The late Roger Ebert is remembered as one of the greatest movie critics of all time, a shrewd and eloquent writer with a beautiful understanding of cinema as a craft, who proved that his profession isn't just honorable, but essential.
Ebert had a "Great Movies" list, where he gathered hundreds of films that he considered some of the best ever made, and which he recommended as a starting point for people who wanted to delve into classics. In that list, there are films from all sorts of genres and subgenres – including hilarious comedies that, with Ebert's seal of approval, can be counted among the best of all time.
10 'Stroszek' (1977)
Like the rest of Werner Herzog's filmography, Stroszek is a really special and unique film. It's a beautiful tragicomedy about Bruno Stroszek, a Berlin street performer who has been released from prison and warned to stop drinking.
Many films try and fail at the challenging task of being equally funny and poignant, but Stroszek markedly succeeds. The visuals have a strange beuty to them, the script's sense of humor is beautifully melancholy, and the cast (composed mostly of non-actors) lends the film a strong aura of sincerity.
9 'L'Atalante' (1934)
Strongly praised as one of France's most important filmmakers ever, Jean Vigo made only four short films and one feature, and this feature is typically called one of the country's best before the French New Wave: L'Atalante, about a newly married couple and their doubt-filled travel down the Seine on the man's boat.
The story is a beautiful contemplation of the human condition through a gentle, modest approach, aided by a comedic tone that makes it all easier to digest. The film is shot in a poetic, almost magical way, evoking the kinds of feelings that most modern rom-coms can only dream of causing in viewers. It's a one-of-a-kind experience and a must-see classic.
8 'Day for Night' (1973)
François Truffaut, another one of France's best and most important directors, made multiple masterpieces throughout his career. One of his most entertaining is Day for Night, a meta-comedy about a film director struggling to complete his newest movie while coping with many crises.
Ebert describes the movie as "a poem in praise of making movies," the kind of film that movie fans can't help but feel both fascinated and delighted by. Day for Night is a clever and mischievous little gem that argues that movies are probably more important than life itself.
7 'The Lady Eve' (1941)
American filmmaker Preston Sturges revolutionized the screwball comedy subgenre in the '30s, and his domination of this kind of humor is particularly evident in one of his most famous movies: The Lady Eve, where a con artist falls in love with her target.
Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda are two of the undisputed best actors of classic Hollywood, and in this film, each offers one of their best performances. Sexy, hilarious, and entertaining from beginning to end, The Lady Eve is so well-acted and well-written that it inspired multiple subsequent movies in the genre.
6 'Yellow Submarine' (1968)
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The legendary British rock band The Beatles made five incredible films, only one of them animated. This one, Yellow Submarine, where the band helps save Pepperland from the Blue Meanies, happens to probably be their best.
For those that love the Beatles' music, there are multiple catchy musical numbers with gorgeous quasi-psychedelic animation; for those that don't like their music, there's a delightfully short but thoroughly entertaining story with sharply written jokes that are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud at least a couple of times.
5 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' (1972)
Luis Buñuel is famous for having birthed and revolutionized cinematic surrealism. The director made many bizarre masterpieces, chief among which is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, where an upper-class sextet's attempts to sit down to dinner are continually thwarted by an increasingly odd series of events.
Buñuel, popular for his biting social satire, shows it at its best in this surprisingly amusing film. It's relentlessly honest and exquisitely transgressive, thanks to a brilliant script and the director's typical outstanding work.
4 'Trouble in Paradise' (1932)
Ernst Lubitsch, aside from being remembered as one of the greatest screenwriters and directors of all time, was a crucial figure in Hollywood history. From among all his great movies, Trouble in Paradise (about two crooks who decide to rob their employer) stands out.
The movie revolves around one of Lubitsch's favorite narrative devices: The love triangle. It's intelligently written, elegantly directed, and (as Ebert himself puts it) "the comic material is given dignity by the actors," who do a terrific job with the already terrific material.
3 'Being There' (1979)
Satires are hard to truly nail, but Hal Ashby did it in 1979 with his comedic take on media consumption and politics. Being There is pitch-perfect, the story of a gardener who suddenly finds himself living on the streets with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from TV.
Being There cements Peter Sellers as one of the best and funniest comedy actors to ever grace the silver screen (as if any further confirmation was necessary), on top of offering beautiful symbolism, a genius script, and a transcendental story.
2 'The Long Goodbye' (1973)
The Long Goodbye is a cold comedy noir, the story of a private investigator who, when helping a friend who has been accused of murdering his wife, finds himself more entangled in the case than he'd hoped for.
The Long Goodbye manages the feat of feeling like a great comedy, a great noir, and a great Altman film all at once. It's an outstanding satirical take on the genre, one which constantly one-ups the book it's based on and delights viewers with one of the slickest and coolest versions of Philip Marlowe ever on the big screen.
1 'After Hours' (1985)
Considering that he's widely regarded as the greatest filmmaker working today, you wouldn't think that any of Martin Scorsese's films would require the label of "underrated." However, After Hours, about a word processor having the worst night of his life after agreeing to visit a girl in Soho, is definitely criminally underappreciated.
Ebert offers the best possible analysis of the film, commenting on its apparent lack of a message and admirable decision to instead show the hero facing a series of challenges to his sanity. It's an energetic, darkly humorous, masterfully made work of art that only Scorsese could have made, and the most tragically underrated comedy on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.