Young FrankensteinWhen I was a small child, at the advent of VHS and other consumer video players (videodisc, anyone?) there were a few movies my brother and I would drive our mom crazy with by watching over and over, to the point where we could recite the script verbatim with little to no effort; Young Frankenstein was one of the most notorious entries into our pre-adolescent movie development, and it has been a constant family favorite since. A rich, smart comedy that grew funnier with age--seriously, some of the jokes I should not have got as a kid--it is my favorite film by celebrated filmmaker Mel Brooks.
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Mel Brooks has always excelled at tickling our collective funny bone, but he is also a devotee of classic cinema, and Young Frankenstein is not just a spoof of the classic Hollywood "zipper-neck", but a heartfelt send-up to those monster flicks of yore. Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks co-wrote the film, and the genius actor also stars at the titular character, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein--it's pronounced "Fron-kon-steen"--and his performance could be described mildly as unhinged and manic...and these are definitely good things! A "more subtle" performance when "young" Frankenstein is forced to challenge his deep-seated convictions about scientific method, and accept that his grandfather was, in fact, right all along, means that lunacy is the only appropriate way to go. Frankly, being able to walk the line of satirical comedy and pathos should be impossible--I can't think of any actor more capable of accomplishing this herculean task than Gene Wilder. Watching Young Frankenstein is to revisit my past. It's impossible to sit around the dinner table and not reply when someone begins a line of dialogue from this masterpiece, phony accents and all. And the film is generally appropriate for most ages...speaking from experience, with a fantastic assortment of excellent talent. Keep an eye out for Gene Hackman as "the hermit" in his first comedy role. For you cinephiles, many of the set pieces from Frankenstein (1931) were re-used for the lab set in this film--talk about authenticity! Young Frankenstein frequently references the cinematic history of the Frankenstein movies of Universal Studios' catalog, with villagers citing previous visits by mad scientists trying to rule the world, running amok. A friend of mine has described Young Frankenstein in a way that is both a blessing and a curse: for those who have never seen the film previously, fair warning that if you are in the company of those who have, prepare to endure a level of quoting lines back at the film which only a few films can genuinely boast feels totally natural.
Mel Brooks is an accomplished filmmaker, and his knowledge of the style of the 1931 film, Frankenstein, and films like it, shows in the aesthetic here. Shots and lighting is evocative of the kinds of monster movies from the golden age of Hollywood, which makes the outlandish performances by a cast equally adept at not just moving between drama and comedy, but fusing the two into a single entertaining form. Speaking first-hand, I can say that even if you have not had the benefit of seeing the source material for this clever, artistic satire, Young Frankenstein remains splendid entertainment. Frederick Frankenstein's journey from America to his ancestral land of Transylvania--by train, inconceivably--brings him into the company of a motley duo of assistants: the lovely Inga (Teri Garr) and the bizarre Igor (Marty Feldman), pronounced "Eye-gor". Mystery abounds in the castle which was his grandfather's homestead, one which remains attended to by the mysterious Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), whose very spoken name send shivers down the spines of...horses. When Frederick discovers his grandfather's secret library--a discovery preceded by an unfortunate encounter with an overactive bookcase and a candle--his interest is piqued at the possibility that his grandfather was not (just) a lunatic, and Frederick's reaction is so overblown, that it is clear that there is no medium range of emotion for the prodigal mad scientist, screaming at the top of his lungs, "it could work". As Frederick and his retinue try to dodge the invasive presences of everyone from Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars)--and his double whammy of idiosyncrasies including a false limb and speech impediment--as well as Frederick's own fiance (financier?), Elizabeth (Madeline Khan)--whose vanity and prudishness yield before "The Creature" (Peter Boyle), amid song and cigarettes--he must seek to qualify his research as valid in the face of ridicule and attack...even if it requires a tap-dancing duet to "Puttin' On the Ritz".
Recommended for: Fans of the classic Universal movie monsters, uproarious Mel Brooks-style comedy, or both...or kids who want to watch this movie over and over every day and drive your folks batty. Trust me, it's worth it.
Mel Brooks is an accomplished filmmaker, and his knowledge of the style of the 1931 film, Frankenstein, and films like it, shows in the aesthetic here. Shots and lighting is evocative of the kinds of monster movies from the golden age of Hollywood, which makes the outlandish performances by a cast equally adept at not just moving between drama and comedy, but fusing the two into a single entertaining form. Speaking first-hand, I can say that even if you have not had the benefit of seeing the source material for this clever, artistic satire, Young Frankenstein remains splendid entertainment. Frederick Frankenstein's journey from America to his ancestral land of Transylvania--by train, inconceivably--brings him into the company of a motley duo of assistants: the lovely Inga (Teri Garr) and the bizarre Igor (Marty Feldman), pronounced "Eye-gor". Mystery abounds in the castle which was his grandfather's homestead, one which remains attended to by the mysterious Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), whose very spoken name send shivers down the spines of...horses. When Frederick discovers his grandfather's secret library--a discovery preceded by an unfortunate encounter with an overactive bookcase and a candle--his interest is piqued at the possibility that his grandfather was not (just) a lunatic, and Frederick's reaction is so overblown, that it is clear that there is no medium range of emotion for the prodigal mad scientist, screaming at the top of his lungs, "it could work". As Frederick and his retinue try to dodge the invasive presences of everyone from Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars)--and his double whammy of idiosyncrasies including a false limb and speech impediment--as well as Frederick's own fiance (financier?), Elizabeth (Madeline Khan)--whose vanity and prudishness yield before "The Creature" (Peter Boyle), amid song and cigarettes--he must seek to qualify his research as valid in the face of ridicule and attack...even if it requires a tap-dancing duet to "Puttin' On the Ritz".
Recommended for: Fans of the classic Universal movie monsters, uproarious Mel Brooks-style comedy, or both...or kids who want to watch this movie over and over every day and drive your folks batty. Trust me, it's worth it.