Best Comedy Movies of 1952

A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.

The cartoon finds a row of signs saying it's rabbit season ("If you're looking for fun, you don't need a reason. All you need is a gun, it's Rabbit Season!"). Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck again are arguing over which of them is “in season” (it is really Duck Season, as Daffy says in the beginning), while a befuddled Elmer Fudd tries to figure out which animal is telling the truth. Between using sneaky plays-on-words, and dressing himself in women's clothing (including a Lana Turner-style sweater), Bugs manages to escape unscathed, while Daffy repeatedly has his beak blown off, upside-down, and sideways by Elmer.

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

Burt Lancaster plays a pirate with a taste for intrigue and acrobatics who involves himself in the goings on of a revolution in the Caribbean in the late 1700s. A light hearted adventure involving prison breaks, an oddball Scientist, sailing ships, naval fights, and tons of swordplay.

A bulldog adopts a small cat, but he can't let his owner know.

In this Oscar-winning short film, Norman McLaren employs the principles normally used to put drawings or puppets into motion to animate live actors. The story is a parable about two people who come to blows over the possession of a flower.

In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.

Bugs Bunny is too sound a sleeper to notice that a rainstorm has flooded his rabbit hole and sent his mattress floating downstream toward the castle of an evil scientist who needs a brain for his mechanical monster. Bugs tries to escape and save his brain from the clutches of Rudolph, the scientist's giant orange monster.

The Coyote chases the Road Runner through a maze of mine shafts, with their positions made visible only by the lamps on their helmets.

Wile E. Coyote, genius, announces to Bugs Bunny that he is going to catch him and eat him, and then employs a variety of gadgets and plans in an attempt to do so.

Pluto comes bounding outside to help Mickey get a Christmas tree. Chip 'n Dale see him and make fun of him, but the tree they take refuge in is the one Mickey chops down. They like the decorations, especially the candy canes and Mickey's bowl of mixed nuts. But Pluto spots them and goes after them long before Mickey spots them. Minnie, Donald, and Goofy drop by to sing carols.

Algernon Moncrieff is surprised to discover that his affluent friend -- whom he knows as "Ernest" -- is actually named Jack Worthing. Jack fabricated his alter ego in order to escape his country estate where he takes care of his charge, Cecily Cardew. Cecily believes that Ernest is Jack's wayward brother and is keen on his raffish lifestyle. Algernon, seeing an opportunity, assumes Ernest's identity and sneaks off to woo Cecily.

After he is rejected by the Great Poochini as an opening act, Mysto the Magician gets his revenge by conducting his next operatic performance.

When a 1920s millionaire tests the fiber of his Vermont family, a young lady and her boyfriend feel the repercussions.

Tom, a castle soldier in 16th century France, is assigned to guard the food laid out on a banquet table. Jerry and a smaller mouse companion, two wandering "mouseketeers", make the situation miserable for Tom as they abscond with (and occasionally eat) all the food they can.

When the nephews come to Donald's house in their Halloween costumes he dumps water on them and laughs at his trick. A witch sees this and decides to help the kids. By magic she gives Donald a bad time and the kids finally get their treats.

A viceroy, a nobleman and a bullfighter court a comedy-troupe actress in 16th-century Peru.

A charming and ambitious young man finds many ways to raise himself through the ranks in business and social standing - some honest, some not quite so. If he can just manage to avoid a certain very predatory woman...

Florence and Chet Keefer have had a troublesome marriage. Whilst in the middle of a divorce hearing the judge encourages them to remember the good times they have had hoping that the marriage can be saved.

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critic's acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

The "Cheaper by the Dozen" crew is back, sans Clifton Webb. Lillian is struggling to make ends meet without her husband's income, while Anne, Martha, and even Ernestine find romance.

Shorty, a school-age rabbit with a high-pitched voice, jumps into Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole to escape the clutches of the villainous, but extremely stupid, Pete Puma, whose distinctive speech climaxes in an ear-splitting screech. Pete tries to trick Bugs and Shorty with an exploding cigar. Doesn't work. The cigar says "El Explodo" right on the wrapper. He tries to trick them by disguising himself as Shorty's mother. Doesn't work either. His rabbit ears are leaves that are inelegantly affixed to his hat. How can this poor, pathetic puma win the day? Smarter opponents than he have failed to outwit the wily Bugs Bunny.

Anne and "Poppy" Rose have three quirky kids. Anne has a generous heart and the belief in the innocence of children. To the unhappy surprise of her husband she takes in the orphan Jane, a problem child who already tried to kill herself once.

Pat Pemberton is a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiancé is around. The ladies golf championship is in her reach until she gets flustered by his presence at the final holes. He wants them to get married and forget the whole thing, but she cannot give up on herself that easily. She enlists the help of Mike Conovan, a slightly shady sports promoter. Together they face mobsters, a jealous boxer, and a growing mutual attraction.

Bill Miller is an unsuccessful Broadway performer until his handlers convince him to enhance his act with a stooge—Ted Rogers, a guy positioned in the audience to be the butt of Bill's jokes. After Ted begins to steal the show, Bill's girlfriend and his pals advise him to make Ted an equal partner.

Peter Potter Jr. returns to claim his father's gold, which is nowhere to be found.

An Irish-American girl asks the saint to guide her family and save them from an alderman.

