Comedy from the 1970s: the best movies
24 comedy films from the 1970s, ranked by audience rating. The best of the decade, and it still holds up tonight. Updated 25 September 2026
We All Loved Each Other So Much leads with 8.3 out of 10, ahead of My Friends (8.1). Ratings range from 7.5 to 8.3. All were released between 1970 and 1979.
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We All Loved Each Other So Much
Three partisans bound by a strong friendship return home after the war, but the clash with everyday reality puts a strain on their bond.
My Friends
Four inseparable friends try to face their midlife crisis with daytrips and pranks at the expense of their families and the people around them.
The Sting
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
The Chaos Class
A group of affluent private school slackers enjoy a prankster lifestyle until a tough new disciplinarian headmaster arrives.
An Average Little Man
A middle-aged government accountant is determined to secure a stable job for his son before retiring, willing to go to great lengths to achieve his goal.
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession
A scientist builds a time machine and accidentally sends his apartment complex manager and a petty burglar to 16th century Moscow, while Tsar Ivan the Terrible travels to 1973.
Amarcord
In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.
Paper Moon
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Young Frankenstein
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.
Office Romance
Anatoly Novoseltsev is a mousy single father and office stumblebum working at a statistics bureau in Moscow. In the hopes of being promoted, he is coaxed into charming his disagreeable and seemingly unfeeling boss, Ludmila Kalugina, or "Meany" as she's otherwise known by her subordinates. Helped by his colleagues Olya and Yura, Anatoly attempts to ease the yoke of Ms. Kalugina, and what follows in the wake of his graceless manoeuvres is completely unforeseen, as he awakens a side to her not yet known, even to herself..
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".
Fantozzi: White Collar Blues
A good-natured but unlucky Italian is constantly going on a difficult situations, but never lose his mood.
Day for Night
A committed filmmaker struggles to complete his latest project while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.
Gentlemen of Fortune
Kindergarten teacher Evgeniy Ivanovich Troshkin is reluctantly sent undercover to take the place of an imprisoned thief who stole Alexander the Great's helmet. Evgeniy uses his striking resemblance to the thief to infiltrate his gang and learn the location of the stolen artifact. He finds the gangsters are unexpectedly similar to his students- they also need love and care.
Life of Brian
Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python's signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian's life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.
Afonya
Afonya Borshev is a plumber who drinks a lot, flirts a lot and doesn't care too much about tomorrow. His wife left him, his boss placed him on probation, his whole life is falling apart, but he doesn't realize it. When Afonya met Katya at a dance club he didn't pay her much attention, yet she may be the only one who can help him.
Annie Hall
New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.
Manhattan
Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
12 Chairs
A former aristocrat Ippolit Vorobyaninov leads a miserable life in Soviet Russia. His mother-in-law reveals a secret to him - she hid family diamonds in one of the twelve chairs they once had. Vorobyaninov in cooperation with a young con artist Ostap Bender start a long search for the diamonds.
The Chaos Class Failed the Class
A young and beautiful female teacher starts working in an all boys high school.
Being There
A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.
Harold and Maude
A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.
They Call Me Trinity
The simple story has the pair coming to the rescue of peace-loving Mormons when land-hungry Major Harriman sends his bullies to harass them into giving up their fertile valley. Trinity and Bambino manage to save the Mormons and send the bad guys packing with slapstick humor instead of excessive violence, saving the day.
Ugly, Dirty and Bad
Giacinto lives with his wife, their ten children and various other family members in a shack on the hills of Rome. Some time ago he has lost his left eye while at work, and got a consistent sum of money from the insurance company, which he keeps hidden from the rest of the family. His whole life is now based on defending the money he sees as his own, while the rest of the family tries to kill him.
What to know before choosing
Comedy is the genre worst served by ratings, and it is worth knowing that before reading this list. Humour dates and travels badly: a comedy adored at home comes across as lukewarm elsewhere, and average ratings show it. A comedy at 7 out of 10 is often the equivalent of a drama at 7.8. The ranking favours the ones that crossed their own border — rarely the most talkative.
The 1970s are the most densely well-rated decade in the catalogue, and that owes less to the genius of the era than to the sieve of time: only films that survived fifty years are still offered and still rated. What you see here is not the cinema of the 1970s, it is what remains of it — which is exactly what you want when choosing a film for tonight.
Frequently asked questions
How were these 24 films chosen?
They come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.
Which film in this list is rated highest?
We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974), with 8.3 out of 10 from 667 audience votes.
Where can I watch these films?
Taro eira shows, film by film, which platforms carry it in the UK and at what price — subscription, rental or purchase. The per-platform lists are further down this page.
How often does this list change?
It is recomputed every day. Ratings move slowly, catalogues move fast: availability is what mostly pushes titles in and out.
Do I need an account?
No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.
See also
- Comedy
- Comedy from the 2020s
- Comedy from the 2010s
- Comedy from the 2000s
- Comedy from the 1990s
- Comedy from the 1980s
- Comedy before 1970
- Action from the 1970s
- Adventure from the 1970s
- Animation from the 1970s
- Crime from the 1970s
- Documentary from the 1970s
- Drama from the 1970s
- Family from the 1970s
- Fantasy from the 1970s
- Biopic from the 1970s
- Horror from the 1970s
- Musical from the 1970s
- Romance from the 1970s
- Sci-fi from the 1970s
- Thriller from the 1970s
- War from the 1970s
- Western from the 1970s
How this list is built
Films come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.
Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.