Annie Hall Tops the List of 100 Funniest Screenplays Ever
The Writers Guild of America announced their awards for the top 101 funniest screenplays of all time revealing Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman’s Annie Hall topped the list. Annie Hall won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1977.
Woody actually put seven screen plays in the top 101. Many Screenwriters appear on the list multiple times like Harold Ramis, Mel Brooks and Billy Wilder. It’s a mix of classic and recent films. Who knows how many of the names will be on the next WGA list because comedy doesn’t always age well.
The ceremony took place at the Hollywood Arclight Cinerama Dome. Rob Reiner Hosted the show and Buck Henry received a standing ovation for his contributions which included The Graduate and What’s Up Doc.
Here’s the complete list of 101 funniest screenplays as chosen by the Writers Guild.
1. Annie Hall (1977) Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.
2. Some Like It Hot (1959) Billy Wilder & I.A. L. Diamond
3. Groundhog Day (1993) Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis
4. Airplane! (1980) James Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker
5. Tootsie (1982) Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal
6. Young Frankenstein (1974) Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Stanley Kubrick and Peter George and Terry Southern
8. Blazing Saddles (1974) Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard
Pryor, Alan Uger,
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle,
Terry Jones, Michael Palin
10. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) Harold Ramis & Douglas Kenney & Chris Miller
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Christopher Guest & Michael McKean & Rob Reiner & Harry Shearer
12. The Producers (1967) Mel Brooks
13. The Big Lebowski (1998) Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
14. Ghostbusters (1984) Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
15. When Harry Met Sally (1989) Nora Ephron
16. Bridesmaids (2011) Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
17. Duck Soup (1933) Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
18. There’s Something About Mary (1998) John J. Strauss & Ed Decter and Peter Farrelly & Bobby
Farrelly
19. The Jerk (1979) Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, Michael Elias
20. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) John Cleese
21. His Girl Friday (1940) Charles Lederer
22. The Princess Bride (1987) William Goldman
23. Raising Arizona (1987) Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
24. Bringing Up Baby (1938) Hagar Wilde and Dudley Nichols
25. Caddyshack (1980) Brian Doyle-Murray & Harold Ramis & Douglas Kenney
26. Monty Python’s Life Of Brian (1979) Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle,
Terry Jones, Michael Palin
27. The Graduate (1967) Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
28. The Apartment (1960) Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond
29. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation
of Kazakhstan (2006) Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan
Mazer
30. The Hangover (2009) Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
31. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) Judd Apatow & Steve Carell
32. The Lady Eve (1941) Preston Sturges,
33. TIE Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) John Hughes
33. TIE Trading Places (1983) Timothy Harris & Herschel Weingrod
35. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) Preston Sturges
36. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) John Hughes
37. The Philadelphia Story (1940) Donald Ogden Stewart
38. A Night at the Opera (1935) George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
39. Rushmore (1998) Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson
40. Waiting for Guffman (1996) Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy
41. The Odd Couple (1968) Neil Simon
42. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Jerry Zucker & Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Pat Proft
43. Office Space (1999) Mike Judge
44. Big (1988) Anne Spielberg & Gary Ross
45. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) John Hughes
46. Midnight Run (1988) George Gallo
47. It Happened One Night (1934) Robert Riskin
48. M*A*S*H (1970) Ring Lardner, Jr.,
49. Harold and Maude (1971) Colin Higgins
50. Shaun of the Dead (2004) Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
51. Broadcast News 1987 James L. Brooks
52. Arthur 1981 Steven Gordon
53. Four Weddings and a Funeral 1994 Richard Curtis
54. TIE Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 2004 Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
54. TIE Dumb and Dumber 1994 Peter Farrelly & Bennett Yellin & Bob Farrelly
56. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 1997 Mike Myers
57. The General 1926 Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
58. What’s Up, Doc? 1972 Buck Henry and David Newman & Robert Benton
59. Wedding Crashers 2005 Steve Faber & Bob Fisher
60. Sleeper 1973 Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
61. Galaxy Quest 1999 David Howard and Robert Gordon
62. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1963 William and Tania Rose
63. Best in Show 2000 Christopher Guest & Eugene Levy
64. Little Miss Sunshine 2006 Michael D. Arndt
65. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 1999 Trey Parker & Matt Stone & Pam Brady
66. Being There 1979 Jezy Kosinski
67. Back to the Future 1985 Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale
68. Superbad 2007 Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
69. Bananas 1971 Woody Allen, Mickey Rose
70. Moonstruck 1987 John Patrick Shanley
71. Clueless 1995 Amy Heckerling
72. The Palm Beach Story 1942 Preston Sturges
73. The Pink Panther 1963 Maurice Richlin & Blake Edwards
74. The Blues Brothers 1980 Dan Aykroyd and John Landis
75. Coming to America 1988 David Sheffield & Barry W. Blaustein
76. Take the Money and Run 1969 Woody Allen and Mickey Rose
77. Election 1999 Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
78. Love and Death 1975 Woody Allen
79. TIE Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Dale Launer and Stanley Shapiro & Paul Henning
80. TIE Lost in America 1985 Albert Brooks & Monica Johnson
81. Manhattan 1979 Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
82. Modern Times 1936 Charles Chaplin
83. My Cousin Vinny 1992 Dale Launer
84. Mean Girls 2004 Tina Fey
85. Meet the Parents 2000 Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg
86. Fargo 1996 Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
87. My Favorite Year 1982 Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg
88. Stripes 1981 Len Blum & Dan Goldberg and Harold Ramis
89. Beverly Hills Cop 1984 Daniel Petrie, Jr.
90. City Lights 1931 Charlie Chaplin
91. Sideways 2004 Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
92. Broadway Danny Rose 1984 Woody Allen
93. Swingers 1996 Jon Favreau
94. The Gold Rush 1925 Charles Chaplin
95. The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek 1944 Preston Sturges
96. All About Eve 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
97. Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 Julius Epstein & Philip G. Epstein
98. The Royal Tenenbaums 2001 Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson
99. Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon
100. Flirting with Disaster 1996 David O. Russell
101. Shakespeare in Love 1998 Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
