Young Frankenstein (A or 4/4 stars)
Mel Brooks follows up his hit "western" Blazing Saddles with this movie, 'Young Frankenstein', a hysterical, well-crafted parody of 1930s Universal horror films. i.e., Frankenstein & Dracula. Determined to downplay his family's ill-reputation, NY medical school professor Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (co-screenwriter Gene Wilder) insists on pronouncing his name "Fronckensteen" & denies any interest in replicating his famed grandfather's experiments. However, during a class lesson, he stabs himself in the leg by mistake {SO funny}, dismisses the class, & is visited by a family retainer with his grandfather's will.
Frederick then returns to Transylvania to his grandfather's gloomy castle, where he is awaited by faithful servant Igor (a bug-eyed, hunch-backed Martin Feldman), the voluptuous lab assistant Inga (Teri Garr), & the mysterious housekeeper Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), whose very name (when uttered) causes horses to rear in fright {again, hysterical}. Frederick had always rejected his grandfather's medical experiments as impossible, but he changes his mind after he finds a book titled 'How I Did It' by Victor Frankenstein. Intrigued, Frederick decides to make his own monster - and all that's involved is a grave-robbing & a trip to the local Brain Depository. With help from Igor, Inga, & even Frau Blucher, Frederick creates his monster (Peter Boyle).
Igor, however, stole the wrong brain (described as abnormal), & the disabled monster lumbers off into the nearby countryside, encountering an unsuspecting little girl & a kind, blind hermit (a great Gene Hackman). Frederick finds his monster, calms him down, & trains him to do a little "Puttin' On the Ritz" dance for an equally horrified/intrigued public. All seems well until the monster escapes again; this time seducing Frederick's uptight fiancée Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) with his, um, how should I say ... sweet mystery {wink}. So, with his love life & experiment in shambles, Frederick finally finds a way to create the being he had initially planned.
Mel Brooks' comedies have a way of making us laugh, even when we know the material is offensive or politically incorrect. For this film, Brooks' main targets are James Whale's Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein, 2 of the best of the 1930s Hollywood horror flicks. Brooks uses black-&-white cinematography to catches the exact feel of the earlier films. He also uses old-fashioned visual devices, sets/props, & dated high-voltage special effects (concerning lightning). And he adjusts the musical score to the right degree of old-fashioned scratchy squeakiness. The movie looks right & feels right ... which makes it all the funnier.
It also works on several levels: 1st as riotous comedy, & then as a weirdly touching story about man's fear of abandonment. That's a tribute to the wonderful performances of Gene Wilder, as Frederick & Peter Boyle as his beautiful disaster, the monster. They act broadly when it's required, but they also lend subtlety when unexpected; Boyle manages to be funny & pathetic at the same time. There are many moments of comic genius in this film; I'll highlight some of my faves. 1) Loved Teri Garr's sexy entrance; "roll, roll, roll in the hay!" {haha}. 2) Loved Frau Blucher telling Frederick in her faux-German accent to "stay close to zeh candles, zeh staircase ... can be tweachewous". 3) Frau Blucher's behesting Frederick to have Ovaltine.
4) Loved when the monster comes across the blind monk (Hackman) who offers hospitality & winds up scalding & terrifying the poor creature. 5) Demonstrating that he has civilized his monster, Frederick & his creature do a musical number in black tie & tails. And 6) Madeline Kahn assuming the visage of the Bride of Frankenstein in a cheeky bedroom scene with Peter Boyle. There are also the obligatory town meeting scenes, lynch mobs, investigations, lab experiments, love scenes, & a dose of the macabre. Brooks' Blazing Saddles & Young Frankenstein came out in the same year (1974). Both are great. But 'YF' is, in my opinion, Brooks' best movie - a commentary on our love-hate feeling towards monsters, as well as a superbly humorous parody of old Hollywood's classic monster movies.
Frederick then returns to Transylvania to his grandfather's gloomy castle, where he is awaited by faithful servant Igor (a bug-eyed, hunch-backed Martin Feldman), the voluptuous lab assistant Inga (Teri Garr), & the mysterious housekeeper Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), whose very name (when uttered) causes horses to rear in fright {again, hysterical}. Frederick had always rejected his grandfather's medical experiments as impossible, but he changes his mind after he finds a book titled 'How I Did It' by Victor Frankenstein. Intrigued, Frederick decides to make his own monster - and all that's involved is a grave-robbing & a trip to the local Brain Depository. With help from Igor, Inga, & even Frau Blucher, Frederick creates his monster (Peter Boyle).
Igor, however, stole the wrong brain (described as abnormal), & the disabled monster lumbers off into the nearby countryside, encountering an unsuspecting little girl & a kind, blind hermit (a great Gene Hackman). Frederick finds his monster, calms him down, & trains him to do a little "Puttin' On the Ritz" dance for an equally horrified/intrigued public. All seems well until the monster escapes again; this time seducing Frederick's uptight fiancée Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) with his, um, how should I say ... sweet mystery {wink}. So, with his love life & experiment in shambles, Frederick finally finds a way to create the being he had initially planned.
Mel Brooks' comedies have a way of making us laugh, even when we know the material is offensive or politically incorrect. For this film, Brooks' main targets are James Whale's Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein, 2 of the best of the 1930s Hollywood horror flicks. Brooks uses black-&-white cinematography to catches the exact feel of the earlier films. He also uses old-fashioned visual devices, sets/props, & dated high-voltage special effects (concerning lightning). And he adjusts the musical score to the right degree of old-fashioned scratchy squeakiness. The movie looks right & feels right ... which makes it all the funnier.
It also works on several levels: 1st as riotous comedy, & then as a weirdly touching story about man's fear of abandonment. That's a tribute to the wonderful performances of Gene Wilder, as Frederick & Peter Boyle as his beautiful disaster, the monster. They act broadly when it's required, but they also lend subtlety when unexpected; Boyle manages to be funny & pathetic at the same time. There are many moments of comic genius in this film; I'll highlight some of my faves. 1) Loved Teri Garr's sexy entrance; "roll, roll, roll in the hay!" {haha}. 2) Loved Frau Blucher telling Frederick in her faux-German accent to "stay close to zeh candles, zeh staircase ... can be tweachewous". 3) Frau Blucher's behesting Frederick to have Ovaltine.
4) Loved when the monster comes across the blind monk (Hackman) who offers hospitality & winds up scalding & terrifying the poor creature. 5) Demonstrating that he has civilized his monster, Frederick & his creature do a musical number in black tie & tails. And 6) Madeline Kahn assuming the visage of the Bride of Frankenstein in a cheeky bedroom scene with Peter Boyle. There are also the obligatory town meeting scenes, lynch mobs, investigations, lab experiments, love scenes, & a dose of the macabre. Brooks' Blazing Saddles & Young Frankenstein came out in the same year (1974). Both are great. But 'YF' is, in my opinion, Brooks' best movie - a commentary on our love-hate feeling towards monsters, as well as a superbly humorous parody of old Hollywood's classic monster movies.