Without a doubt, 1974 was Mel Brooks’ finest year as a filmmaker. In February he released Blazing Saddles, the hilarious and politically incorrect spoof of the Western genre. An on-set conversation with actor Gene Wilder led to this satire of Hollywood’s most famous movie-monster. While not quite as funny as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein is in league with its predecessor as one of the greatest comedies of all time.Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) has spent his whole life becoming a respectable doctor and lecturer in America. He wants nothing to do with his family legacy (you know, the whole monster creation thing) and even alters the way his last name is pronounced (fronk-en-steen, he insists). This all changes when he is notified that he has inherited his late grandfather’s estate in Transylvania.
After meeting a gorgeous lab assistant, Inga, and estate servants Igor and Frau Blücher, Frederick grows to embrace his roots and sets off to create a creature of his own. Naturally, things go awry and Frederick struggles to control his mammoth creation and assure the local townsfolk that his creature poses no threat to them.
Shot appropriately in black-and-white and featuring a delightful period score, Young Frankenstein finds just about every way imaginable to poke fun at the previous film incarnations of Frankenstein while avoiding being mean-spirited. Mel Brooks clearly understands what a landmark film Frankenstein was, even though it became the source of many science-fiction and mad scientist conventions and clichés. To do satire correctly, you have to respect the source material. Brooks’ reverential tongue-in-cheek attitude keeps things light and makes it clear that everyone was having a blast while making this film.
The original Frankenstein is a classic- no doubt about it. The numerous sequels (and time for that matter) were not kind to the legacy of the story, turning the hulking monster into more of a joke than anything else. Brooks channels into the creakiness of the Frankenstein legacy and works every angle of comedy to get the best results. For a film that was made for the sake of having fun, the richness of comedic details is astounding.
The actors hold nothing back in their performances. They play their stereotypical characters with a zest and fervor that can’t possibly be misconstrued as overacting. Gene Wilder’s manic performance as Frederick Frankenstein is among the best in his career. His facial expressions, especially the eyes, and body movements are so meticulous yet perfect. There aren’t enough actors capable of selling this kind of performance anymore.
The supporting cast is also spot-on. The ditzy lab assistant, the creepy servant Igor (whose hump amusingly switches places periodically throughout the film) and the cold and sinister Frau Blücher- they all drop their one-liners without hesitation and do it with the utmost sincerity. This knack for wit, some of which was ad-libbed on set to make scenes funnier, seems to have been lost over time. Modern genre spoofs feature stale writing with obvious one-liners and sight gags. