On the set of “Blazing Saddles” Gene Wilder approaches Mel Brooks about an idea: we’ve seen all the iterations of Frankenstein, his bride, his son, his ghost, etc. So what if we did a comedy about the great great grandson who wants nothing to do with the family’s legacy? They co-write a script, film it in black-and-white using original props form the ’30’s Universal Frankenstein movies, and, after Saddles hit screens in early 1974, “Young Frankenstein” premieres just 10 months later in the same calendar year.
Aside from the rushed/frenetic production that put these films basically back to back, this remains a crowning achievement of Wilder’s, of Brooks’, of spoofs, of comedy, and the classic horror movies that it so lovingly plays tribute to.
Every year around Halloween, I get in the mood to watch two movies and two movies only. “Young Frankenstein” is one of them. Mel Brooks says it may be his favorite of his movies. AFI has it as lucky #13 on their list of top comedies. It has a 94% lifetime score on Rotten Tomatoes. All with good reason. It is a classic in the truest sense, and should make the list of movies you consider putting on in the background of any spooky fall hootenanny you are planning.
For the unitiated, the inimitable and brilliant Gene Wilder plays young Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced Fronk-en-schteen, if you please), who, upon inheriting his family’s castle, returns to Transylvania. There he is greeted by the cross-eyed Eye-gor, stupendously played by Marty Feldman. And upon finding the old lab, goes back to starting the experiments. Like ya do. So, they steal a corpse, Eye-gor finds an abnormal brain, and lo, Peter Boyle rises from the slab. . .and eventually does a song and dance number.
That. scene.
Never fails to make me laugh. It slays me. And then reainimates my corpse and makes me sing and dance “Puttin on the Ritz.”
Along the way, Gene Hackman also shows up and tries to steal the movie in a scene with him as a blind priest.
You also get great performances out of the female leads. Madeline Kahn (always amazing) plays Frankenstein’s fiancee, and later is caught by the monster and forced to be his bride. Inga, the lab assistant, who may as well just be Ulla from “The Producers,” is also great as the forbidden romantic interest. Frau Blucher, whose name is always followed by the sound of horses whinnying, is also over the top and played with great delight by Cloris Leachman as the evil puppetmaster behind all of it..
You also have a hilarious bit about Eyegor’s hump as it inexplicably moves around. (This would later be recycled in Robin Hood: Men in Tights but with a mole that keeps moving around Prince John’s face) But the real magic throughout the movie is Boyle’s turn as the monster. His expressions and vocalizations are priceless. Funny, frightening, and yet there’s also some pathos there.
And of course at the end of the movie we learn a valuable lesson about penis size and its importance. That is a theme that is truly a “Universal Monster.”
This is both a great tribute to the Universal “Frankenstein” movies and a great comedy in its own right. Hosting a Halloween shindig and feeling more goofy than spooky? Pass on the modern torture porn, found footage, or deconstructivist tendencies of modern horror and just go for some belly laughs.
Young Frankenstein is rated PG, but would probably get a PG-13 today because of some sexual innuendo, situations and jokes. Pretty in line with other Mel Brooks spoofs like “Spaceballs” or “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” So, appropriate for some kids, maybe not all kids. I saw it when I was a kid, and I turned out ok. . . . . .mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!