In their first film for MGM, the Marx Brothers dropped Zeppo—and also much of their anarchistic spirit. However, even toned down and saddled with a traditional romantic plot, Groucho, Harpo and Chico continue to be the mad generals in the continuing march from Vaudeville-style humor to modern cinematic comedy. “A Night at the Opera” contains some of their best routines, including the famous “stateroom scene,” in which more and more people pile into Groucho’s tiny ship’s cabin, causing him to remark to a manicurist working on his nails, “You'd better make them short; it's getting kind of crowded in here.”

The final screen appearance of Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp character is also one of his most iconic—and most hilarious. Instead of blithely ignoring the era in which it was made, “Modern Times” tackles the Great Depression head on, opening with the Little Tramp as a factory worker at a bizarre, dehumanizing corporation, where one classic sequence finds him unable to keep up with an ever-more-rapidly churning assembly line. Also indicative of the times: though still a “silent” picture, Chaplin incorporates sound effects—evidence of that merciless machinery—and song, giving the Little Tramp voice for the first time.

With a title and theme song that are essentially an extended fart joke, and a scene involving beans that marked the first time flatulence was ever displayed on film, Mel Brooks’ skewering of the Western genre not only broke wind, it broke new ground. (The film also targets American racism with refreshing frankness, but let’s not linger on serious matters—you wouldn’t catch Brooks doing so.) “Saddles” also ensured that no one would ever accuse Brooks of being subtle, but who cares? Subtlety, as Gene Wilder’s The Waco Kid would say, is for “people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know…morons.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.” “I fart in your general direction.” “You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.” And of course we could go on, saying “Ni!” and pretty much every other memorable line from British comedy troupe Monty Python’s first film of wholly original material. Unfortunately, every memorable line would cover pretty much all of the dialogue in the movie. Better just to rent it; the Pythons’ comedic timing might be considered a wee bit better than ours.

If Mel Brooks can be credited (and blamed) for tarnishing the silver screen with flatulence, the creators of “Animal House” must therefore be held responsible for all the teen “gross-out” comedies to follow. As is often the case, however, “Animal House” is vastly better than the majority of its successors—a fresh emission, rather than a stale one. The final sequence, which reveals the later fates of all the film’s characters (“Senator and Mrs. John Blutarsky”!), is enough to send anyone into “double-secret” spasms of laughter.

We’ve often thought that films like “The Towering Inferno” or the recent “Poseidon Adventure” remake had a real chance of being great—if only they’d been comedies. Fortunately, the makers of “Airplane!” had this same idea—and, like most of their gags, took it one step further. Nabbing the basic plot and portions of the dialogue from a 1957 disaster film called “Zero Hour!”, they created what’s surely one of the most gloriously turbulent satires ever. Just don’t call it…you know.

A whimsical exploration of culture clash, “The Gods Must Be Crazy” starts with the relatively simple premise of an African Bushman encountering Western “civilization” for the first time—in the form of an empty Coke bottle tossed from an airplane. Like a shaken-up soda, the film then explodes in a stream of fast-motion photography, evil Land Rovers and rampaging guerillas, proving that slapstick truly is the universal language.

“There’s a fine line between stupid and clever,” and this, the mother of all mockumentaries, skirts it beautifully. Christopher Guest and Co. skewer the heavy metal/rock ‘n’ roll world so adeptly that when the film was originally released, many people didn’t realize that it was a joke, and musicians from Steven Tyler to Eddie Van Halen prickled at how close to home it hit. Though fake documentaries are commonplace now, “Spinal Tap” is—and will always be—the one that turns the laughs up to eleven.

If "The Holy Grail" wasn't enough to Cleese you, try this post-Python heist comedy, which has the rare distinction of being a film that has actually killed someone through the power of laughter alone. (A Danish physician reportedly chuckled ‘til he buckled while watching it.) Following the antics of a bunch of thieves, con artists, lawyers and other lowlifes, "Wanda" features a truly remarkable ensemble cast, including John Cleese, who also wrote the film; fellow Pythonite Michael Palin; Kevin Kline, who won an Academy Award for the role; and Jamie Lee Curtis at her prime. A sexy, manic, Oscar-winning, crowd-killer? We're sure Cleese apologizes profoundly.

Pushing boundaries that “Animal House” wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole, the Farrelly Brothers’ sleeper hit will squeeze the laughter out of you—and possibly make your hair stand on end. The moving story of true love surmounting all obstacles…oh, who are we kidding? It’s the one where Ben Stiller gets his package caught in his zipper and Cameron Diaz rubs unconventional hair gel in her bangs. Don’t watch it with grandma, okay?