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Sons of the Desert poster

Movies that feel likeSons of the Desert (1933)

Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.

If you loved Sons of the Desert, the closest films we have are The Bank Dick (1940), One Week (1920) and Genevieve (1953). All three share Sons of the Desert's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Adrift in Tokyo (2007).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. William A. Seiterwittyplayful
7 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · MUBI · FlixFling

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If Sons of the Desert hit the spot, these will too

The Bank Dick poster
The Bank Dick
1940 · dir. Edward F. Cline
🍅 96%★ 7.1comedy

Both land wit and play at once

Egbert Sousé becomes an unexpected hero when a bank robber falls over a bench he's occupying. Now considered brave, Egbert is given a job as a bank guard. Soon, he is approached by charlatan J. Frothingham Waterbury about buying shares in a mining company. Egbert persuades teller Og Oggilby to lend him bank money, to be returned when the scheme pays off. Unfortunately, bank inspector Snoopington then makes a surprise appearance.

One Week poster
One Week
1920 · dir. Buster Keaton
🍅 100%★ 8.1comedy

Witty comedy, and it commits to that

Newlyweds receive a build-it-yourself house as a wedding gift—and the house can, supposedly, be built in "one week". A rejected suitor secretly re-numbers packing crates, and the husband struggles to assemble the house according to this new 'arrangement' of its parts.

Genevieve poster
Genevieve
1953 · dir. Henry Cornelius
🍅 86%★ 7comedy

Playful comedy in both cases

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1950s show

Two friends driving in the London to Brighton vintage car rally bet on which of them will be the first to arrive back home.

Zero for Conduct poster
Zero for Conduct
1933 · dir. Jean Vigo
🍅 94%★ 7.2comedy · drama

Comedy built on wit, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Sons of the Desert does

In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the director on a celebration day.

Horse Feathers poster
Horse Feathers
1932 · dir. Norman Z. McLeod
🍅 97%★ 7.5comedy · romance

Common ground: pre-code

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Sons of the Desert does

Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against rival Darwin U.

Adrift in Tokyo poster
Adrift in Tokyo
2007 · dir. Satoshi Miki
★ 7.2comedy

A streak of play through both

A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.

Real Life poster
Real Life
1979 · dir. Albert Brooks
🍅 84%★ 7comedyRent or buy

Cut from the same comedy cloth

A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".

Clockwise poster
Clockwise
1986 · dir. Christopher Morahan
🍅 83%★ 6.6comedy

Both working the same comedy territory

School headmaster Brian Stimpson is obsessed with timeliness, order, and discipline. Brian misses his train after meticulously preparing a speech for an education conference. With no one else to turn to, he asks young former student Laura Wisely for a ride. Laura, upset over a break-up, agrees to drive him in her parents' car - which alarms her mother and father, who worry that she has run away with a married man and subsequently alert the police.

The Green Butchers poster
The Green Butchers
2003 · dir. Anders Thomas Jensen
🍅 63%★ 7.2comedy

Comedy in the same key

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Svend and Bjarne work for a butcher in a small Danish town. Fed up with their boss' arrogance, they decide to start their own butcher shop. After dismal beginnings, an unfortunate accident happens which coincides with a large order of meat. One hasty decision leads to another and soon the business thrives. In the meantime, Bjarne has to deal with his twin brother who has been in coma for years following a gruesome car accident.

Used Cars poster
Used Cars
1980 · dir. Robert Zemeckis
🍅 77%★ 6.7comedyPrime Video

Comedy approached the same way

When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.

The Invisible Woman poster
The Invisible Woman
2009 · dir. Cláudio Torres
★ 6.3comedy

Both play comedy straight

A man is abandoned by his wife and then falls in love with his neighbor, the perfect, ideal woman. The only problem: she doesn't exist!

The Boss of It All poster
The Boss of It All
2006 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 74%★ 6.6comedy

Both know what they want from comedy

The owner of an IT firm wants to sell his business for profit; however, when he started his firm, he invented a nonexistent president to hide behind when unpopular steps needed to be taken. When potential purchasers insist on negotiating with 'The Boss' face to face, the owner hires a failed actor to play the part.

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The best-reviewed films that share Sons of the Desert’s defining feeling.