Is it possible for a great comedy movie to be clean? As dirty jokes evoke more laughter...Can you remember any such comedy movies?

Home Alone wasn’t that dirty except when Culkin found his big brothers Playboys.

@buster – The question was about GREAT comedy.

The Money Pit
The Jerk
All of the original Pink Panther Movies

@Macbean Oh you must be thinking about Home Alone 2.

Check out laurel and hardy, the Marx brothers, three stooges, I love Lucy, the smothers brothers, early bill cosby (before he got into television shows).
I realize these are not all movies, but there is a lot of good comedy that is clean.

Yes. I think Groundhog Day is a great comedy and it’s pretty clean.

Marx Brothers are hilarious. I find myself humming “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady” whenever I see heavily tattooed women…
“She had eyes that folks adore so. And a torso even more so.” and, “She once swept an admiral clear off his feet. The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat.” teeheehee

Tootsie
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Who Framed Roger Rabbit

@Bluefreedom, I loved The Gods Must Be Crazy!

@basp The Smothers Brothers and I Love Lucy made me laugh all the time. I never got to watch the original shows since I’m too young, but the reruns were definitely enjoyable. GA for that, basp.

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Big, The Princess Bride, Young Frankenstein, Better Off Dead, The Little Rascals ( movie, but also the Our Gang series).

Was Trains, Planes and Automobiles clean?

I recall that being really funny.

Dirty jokes definitely do NOT evoke more laughter with me. Off-color, innuendo stuff that requires thought like on “2 and a Half Men” IS funny.

Airplane.

@cprevite I was thinking the same, but I remember the part when they had to share the bed in the hotel, maybe that part wasn’t too bad…

Sister Act

I like this question because the other day I thought about what the next direction of comedy would be. I feel that right now dirty = hilarious, but (correct me if I’m wrong because I’m young) I don’t think that’s how it’s always been.

I learned about Commedia dell’arte in one of my classes last year, and the most hilarious thing ever (to the people of that day) was the sound that was made when the old man hit someone with his sword (it was a loud slapping noise).

So I think it is possible for a clean movie to be funny, because it’s really just about what everyone else thinks is funny at the moment. I think all the movies that have been named so far are hilarious, and I also think that the dirty ones are funny as well.

I think the dirty is funny thing has come and gone in waves. People like to push the boundaries. When the boundaries loosen a bit it’s not as funny anymore. Once people start getting tense about dirty jokes they get funny again.

@jonsblond “Those aren’t PILLOWS!”

I’m not convinced it’s not the SHOCK and EMBARASSMENT elements that make people laugh at dirty jokes. And I think that’s why dirty jokes are funnier to younger people. When you hear the dirty jokes enough times, I think you become immune.

Yeah, but if they’re old jokes they won’t be funny anyway -dirty or not. Also, once a certain joke is expected it’s not as funny.

Movie trailers can ruin the funniest parts of movies. I’ll see a trailer for a certain movie, say maybe 10 times, then go to the theater to see it and am amazed at the number of people that still find the joke funny.

Any film by Preston Sturges would do the trick, comedy-wise, as will any 1930s screwball comedy, like His Girl Friday or The Philadelphia Story.

I like dirty humor, not gonna lie, but I think comedies are most successful when they pair that kind of humor with other, more complex kinds. My favorites are Wes Anderson movies (Rushmore, Life Aquatic, Royal Tennenbaums), Dogma, Christopher Guest movies (Spinal Tap, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind), Ferris Bueller, Saved!, Woody Allen movies, Accepted, etc.

Some of my favorite movies with mostly dirty humor are Knocked Up and Waiting. Both absolutely hilarious films if you smoke weed and have worked at a restaurant. I use lines out of both of those movies in daily conversation on a constant basis.

Dumb and Dumber and Napoleon Dynamite

@tennesseejac. How could I forget Napoleon, awesome movie!

Am I the only person who didn’t like that movie?

School of rock
I think that movie is great and is not dirty at all

@Tits—If you’re talking about Napoleon Dynamite, no, you’re not the only one. Most of the time when I don’t like a movie, I just shrug it off and forget about it. But several years later, I’m still mourning the loss of that hour and a half of my life.

I’m with TitsMcGhee and MacBean – I thought Napoleon Dynamite was really bad and not funny for the most part.

@tennesseejac “I caught you a delicious bass”... :)

@jonsblond “Take a look at what I’m wearing, people pointing at a lovely pair of American Flag workout pants. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I’m wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.”

Yeah, its not the funniest movie in the world, but its CLEAN

“I have mad skills.” I liked that movie. It took a while to get the pacing of it though.

I really liked School of Rock, too. Good call on that one, May.

Mrs. Doubtfire…does that qualify as great?

some of Will Ferrell’s movies havent been too bad/ dirty…
Zoolander, ELF, Blades of Glory??

and what about all of those new animated comedies for kids>like Ice Age or Shrek?

@augustlan Mrs Definitely! i love robin williams.

The Incredibles.

@queenzboulevard, I can see it heading more in the direction of Flight of the Conchords, which is an interesting combination of styles.