American Film Institute’s
100 Years . . . 100 Laughs
The American Film Institute (AFI) celebrated the centennial of cinema by airing a number of television specials, each honoring a different aspect of excellence in American film. On June 13, 2000 AFI broadcast a program entitled “100 Years . . . 100 Laughs—America’s Funniest Movies.”
To determine the winners, AFI invited more than 1,500 leaders from across the American film community—screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, executives, film historians and critics, among them—to choose from a list of nominated films compiled by AFI. The selected films (and their ranking) are listed below.
The
symbol appears next to those films which also received an Academy Award nomination (although this was not a requirement for inclusion on the list). Click on the name of one of those films to display more information about it. You can also click on the IMDb link to to open a new browser window or tabshowing information about the film from the Internet Movie Database. Or, click on a title in the column on the right to display the winners from another AFI program.
For more information, you can follow this link to the American Film Institute’s website.
 | 56. | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) IMDb |
| 22. | Adam’s Rib (1949) IMDb |
| 10. | Airplane! (1980) IMDb |
| 43. | American Graffiti (1973) IMDb |
| 4. | Annie Hall (1977) IMDb |
| 20. | The Apartment (1960) IMDb |
| 30. | Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) IMDb |
| 53. | Arthur (1981) IMDb |
| 94. | Auntie Mame (1958) IMDb |
| 68. | The Awful Truth (1937) IMDb |
| 92. | Ball of Fire (1941) IMDb |
| 69. | Bananas (1971) IMDb |
| 88. | Beetlejuice (1988) IMDb |
| 26. | Being There (1979) IMDb |
| 63. | Beverly Hills Cop (1984) IMDb |
| 42. | Big (1988) IMDb |
| 6. | Blazing Saddles (1974) IMDb |
| 24. | Born Yesterday (1950) IMDb |
| 14. | Bringing Up Baby (1938) IMDb |
| 64. | Broadcast News (1987) IMDb |
| 97. | Bull Durham (1988) IMDb |
| 71. | Caddyshack (1980) IMDb |
| 50. | Cat Ballou (1965) IMDb |
| 38. | City Lights (1931) IMDb |
| 86. | City Slickers (1991) IMDb |
| 98. | The Court Jester (1956) IMDb |
| 59. | A Day at the Races (1937) IMDb |
| 57. | Diner (1982) IMDb |
| 85. | Dinner at Eight (1933) IMDb |
| 3. | Dr. Strangelove (1964) IMDb |
| 5. | Duck Soup (1933) IMDb |
| 93. | Fargo (1996) IMDb |
| 87. | Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) IMDb |
| 83. | Father of the Bride (1950) IMDb |
| 21. | A Fish Called Wanda (1988) IMDb |
| 79. | The Freshman (1925) IMDb |
| 18. | The General (1927) IMDb |
| 28. | Ghostbusters (1984) IMDb |
| 25. | The Gold Rush (1925) IMDb |
| 100. | Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) IMDb |
| 9. | The Graduate (1967) IMDb |
| 37. | The Great Dictator (1940) IMDb |
| 34. | Groundhog Day (1993) IMDb |
| 45. | Harold and Maude (1972) IMDb |
| 35. | Harvey (1950) IMDb |
| 91. | The Heartbreak Kid (1972) IMDb |
| 19. | His Girl Friday (1940) IMDb |
| 65. | Horse Feathers (1932) IMDb |
| 8. | It Happened One Night (1934) IMDb |
| 58. | It’s a Gift (1934) IMDb |
| 40. | It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) IMDb |
| 89. | The Jerk (1979) IMDb |
| 55. | The Lady Eve (1941) IMDb |
| 84. | Lost in America (1985) IMDb |
| 46. | Manhattan (1979) IMDb |
| 7. | M*A*S*H (1970) IMDb |
| 54. | The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) IMDb |
| 72. | Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) IMDb |
| 70. | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) IMDb |
| 33. | Modern Times (1936) IMDb |
| 73. | Monkey Business (1931) IMDb |
| 41. | Moonstruck (1987) IMDb |
| 67. | Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) IMDb |
| 44. | My Man Godfrey (1936) IMDb |
| 36. | National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) IMDb |
| 81. | The Navigator (1924) IMDb |
| 12. | A Night at the Opera (1935) IMDb |
| 74. | 9 to 5 (1980) IMDb |
| 52. | Ninotchka (1939) IMDb |
| 99. | The Nutty Professor (1963) IMDb |
| 17. | The Odd Couple (1968) IMDb |
| 77. | The Palm Beach Story (1942) IMDb |
| 15. | The Philadelphia Story (1940) IMDb |
| 82. | Private Benjamin (1980) IMDb |
| 11. | The Producers (1968) IMDb |
| 31. | Raising Arizona (1987) IMDb |
| 78. | Road to Morocco (1942) IMDb |
| 51. | The Seven Year Itch (1955) IMDb |
| 47. | Shampoo (1975) IMDb |
| 75. | She Done Him Wrong (1933) IMDb |
| 62. | Sherlock, Jr. (1924) IMDb |
| 48. | A Shot in the Dark (1964) IMDb |
| 95. | Silver Streak (1976) IMDb |
| 16. | Singin’ in the Rain (1952) IMDb |
| 80. | Sleeper (1973) IMDb |
| 1. | Some Like It Hot (1959) IMDb |
| 96. | Sons of the Desert (1933) IMDb |
| 39. | Sullivan’s Travels (1941) IMDb |
| 66. | Take the Money and Run (1969) IMDb |
| 27. | There’s Something About Mary (1998) IMDb |
| 32. | The Thin Man (1934) IMDb |
| 29. | This Is Spinal Tap (1984) IMDb |
| 49. | To Be or Not to Be (1942) IMDb |
| 2. | Tootsie (1982) IMDb |
| 60. | Topper (1937) IMDb |
| 76. | Victor/Victoria (1982) IMDb |
| 61. | What’s Up, Doc? (1972) IMDb |
| 23. | When Harry Met Sally . . . (1989) IMDb |
| 90. | Woman of the Year (1942) IMDb |
| 13. | Young Frankenstein (1974) IMDb |