Mel Brooks has never tried to claim to be anything other than a writer, performer, and director of outrageous comedies. All his films are silly, and some too infantile for my taste. However, he has a few movies that contain so much wit, charm and, above all, timing that they can be considered brilliant. For my money, his best movie is his satire on the old classic James Whale Frankenstein films from the 1930s. His “Young Frankenstein” pays homage, makes fun of, and sometimes reinvents these classics. It is also one of the funniest movies ever made.
Fredrick Frankenstein is the grandson of Victor (the Frankenstein from Mary Shelly’s original novel, as well as named Henry in the first two classic films), and at the start of the movie he rejects the ideas and experiments of his grandfather. It is only after he finds out that he inherited his grandfather’s estate, that he travels to Transylvania for a visit. It is there that he encounters sinister house manager Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), hunched back house boy Igor (Marty Feldman) and sexy assistant Inga (Teri Garr). He then discovers his grandfather’s old laboratory and a book titled, “How I did it by Victor Frankenstein”. The movie which this film pays great homage to, renamed him Henry, but Brooks decided to also give respect to the book and retain the name Victor. In reading the book, Frederick realizes that reanimating life from the dead is possible and goes about repeating his grandfather’s work. The resultant monster (a brilliant portrayal by Peter Boyl) is captured and escapes again before the extremely hilarious conclusion.
The casting in the movie is first-rate. Included here are many Brooks regulars. There is Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein (who he makes a point of pronouncing Frankensteen, as to both reject his heritage and emphasize a possible Jewishness in a prideful way). Wilder has never been better than as the edgy, bewildered Grandson of the man who created the Karloff monster. He succeeds in successfully conveying intelligence and silliness at the same time. His comedic timing with all the other characters is pitch perfect.
One of those characters is the hunchback Igor, played by Marty Feldman, who has never had a role more suited to his strange buggy-eyed persona than that of the deformed hunchback sidekick Igor (Pronounced Eyegor). With a movable hunch on his back and a tendency to repeat himself, Igor is a hilarious parody of the original Igor from 1939’s “The Son of Frankenstein”, and exaggerates the stereotype that deformed people are also simple-minded. For example, the brain that Igor steals for the created monster is labeled Abnormal, which he deciphers as being the brain of someone named Abby Normal. Of course, for those of us who loved the original films, we always wondered about the level of intellect of the brain used in those stories. Here it is straight out stated and adds to the laughs.
Leachman as Fau Blucher, Garr as Inga and another Brooks regular Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth (Frankenstein’s fiancée) are all superb, but special mention needs to be made to the performance of Peter Boyle as the monster. Boyle was not a comedic actor per se and had some terrific dramatic supporting roles in the 70s, but here instills the pathos from Karloff’s original monster with an endless stupidity and the appearance of bewilderment that results in some of the funniest scenes of the movie. Especially the scene that lampoons the blind hermit in the hut scene from “Bride of Frankenstein”. Here the hermit is portrayed in a cameo by none other than Gene Hackman, which shows off Hackman’s ability to embrace comedy. Boyle and Hackman are so funny in their lampooning of one of the classic films’ signature scenes, that it was hard for me to recover from bouts of extreme laughter while watching it. The original scene showed how a lonely hermit embraced the monster as a friend and human companion, and Brooks retains that theme while emphasizing his blindness, which includes some shocking funny results of not being able to see. The scene is priceless, and I could tell that both of these fine actors were having a lot of fun making it.
As in all of Brook’s movies, “Young Frankenstein” is a satire that lampoons other iconic films. He took elements from the first three original films from the 30s for his story. In my opinion, this is Brooks’ funniest and best movie. His decision to film it with the same tone and feel as the original movies, was a superb choice that helped enhance the satire. Filmed in Black and White, while making use of old studio sets and the original laboratory props from the original movies helped it to keep the movie centered on that which it was making fun of. While anyone could enjoy the movie for its story as is, it is only those of us who know and loved the original 1930s films who can truly appreciate the brilliant satire for what it is. Madelin Kahn’s hairdo would just seem like a strange mistake unless you were aware of the female monster’s hairdo from “The Bride of Frankenstein”. The belly aching laughter induced by the monster, little girl, playground scene would not be as funny if you were not familiar with a similar serious scene from the original “Frankenstein” film.
“Young Frankenstein” is a homage to a classic influential series of films while seemingly creating its own unique identity of superb atmospheric comedy. In fact, after watching “Young Frankenstein”, it is not really possible to watch the original films without thinking of this movie and smiling. Not only does this movie allow us to remember the old classics, but watching the old classics will now allow me to remember this movie. That is a great testament to the power of Brooks’ masterpiece in comedy. This is his best movie and one of the greatest comedies ever made.
1001 Movies before you die 