Parody in Film
The Movie House
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4m 18s
Parody is as old as comedy itself. 1903’s The Great Train Robbery may have been the first great action movie - but 1905’s The Little Train Robbery (featuring an all-child cast) played to even more audiences. Few films have been funnier than the smartest parodies, like Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs, or worldwide hits like Airplane! and Austin Powers. Ripe for innovation, the format has sparked new sub-genres like Christopher Guest’s ‘mockumentaries’ and great political parodies from Dr. Strangelove to modern-day classics like Team America: World Police.
Archive Highlights
Archive Highlight | Airplane!
This video features exclusive interviews with Larry Charles, Conan O’Brien, Al Yankovic, Judd Apatow, Jerry Zucker, Billy Crystal, Adam McKay, David Zucker, Mike Myers, Rob Reiner, and Mike Birbiglia.
Up Next in The Movie House
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Airplane!
Airplane! has come to be considered one of the great parody films of all time, renowned for its dense co-mingling of slapstick, sight gags, wordplay, innuendo, satire, and an overarching tone of deadpan mock seriousness. Created by writer-producers Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker on ...
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Buddy Comedy
From the films of Laurel & Hardy to modern day hits like Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, two friends overcoming obstacles while being forced to contend with one other has proven to be a resilient comedic formula. Emerging from early vaudeville ‘double acts’ featuring the uneven pairing of a ...
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Ghostbusters
In 1984 Ghostbusters broke all box-office records to become the highest-grossing comedy of all time to that point, and the most successful comedy film of the 1980s. The film featured an ensemble of Saturday Night Live and Second City comedians who were vaulted to international superstardom as Gho...
