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Saul Austerlitz

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The 10 Best Political Comedies Ever Made (VIDEO)

Posted: 9/1/10 05:25 PM ET

When people think of political films, their thoughts usually turn to stories of dense intrigue and skullduggery like "The Manchurian Candidate," or morally uplifting fare like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." And yet, Hollywood has long known that politics was a sphere ripe for satirical appropriation. Running alongside the hoary tradition of the political drama is the rich vein of political comedies, treating Washington, or its local equivalents, as ripe for mockery and abuse. Viewing presidents, senators, generals, and political operatives with a barbed sense of good humor, these films treat politics with the appropriate amount of respect--which is to say, not very much at all.

Here, then, are 10 of the greatest political comedy films ever made. In our era of deflated political discourse, their good humor and cynicism makes the ideal tonic. When the political sphere is dominated by the likes of Sarah Palin, what else is there to do but laugh?


"Duck Soup" (Leo McCarey, 1933)
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"Duck Soup" is an ordinarily extraordinary Marx Brothers effort until approximately halfway through, when the Marxes’ brand of illogic shakes hands with the avant-garde, turning a hectic farce into a savage indictment of warfare. "Duck Soup"’s scabrous denunciation of war’s eternal pointlessness—change the costumes, but everything else stays the same—is unstinting, and prescient.
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This Comedy
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Top 5 Political Comedies
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When people think of political films, their thoughts usually turn to stories of dense intrigue and skullduggery like "The Manchurian Candidate," or morally uplifting fare like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washi...
When people think of political films, their thoughts usually turn to stories of dense intrigue and skullduggery like "The Manchurian Candidate," or morally uplifting fare like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washi...
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RogerHWerner
03:40 PM on 09/12/2010
When Huffgingto­nPost creates this silly lists I wish they would present the criteria used for selection. Without objective criteria all we have are the opinions of a few people sitting in an office chewing the fat...who cares? OK so these films are great political satire...s­o why not establish objective criteria that might be used to evaluate all such films? I suppose that would require too much effort and thought. Oh and why include Wag the Dog but not include "Bulworth?­" What about "MASH," arguably the finest anti war film ever made. Or "Election.­" Why "Dave" wasn't on the list I have no idea. Or "The Great Dictator?" And for sheer tackiness what about "Wild in the Streets and Mars Attacks?" Absent objective criteria for selection lists of anything become a pointless exercise. So how about it folks: Develop criteria for selection to give all these lists some value?
DrSnuggles
You label me and I'll label you
05:19 PM on 09/08/2010
A. I'm not sure you could possibly describe Altman's "Nashville­" as a comedy.

B. It was terrible.
01:20 PM on 09/08/2010
Bulworth.

Hands down
09:23 AM on 09/08/2010
Thought this was suppose to be about political comedies. This is nothing but stupid and tasteless. No politics involved. Got anything but black and white? Getting really old.
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12:17 AM on 09/10/2010
I agree and am irritated I wasted my time even reading this article or looking at the clips of movies not one of which I had ever watched. Now I know why.
04:08 PM on 09/07/2010
I've only seen one of those listed.
08:45 PM on 09/06/2010
Watched "Dr. Strangelov­e" again Saturday night. Brilliant.
09:46 PM on 09/04/2010
They forgot Gorge Carlin and Bill Hicks.
3rdCitizen
Nobody knows for sure.
12:44 PM on 09/04/2010
I also thought that Bullworth was better than Wag the Dog (though I liked both). Better than either one is the 2009 British film "In the Loop." Brilliantl­y funny, scathingly satirical, & ultimately depressing because it points out some very sad truths.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
minerva117
This space for rent. Cheap!
10:25 AM on 09/05/2010
I'm also a huge fan of Bulworth and I thought Idiocracy should get an honorable mention.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
DocManhattan
08:30 PM on 09/05/2010
I'll add my vote for 'In the Loop'.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
StarWarsHippie
12:18 PM on 09/04/2010
I'd add Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator to the list.
11:57 AM on 09/04/2010
BULWORTH! BULWORTH! BULWORTH! The problem with Beatty's masterpiec­e, I guess, is that it digs far to close for "liberal" play it safe "moderates­" that post on HuffPo.
10:01 PM on 09/03/2010
Charlie Wilson's War sucked. Let's not try to pretend otherwise.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
StarWarsHippie
12:19 PM on 09/04/2010
Hear, hear
08:23 PM on 09/03/2010
A late-60s film, The President'­s Analyst, is another good choice.
3rdCitizen
Nobody knows for sure.
12:40 PM on 09/04/2010
Dated but wonderful. My favorite James Coburn film.
05:02 PM on 09/03/2010
One amazing thing about the film Dr. Strangelov­e is the Peter Seller's Dr. Strangelov­e character is a dead ringer for Henry Kissinger who didn't enter public awareness until Nixon was elected four years later.
04:05 PM on 09/03/2010
Where is Bulworth?
07:18 AM on 09/04/2010
Where is Bob Roberts?
12:03 PM on 09/04/2010
Bulworth is better than all of these films (except Dr. Strangelov­e).
11:40 AM on 09/09/2010
AMEN! Dr. Strangelov­e is a classic, and unless some actor comes even close to Sellers, it will never be beaten. But Bulworth is certainly a distant second, and well ahead of the rest of these...
03:59 PM on 09/03/2010
Umm... Dick was the best political comedy ever made. Duh?