Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder Bring Comic Glory to Young Frankenstein

             A top contender for one of the most original and hilarious comedies to come out of Hollywood, 20^th Century-Fox’s Young Frankenstein from 1974 lovingly pays homage to the classic Universal films, while seamlessly blending riotous situations and dialogue to create one of the most satisfying entertainments of a rich cinematic decade. Director Mel Brooks, armed with an ace script (based on the famous Mary Shelley tale) he concocted with star Gene Wilder, fruitfully reteaming with Brooks after The Producers and their early 1974 smash, the un-PC but wildly funny Blazing Saddles, hones in his perchance for uncontrolled humor, but not to an extreme, thereby excellently setting up each gag while allowing his terrific cast to offer performances that remain convincingly true to the material, regardless of how subtle or wild circumstances evolve during the film’s fast-paced 104 minutes. Brooks illustrates great taste and precision in re-creating the tone of look (some of the original sets from the old Frankenstein films were utilized) of the previous horror classics, allowing fans of the genre to fully buy into Brooks’ lighter revisionist take on these beloved films, while introducing a new generation of audiences to key characters and storylines found therein.

As Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Gene Wilder has perhaps his best screen opportunity to showcase the off-kilter comic sensibility at the center of many key Wilder performances. From the outset of his screen career, via a brief but vivid film debut in 1967’s landmark Bonnie and Clyde (after a series of Broadway roles, including originating Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Wilder exhibited a genius for portraying pent-up, edgy characters liable to explode in manic, panic-stricken, and hysterical fashion at any moment. In this vein Wilder scored his major breakthrough and won an Oscar nom as the highly strung Leo Bloom in The Producers, leading to his status as one of filmdom’s most adept comics, including playing in an admirably more mellow key (while still adding his uniquely bizarre tinge) in Willie Wonda and the Chocolate Factory and Saddles. For Frankenstein, from the opening scene its evident Wilder is in peak form, masterly nailing every comic bit, whether it be an exasperated eye roll, suppressed anger, or one of his classic outbursts, with the relish and skill of a born clown. Post-Frankenstein, Wilder would find continued success, specifically when pairing with the equally-talented Richard Pryor in two major hits, Silver Streak and in 1980’s Stir Crazy, before uneven output (with 1984’s The Lady in Red possibly his best offering during this period) would lead to Wilder exiting movies, with a final hurrah occurring via an Outstanding Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Emmy win for Will and Grace in 2003.

Marty Feldman also hit a cinematic peak as Igor, the doctor’s simultaneously impish and inane (yet well-meaning) right-hand man. Starting his career as a writer for British television and films, he gained fame as a performer in the late sixties, eventually landing his own BBC show, Marty, before turning to films as writer, director and (eventually, post- Frankenstein) star. Using his hugely expressive eyes and perfect timing, Feldman appears to be having a ball utilizing an all-out playing style as Igor, and his high spirits constantly bemuse viewers in infectious fashion, including directly addressing the camera, beautifully setting up jokes (“Walk this way,” “Could be raining,” “Abby Normal” etc.) and via a sudden Groucho Marx imitation for the ages. Feldman would build on the momentum from his major success as Igor throughout the rest of the decade, including a reteaming with Wilder the following year in Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother, working with Brooks again in the all-star Silent Movie, and in perhaps his best outing in the aforementioned mode of writer-director-star via 1977’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste, before his premature passing in 1982 at 48.

Madeline Kahn, continuing a spectacular run in films since her big screen debut in 1972’s What’s Up Doc?, followed by funny and touching Oscar-nominated work in Paper Moon and a beautiful send up of Marlene Dietrich in Saddles which would lead to Oscar nom #2, cemented her status as one of the 1970’s preeminent (with a nod to Barbra Streisand) and most talented screen comediennes with her sage, mock serious work as Frederick’s initially uptight fiancé Elizabeth, who loosens up considerably in one of the most amusing character arcs found in film. Kahn is clearly in her element, both as the reserved, snobbish Elizabeth and her liberated counterpoint, mixing zany comedy with an above-it-all air in the early scenes, before memorably meeting up with the monster, resulting in her operatic trilling of “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life,” to gain some of the movie’s biggest laughs. After her triumph here, Kahn would alternate between films, reteaming with Brooks for High Anxiety and History of the World, Part 1, while winning Emmy and Tony awards for her work in television and on Broadway, respectfully, before exiting movies with lovely dramatic work in Judy Berlin, just before her passing in 1999.

Toiling away for a decade in films and television, including work as a dancer in several Elvis Presley films (Viva Las Vegas chief among them) Teri Garr came to the fore in movies during 1974, first in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation before making a bigger impact in Frankenstein. As Inga, the doctor’s sweet and saucy assistant, Garr shows the comic instinct that would become a beguiling component of several major films to come, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Tootsie, and admirably makes her presence felt while gaining plenty of laughs amid a cast of inspired clowns. Deftly instilling Inga with both a good natured, naïve quality and a more flirtatious side, Garr creates one of her most endearing portraits in her admirable screen catalog of friendly, eccentric blondes, setting her up for continue success in this mode throughout the rest of her richly rewarding career.

In other key roles, the imposing Peter Boyle, in the midst of one of the busier character actor careers in cinema after establishing himself with honest, harsh work as the title figure in 1970’s Joe, brings humor and tenderness to his work as the Monster, including dueting with Wilder for an unforgettable version of “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Cloris Leachman, enjoying a great early-1970’s run with an Oscar for dramatically-impactful work in The Last Picture Show and Emmys in a comic milieu for The Mary Tyler Moore Show scores in the later vein as Frau Blucker, the housekeeper so sinister horses neigh in fear at the sound of her name. As Inspector Kemp, who’s determined to destroy the monster, Kenneth Mars sports an accent so thick townspeople can’t follow him, and brings plenty of bemusement, particularly in a “dart-off” contest with Wilder. Lastly, the normally intense, dramatic Gene Hackman gets right into the high comic spirts of the piece as the gentle, lonely, blind woodsman who takes in the creature for a meal, with many guffaws ensuing.

                The December 1974 release of Young Frankenstein brought plenty to 20^th Century Fox’s bottom line, ending up with $34,600,000 in rentals (according to Variety), to place it near the top of year’s top money spinners, while also gaining Academy Award nominations for Best Sound and the expert Brooks/Wilder script. The film has only grown in popularity, status and influence (including Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” thanks to Feldman) in subsequent years. On the event of its 50^th anniversary it now rates for many as the top offering in Mel Brooks‘ filmography, placing at #13 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years. . .100 Laughs” list of top comedies (with Saddles at #6). A rare comedy wherein a perfect fusion of cast, script, production values and direction guarantee its ability to draw laughs as copiously as upon its initial release will endure for another 50 years and beyond, Young Frankenstein serves as a prime choice for anyone looking for a glee-filled night at the movies, seasoned with a touch of the macabre.