Nightclub entertainer Hap Smith has a new act since his former partner Chick Allen joined the army. With his lovely new female partner, Hap now plays a clownish parody of a soldier. When Chick organises a soldier show at Fort Benning, he realizes he needs his former partner's help—so, to get onto the base, Hap impersonates a hapless real soldier, but circumstances force them to prolong the masquerade, creating an increasingly tangled Army-sized SNAFU.

After two volunteer firemen rescue a gold prospector from suicide, they discover discover that the police mistakenly want them for murder.

Meeting in a navy recruiting line, Al Crowthers and Melvin Jones become friends. Al has tried to enlist before, but was always rejected. He keeps trying so that he can impress women. Melvin, is allergic to women's cosmetics and his doctor prescribed ocean travel, so he decided to join the navy.

A Justice of the Peace performed weddings a few days before his license was valid. A few years later five couples learn they have never been legally married.

In squeaky-clean New York at the turn of the century, playboy Charlie Hill falls so much in love that he can walk on air. The object of his affections is beautiful Angela Bonfils, a mission house worker in the Bowery. He promises to reform his dissolute life, even trying to do an honest day's work.

Spike gets a job running the house for a hibernating bear. Only problem is that same bear is VERY noise-sensitive, and Spike's got a rival that wants his job.

The Baxters are a typical happy American family trying to live on too little money. Mrs. Polly Baxter acquires two mysterious trees that got into a nursery shipment by mistake. Guess what: they turn out to be money trees! After initial problems, Polly decides to spend the money. But there's one logical consequence of money grown on trees that no one's considered. Written by Rod Crawford

Two military men, Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt, who are rivals to begin with, grow more at odds with each other when Quirt is made Flagg's top sergeant. And when a local beauty comes between them, their rivalry escalates even further. But when they discover that the woman has marriage in mind, they now compete to try to avoid marching down the aisle - that is, until they are called upon to march into battle.

A campaign boss is looking for three delegates to the presidential convention, delegates that are too stupid to discover that his candidate, Hammond Egger, is a crook. Enter the stooges as janitors sent to clean the man's office. After some of their antics, the boy's suitability for the job is apparent and they're hired. The stooges go to the convention, but double cross their boss and vote for another candidate, Abel Lamb Stewer. When the boss and his muscle man come looking for revenge, the boys defeat them in a wild fight.

A series of misunderstandings leads to a chorus girl traveling to Paris to represent the American theater, where she falls in love with a befuddled bureaucrat.

Because of its high productivity and "almost" 100 per cent employment, the town of Hayhoe, England is expecting a visit from the Prime Minister. The "almost" is because of Dan Dance (Eddie Byrne), an old rogue who would rather drink and philosophize than work. The Village Council are determined to have a perfect record so they connive to have the old man put into the alms-house which has been unoccupied for many years, where he must abide by rules laid down 400 years ago. A new Vicar arrives and discovers that, because of the circumstances created by the Council, Dan Dance is entitled to 6,000 pounds a year at the expense of the village.

Jerry removes a tack from Spike's paw. In gratitude, Spike gives Jerry a bell to ring when he's in trouble. Soon, Tom is acting as Jerry's servant. But then the city passes a leash law, and Spike can no longer help. Soon, Tom is taunting Spike (much like Foghorn Leghorn taunts the barnyard dog) and harassing Jerry, who becomes his servant until the leash law is repealed.

Two hapless waiters in a tavern on the Spanish Main play cupid between aristocratic Lady Jane and tavern co-worker Bruce Martindale, but the two bumpkins mix-up a love letter with Captain Kidd's treasure map of Skull Island, leading to them being kidnapped and taken off to the notorious pirate's island.

Shemp wins $50,000 in a radio contest and the stooges move into the Hotel Costa Plente where they live it up and wreck their fancy suite. While they wait for the prize money to arrive, the boys are pursued by three gold-digging dames after their winnings. When the check arrives however, it's only for $4.85 after tax deductions.

In this parody of trench-coat detective films, Daffy Duck is Duck Drake, a "Private Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat" who receives a telephone call summoning him to the J. Cleaver Axe-Handle Estate, where a murder has supposedly taken place.

Someone drops off three cute little kittens; Tom is put in charge of them while Mammy goes shopping. But behind her back, the three little angels are real devils.

Shemp's rich Uncle Phineas comes to visit the stooges who are broke and about to evicted. The boys convince their landlady Mrs. McGruder not to toss them out as Shemp is set to inherit a fortune. The boys also have trouble with a circus strongman after Shemp accidentally rips off his wife's dress. Uncle Phineas gets in the middle of the fight, and Mrs. McGruder ends it by knocking out the strongman. It turns out that Uncle Phineas and the landlady were childhood sweethearts and he marries her, leaving the stooges out of the bucks once again.

The stooges don't know it, but they are all engaged to the same girl, a gold-digger who plans to get an engagement ring from each of them and then abandon them. When all three show up at her house at the same time, a wild fight ensues, as each stooge accuses the others of making time with "his" girl. The stooges knock each other senseless and the girl escapes with their rings.

A fey little Martian, with his green dog-soldier, K-9, arrive on Earth with instructions to bring back an Earth creature. He chooses Bugs Bunny.

A young boy trades the family cow for magic beans.