Young Frankenstein (1974)Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Gene Hackman
The grandson of infamous mad scientist Victor Frankenstein, Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder), a respected neurosurgeon, has spent his life trying to distance himself from his grandfather, even changing the pronunciation of his name to Frunkenshteen. When Victor's will is opened, Frederick inherits his grandfather's castle. Upon his arrival, he discovers a book entitled 'How I Did It' by Victor Frankenstein which convinces him that his grandfathers experiments may have had some merit. With the help of his attractive lab assistant Inga (Garr) and his not so attractive assistant Igor (Feldman), Frederick sets out to continue his grandfathers quest to create life.
Young Frankenstein is not just a spoof of the Mary Shelley's Frankenstein story, rather it is specifically a spoof of James Whale's 1930s horror classics, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. Brooks has perfectly recreated the look of these legendary horror films, even going so far as to rent the original set used for Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. The result is this fantastic contrast between the beauty and subtlety of the image and the incredible unsubtlety of the comedy. Brooks was never afraid to go low-brow. This is, after all, the man who in Blazing Saddles gave us cinemas most famous farting scene. He once claimed of his comedy, "My movies rise below vulgarity". So you probably shouldn't be surprised that Young Frankenstein gives you more of the same. One of the key running jokes of the film is the fact that the monster has, as Inga puts it, "an enormous schwanzstucker."
My earliest memory of this film was from when I was quite young, visiting Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast. They used it in a demonstration of how a Foley sound studio worked. They got a series of volunteers up to perform different sound effects, they would play the scene from the film and when a certain coloured light came on each person had to make their sound to fill out the scene. My dad had been chosen. I can't remember what his job was, but I remember the fact that he had to go on the green light. The only problem was he is red/green colour blind. I can't remember how it panned out, I was only young, but the first time I saw Young Frankenstein for real, I recognised the scene (specifically Gene Wilder's line "What knockers!").
I was underwhelmed by Blazing Saddles when I saw it for the first time last year. I thought The Producers was good without being great. But I genuinely love Young Frankenstein. I think it is easily Brooks' best film and even if the comedy isn't to your liking it stands up as a really good piece of filmmaking. I think, though, that what this movie really shows is that for spoofs to work the filmmaker must have a genuine affection for the material that they are lampooning. Brooks isn't paying out James Whale's Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein because he thinks they were lame or crap, rather, he clearly loves the source material and this is shown in the incredible detail that goes into the mimicry. This is, I think, the key factor that has been missing from recent awful spoof attempts like Date Movie, Vampires Suck, etc, etc. Good spoof movies should be like making playful jokes at your friends rather than teasing those you dislike.
My earliest memory of this film was from when I was quite young, visiting Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast. They used it in a demonstration of how a Foley sound studio worked. They got a series of volunteers up to perform different sound effects, they would play the scene from the film and when a certain coloured light came on each person had to make their sound to fill out the scene. My dad had been chosen. I can't remember what his job was, but I remember the fact that he had to go on the green light. The only problem was he is red/green colour blind. I can't remember how it panned out, I was only young, but the first time I saw Young Frankenstein for real, I recognised the scene (specifically Gene Wilder's line "What knockers!").
There is a great little cameo from Gene Hackman, playing a blind man whose house the monster shows up at while on the run. It's a pretty bawdy, slap-stick scene but I like the idea that a Best Actor winner would not be above taking on a part like that just for a bit of a laugh.
I was underwhelmed by Blazing Saddles when I saw it for the first time last year. I thought The Producers was good without being great. But I genuinely love Young Frankenstein. I think it is easily Brooks' best film and even if the comedy isn't to your liking it stands up as a really good piece of filmmaking. I think, though, that what this movie really shows is that for spoofs to work the filmmaker must have a genuine affection for the material that they are lampooning. Brooks isn't paying out James Whale's Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein because he thinks they were lame or crap, rather, he clearly loves the source material and this is shown in the incredible detail that goes into the mimicry. This is, I think, the key factor that has been missing from recent awful spoof attempts like Date Movie, Vampires Suck, etc, etc. Good spoof movies should be like making playful jokes at your friends rather than teasing those you dislike.
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