are through, they've given the old lady a new outlook on life.

The Stooges are carpenters who inherit a fancy dress boutique. They put on a fashion show with dresses they've designed based on furniture. During the show the owner of a antique box the stooges wrecked shows up and a wild cream puff fight ensues.

The stooges are pest exterminators who drum up business by planting vermin in a ritzy mansion where a party is going on. They are hired, but must pose as guests to work unobserved. They ruin a piano and generally make a mess of the party, but the hostess passes them off as vaudeville comedians and they are invited to join the guests on a fox hunt.

In the second screen version of The Maltese Falcon, a detective is caught between a lying seductress and a lady jewel thief.

The gang help Scotty and his grandfather after an obnoxious lunch counter owner forces them to move their lemonade stand.

A candidate has laryngitis, so his assistant must make a speech in his place. Both the speaker and his audience are soon befuddled.

Will Hay plays a bragging sea captain whose maritime experience actually extends to navigating a coal barge down inland waterways. His tall tales catch him out when he is co-erced into commanding an unseaworthy ship by an unscrupulous shipping agent who means to have it wrecked. This was the first film to couple Will Hay with both Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt.

Spanky and Alfalfa try to get Porky's and Buckwheat's fireworks.

The stooges are discharged from the army after WW I, and promptly administer some revenge to their mean sergeant. Years later they wind up in the army again, and of course the same sergeant is their superior. The sergeant plays various tricks on them, and when the stooges go crazy with a cannon, blowing up a house, a bridge, and a smoke stack, he blows them up.

The stooges are small time actors traveling by train to an engagement. Along with their pet monkey, they manage to spoil the trip for quite a few of the other passengers including the conductor and a big movie star. Eventually their antics get out of hand and they are literally tossed off the train.

The boys are a dentist and his assistant traveling to the Old West to open a new practice. Once in town, they buy a business--only to wake up the next day and see that the entire population of this bustling town had left for the California gold fields early that morning! Then, they discover an evil plot to sell out these settlers to some hostile Indians, so they spring to the rescue.

A stray kitten wanders into Betty Boop's house, gets sick on candy, and is cured with catnip by Betty and Pudgy the pup.

To rid himself of his sponging relatives a man tells them he is really a forger which causes them to leave. His wife believes he is joking, but he has in fact allowed the truth to slip out and now he is danger of being arrested.

Popeye applies for a lifeguard job when he sees Olive in the pool, but Bluto also wants the job (and Olive). The manager, Wimpy, asks them to demonstrate their skills in a contest. Popeye does well, until Bluto demonstrates lifesaving and first aid on him.

A priceless Cellini silver cup is stolen from a local museum with both Hildegarde and Oscar on the case.

A spider runs a hotel for flies where he keeps his guests captive. A pair of fly newlyweds arrive and check in. Fortunately, the husband is "flyweight champion". After a pitched battle featuring arrows (fountain pen nibs) and a machine-gun (aspirins shot from a perfume atomizer), the spider winds up in a bottle of library paste.

Popeye takes Olive mountain climbing. Bluto sets various traps for them along the way, which Popeye manages to overcome. They get to the top, and Bluto pushes Popeye off a cliff and starts skiing down with Olive. Popeye eats his spinach and gives chase.