What Comedy Movies to watch on Criterion Channel

While vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, George McWhirter Fotheringay suddenly discovers that he can perform them. After being thrown out of a bar for what is thought to be a trick, he tests his powers and eventually sends a policeman to Hades by accident. Worried, he sends the police officer to San Francisco and seeks advice from the local clergyman, Mr. Maydig who, after having Fotheringay's powers demonstrated to him, quickly plans for world reform by means of miracle. Meanwhile, his boss wants to exploit Fotheringay's powers to expand his business. When Fotheringay implements some of Maydig's principles on a small scale, changing several of the local gentry's "immoral" possessions, they decide Something Must Be Done about him.

In 1672, two witches (Jennifer and her father Daniel) were burned by puritan Jonathan Wooley. In revenge, Jennifer cursed all future generations of the Wooley family, that the sons will always marry the wrong woman and be miserable. In the 20th century, a bolt of lightning frees Jennifer and her father from the tree that had kept their souls imprisoned. Jennifer assumes corporeal form and decides to make up-and-coming politician Wallace Wooley, then unhappily engaged, even more miserable by getting him to fall in love with her before his wedding. Wallace is a straight arrow, though, and Jennifer has to resort to a love potion. As we all know, love potions tend to backfire, with comedic results.

Jessica Stein is a single, straight, successful, journalist, part of a bonded Jewish family living in New York City, who finds herself not as straight as she thought when Jessica meets and begins an intense friendship with career woman Helen Cooper which ultimately leads to romance.

The President of Mexico is in the last period of his term and only counting the days before his retirement. It appears to be a quiet adieu, until an international conflict has him treading murky waters.

During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.

Cheryl is young, Black, and lesbian, working in Philadelphia with her best friend Tamara and consumed by a film project: to make a video about her search for a Black actress from Philly who appeared in films in the 30s and was known as the Watermelon Woman. Following various leads, Cheryl discovers the Watermelon Woman's stage name and real name and surmises that the actress had a long affair with Martha Page, a White woman and one of Hollywood's few female directors. As she's discovering these things, Cheryl becomes involved with Diana, who's also White. The affair strains Cheryl's friendship with Tamara. More discoveries bring Cheryl (and us, her audience) to new realizations.

Gulley Jimson is broke, difficult, conniving, uncouth, and a welcher, but an artist. The visions in his head may not really satisfy him when realized, but the quest continues, for the perfect wall. The Beeders leave for six weeks of vacation, and return to find a seven thousand pound committment, and the wall of their living room a national treasure, even though living with a wall mural of feet is not their cup of tea. Then, in a bombed out church scheduled for demolition, THE wall that can become his vision.

Despite his success at apprehending criminals, Kevin Chan's unorthodox approach to his work as a police officer sees him demoted to the traffic branch. Despite this, the man he put behind bars is now out of prison, and has vowed to make his life a misery. While this crime boss his harassing Kevin and his girlfriend, the police are contemplating reinstating Kevin to help them fight a group of bombers attempting to extort $10 million from building owners.

Brawling cable layer Steve Reardon doesn't want to marry girlfriend Edith but he also doesn't want her to date other men.

Adrien travels to a villa on the Riviera. He is on vacation and plans to relax. He shares the villa with a friend, Daniel, and a female stranger, Haydée. Haydée has many lovers, and both Adrien and Daniel despise her at first, but Adrien soon becomes more and more intrigued and infatuated.

It's Baltimore, 1962, and a rebellious “pleasantly plump” teenager attempts to be one of the featured stars on a popular dance show and win the coveted "Miss Auto Show" crown. John Waters' unique brand of humor comes to life in Hairspray, starring Ricki Lake, Divine and Sonny Bono. It's a movie with a beat you can laugh to!

Spoof of 1960s Beach Party/Gidget surfing movies mixed with slasher horror films. Florence Forrest, a not-so-innocent girl in 1960s Malibu, becomes "Chicklet", the first girl surfer at Malibu Beach. Only Florence suffers from dissociative identity disorder and, occasionally, her alter ego "Ann Bowman", a sexually aggressive, foul-speaking girl, comes out, during which time several beach goers are found murdered. The suspects include Chicklet herself, surfer Kanaka, exchange student Lars, and even Chicklet's own mother.

The two-man Laurel and Hardy Zoot Suit Band find themselves fronting a scam for "gasoline pills" in wartime oil-short America. They are however soon on the side of the angels helping recover $10,000 for an attractive young lady whose family have themselves been swindled.

Sam (Jerry Stiller) and Molly (Anne Meara) are a classic bickering old couple, and their marriage has been 40 years of sparring. Finally, when Sam refuses to move the carp he's keeping in their spare bathroom, Molly becomes fed up and unexpectedly leaves. She moves in with their grown son and starts dating an old friend. The couple's daughter convinces Sam to try to win his wife back and rediscover his own sense of romance.

Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains pop off the screen in vivid Technicolor in Gabriel Pascal’s version of Shaw’s 1901 play about love and politics in ancient Rome and Egypt. At the time the most expensive British film ever produced (complete with real imported Egyptian sand), Caesar and Cleopatra is a lavish epic, featuring standout performances by its two stars.

Robert and Nina divorce after eight years of marriage. He takes up with his womanizing Navy buddy Charlie Nelson while she looks to her interfering mother for guidance. Both start dating other people, but although they try to ignore each other whenever they accidentally meet, it is obvious the past is not dead. Then one night they find themselves in a nightclub doing the mambo together.

Harold Guppy (Rupert Graves) moves into the Beasley household as a lodger. Before long Mrs. Marjorie Beasley (Dame Julie Walters) falls for him and eventually ends up in his bed. Her thirteen-year old daughter Joyce (Laura Sadler) is aware of what is happening and threatens to tell Mr. Stanley Beasley (Matthew Walker) unless she is also allowed share the bed with Harold and "Mum". "Mum" seems to think there is no harm in this, as long as Joyce doesn't take part in the physical activities. Harold gets caught up in a web of deceit and blackmail, and each time he tries to break free of the grasp of "Mum", she threatens to tell the Police that he has been abusing Joyce. This movie continues much in this line, and it examines the effect of the relationship on both Harold and Joyce and how they are both driven to extreme action because of the influence of Mrs. Beasley.

A lone prospector ventures into Alaska looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia. He tries to win her heart with his singular charm.

Buster gets word that if he can be married by seven o’clock that evening, he will inherit $7 million. When his sweetheart refuses, he proposes to everyone in skirts, including a Scotsman! Hopeful still, he advertises for a bride and is horrified to discover five hundred would be brides hot on his trail in a hilarious chase to the finish.

A Brooklyn smoke shop is the center of neighborhood activity, and the stories of its customers.

An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage filmmakers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.

The lives of a set of identical twins, one an Ivy League philosophy professor, the other a small-time and brilliant marijuana grower, intertwine when the professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown for a doomed scheme against a local drug lord.

This merry farce depicts a satirical view of the French society: Ten-year-old Zazie has to stay two days with her relatives in Paris, so that her mother can spend some time with her lover. However Zazie escapes her uncle's custody and sets out to explore Paris on her own.

A young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde. When he sees her being forced onto a luxury liner, he decides to follow and rescue her. However, he discovers that she is an English heiress who ran away from home and is now being returned to England. He also discovers that his boss is on the ship. To avoid discovery, he disguises himself as the gangster accomplice of a minister, who is actually a gangster on the run from the law.