The best Charles Laughton’s comedy movies

Charles Laughton

Charles Laughton

01/07/1899- 15/12/1962
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Charles Laughton’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Charles Laughton.
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
6.8/10
  • Genre: ComedyMystery
  • Release: 21/05/1982
  • Character: (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.

Hobson's Choice

Hobson's Choice
7.7/10
  • Genre: ComedyDrama
  • Release: 19/04/1954
  • Character: Henry Horatio Hobson
Henry Hobson owns and tyrannically runs a successful Victorian boot maker’s shop in Salford, England. A stingy widower with a weakness for overindulging in the local Moonraker Public House, he exploits his three daughters as cheap labour. When he declares that there will be ‘no marriages’ to avoid the expense of marriage settlements at £500 each, his eldest daughter Maggie rebels.

The Old Dark House

The Old Dark House
7/10
  • Genre: ComedyHorror
  • Release: 20/10/1932
  • Character: Sir William 'Bill' Porterhouse
Seeking shelter from a relentless rainstorm and landslides in a remote region of Wales, five travelers are admitted to a large foreboding old house that belongs to the extremely strange Femm family. Sepulchral Horace Femm and his obsessive, inhospitable sister Rebecca are the group's peculiar hosts. The house also holds surprises - and a brutish mute manservant named Morgan.

If I Had a Million

If I Had a Million
6.9/10
  • Genre: ComedyDrama
  • Release: 02/12/1932
  • Character: Phineas Lambert
An elderly business tycoon, believed to be dying, decides to give a million dollars each to eight strangers chosen at random from the phone directory.

The Private Life of Henry VIII

The Private Life of Henry VIII
7/10
Renowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second wife, executed on charges of treason, King Henry weds maid Jane Seymour, but that marriage also ends in tragedy. Not one to be single for long, the king picks German-born Anne of Cleves as his bride, but their union lasts only months before an annulment is granted, and King Henry continues his string of spouses.

The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost
6.9/10
  • Genre: ComedyDramaFantasy
  • Release: 20/07/1944
  • Character: Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
5.7/10
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.

Tales of Manhattan

Tales of Manhattan
7.3/10
Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.

It Started with Eve

It Started with Eve
7.6/10
  • Genre: ComedyRomance
  • Release: 26/09/1941
  • Character: Jonathan Reynolds
A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's last moments happy. However, the old man's health takes a turn for the better and now his son doesn't know how to break the news that he's engaged to someone else, especially since his father is so taken with the impostor.

The Tuttles of Tahiti

The Tuttles of Tahiti
5.9/10
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release: 01/05/1942
  • Character: Jonas
After a long absense from the island, Chester Tuttle returns to Tahiti to find that little has changed. His large family, particularly his scheming Uncle Jonas, would rather dance and romance than earn a living. When Jonas loses the family plantation in a cockfight, Chester saves the day by towing in a large ship abandoned at sea and claiming the salvage. But opening a joint bank account in the name of the Tuttle clan may not have been a wise decision.

On Our Merry Way

On Our Merry Way
5.7/10
Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?

Stand by for Action

Stand by for Action
6.5/10
U. S. Navy Lieutenant Gregg Masterman, of The Harvard and Boston Back Bay Mastermans, learned about the sea while winning silver cups sailing his yacht. He climbs swiftly in rank, and is now Junior Aide to Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas.

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
7.8/10
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.

Ruggles of Red Gap

Ruggles of Red Gap
7.6/10
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release: 08/03/1935
  • Character: Marmaduke Ruggles
In this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles, a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl is lost in a poker game to an uncouth American cattle baron. Ruggles's life is turned upside down as he's taken to the USA, is gradually assimilated into American life, accidently becomes a local celebrity, and falls in love along the way.

The Girl from Manhattan

The Girl from Manhattan
5.4/10
A small-town girl who's made it big in New York as a fashion model returns home, only to find that her somewhat dotty uncle has mortgaged his boarding house to the hilt. In her efforts to help him keep his boarding house, she becomes involved with a handsome young minister and his superior, an older bishop. Written by frankfob2@yahoo.com

The Beachcomber

The Beachcomber
6.7/10
Ginger Ted, AKA Edward Claude Wilson, a drunkard and womanizer, and Miss Jones, a missionary, live in the Alas Islands. During a cholera epidemic, Ginger Ted and Miss Jones are sent to an outlying part of the islands to run a hospital; on their return, their motorboat breaks down, and they are marooned overnight on a small island.

Because of Him

Because of Him
6.6/10
  • Genre: ComedyRomance
  • Release: 18/01/1946
  • Character: John Sheridan
A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous Broadway star.

Sidewalks of London

Sidewalks of London
6.9/10
  • Genre: ComedyDrama
  • Release: 18/10/1938
  • Character: Charles Staggers
On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room. Charles, who recites dramatic monologues, sees that a young pickpocket, Libby, also has a talent for dancing and adds her to his act. Harley, the theater patron who never knew Libby took his gold cigarette case, is impressed by Libby's dancing and invites her to bring Charles and the other buskers in his group to an after-the-play party. Libby comes alone. A theatrical career is launched.

Daydreams

Daydreams
8/10
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release: 01/05/1928
  • Character: Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
A young cleaning woman in a boarding-house relieves the drudgery of her job by daydreaming that a foreign student at the house, who she believes is interested in her, is actually a wealthy nobleman who sweeps her off on a romantic journey.

The Clerk

The Clerk
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release: 22/02/1933
  • Character: Phineas V. Lambert
When clerk Phineas V. Lambert receives his check in the mail, he shows little emotion. (Originally appeared as a segment of the film "If I Had a Million", but was later presented separately as a short film.)

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