Best Comedy Movies of 1963

1.

Charade

5.7

7.9/10

After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie and Gideon, who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines. But why does Peter keep changing his name?

2.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

5.4

7.6/10

A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.

3.

Irma la Douce

5.3

7.4/10

A Parisian policeman gives up everything for the love of a free-living sex worker.

4.

The Pink Panther

5.2

7.1/10

The trademark of The Phantom, a renowned jewel thief, is a glove left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Clouseau, an expert on The Phantom's exploits, feels sure that he knows where The Phantom will strike next and leaves Paris for Switzerland, where the famous Lugashi jewel 'The Pink Panther' is going to be. However, he does not know who The Phantom really is, or for that matter who anyone else really is...

5.

The Nutty Professor

4.8

6.7/10

Jerry Lewis directed, co-wrote and starred in this riotously funny movie that set a new standard for screen comedy and inspired the hit remake. Lewis plays a timid, nearsighted chemistry teacher who discovers a magical potion that can transform him into a suave and handsome Romeo. The Jekyll and Hyde game works well enough until the concoction starts to wear off at the most embarrassing times.

6.

Tom Jones

4.2

6.5/10

Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?

8.

Billy Liar

4.0

7.4/10

A young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. A number of indiscretions cause him to lie in order to avoid the penalties. His life turns into a mess and he has an opportunity to run away and leave it all behind.

9.

Lilies of the Field

3.9

7.6/10

An unemployed construction worker (Homer Smith) heading out west stops at a remote farm in the desert to get water when his car overheats. The farm is being worked by a group of East European Catholic nuns, headed by the strict mother superior (Mother Maria), who believes that Homer has been sent by God to build a much needed church in the desert...

10.

Captain Newman, M.D.

3.9

6.9/10

In 1944, Capt. Josiah J. Newman is the doctor in charge of Ward 7, the neuropsychiatric ward, at an Army Air Corps hospital in Arizona. The hospital is under-resourced and Newman scrounges what he needs with the help of his inventive staff, especially Cpl. Jake Leibowitz. The military in general is only just coming to accept psychiatric disorders as legitimate and Newman generally has 6 weeks to cure them or send them on to another facility. There are many patients in the ward and his latest include Colonel Norville Bliss who has dissociated from his past; Capt. Paul Winston who is nearly catatonic after spending 13 months hiding in a cellar behind enemy lines; and 20 year-old Cpl. Jim Tompkins who is severely traumatized after his aircraft was shot down. Others come and go, including Italian prisoners of war, but Newman and team all realize that their success means the men will return to their units.

11.

Love with the Proper Stranger

3.8

7.4/10

Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion. Rocky agrees to help, but after seeing the unsanitary abortion facility, he refuses to let Angie go through with the procedure and attempts to make her an honest woman.

12.

Murder at the Gallop

3.8

7.3/10

Miss Marple and Mr Stringer are witness to the death of the very old and rich Mr. Enderby by heart attack. Yet they have their doubts about what happened. The police don’t believe them thus leading Miss Marple to yet again investigate by herself. A cult film starring Margaret Rutherford.

13.

Spencer's Mountain

3.7

7.1/10

Clay Spencer is a hard-working man who loves his wife and large family. He is respected by his neighbors and always ready to give them a helping hand. Although not a churchgoer, he even helps a newly arrived local minister regain his flock after he and Clay get into a bit of trouble. If he has one dream in life it's to build his wife Olivia a beautiful house on a piece of land he inherited on Spender's mountain. When his eldest son, Clayboy, graduates at the top of his high school class and has the opportunity to go to college, Clay has only one option left to him.

14.

The Thrill of It All

3.7

7.0/10

The story of the film centres around urban housewife Beverly Boyer (Doris Day) and her husband, a successful gynaecologist and devoted family man, Gerald (James Garner). Beverly is offered the opportunity to star for a television commercial advertising soap. After a shaky start, she gets a contract for $80,000 per year to appear on the weekly TV commercials.

15.

Donovan's Reef

3.7

6.9/10

'Guns' Donovan prefers carousing with his pals Doc Dedham and 'Boats' Gilhooley, until Dedham's high-society daughter Amelia shows up in their South Seas paradise.

16.

Summer Magic

3.7

7.0/10

Disney musical about Mother Carey, a Bostonian widow and her three children who move to Maine. Postmaster Osh Popham helps them move into a run-down old house and fixes it up for them. It's not entirely uninhabited, though; the owner, a Mr. Hamilton, is a mysterious character away in Europe, but Osh assures them he won't mind their living there, since he won't be coming home for a long time yet. The children and a cousin who comes to live with them have various adventures before an unexpected visitor shows up

18.

The Raven

3.6

6.7/10

A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help in this film loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem.

19.

Who's Minding the Store?

3.6

6.7/10

Jerry Lewis plays Norman Phiffer, a proud man in a humble life, who doesn't know that his girlfriend, Barbara, is heir to the Tuttle Department Store dynasty. Mrs. Tuttle, Barbara's mother, is determined to split the two lovers, and hires Norman in an attempt to humiliate him enough that Barbara leaves him. Will she ruin their love, or will he ruin her store?