Try: Bob Hope Danny Kaye Red Skelton Chevy Chase (& many other SNL alums) the Pink Panther films (a British lead but I believe the films are American) the Police Academy films and similar franchises Leslie Nielsen Gene Wilder And this was fairly common for comedy teams - Abbott & Costello, The Ritz Brothers, Martin & Lewis, Olsen & Johnson, the Three Stooges, even Laurel & Hardy. Silent comics were often in quite similar films but usually with unexpected competence and ingenuity. LT -----Original Message----- >From: "Frank, Michael" <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Dec 13, 2012 11:03 PM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: [SCREEN-L] QUERY: the incompetent hero > >i have a student who's interested in writing about the incompetent hero in american movies, and asked me about such figures in movies from before the current century . . . i immediately thought of woody allen but then drew a blank . . . can anyone suggest either a movie [or set of movies] featuring an incompetent hero, or an actor who regularly played the part of the incompetent hero? > >many thanks > >mike > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org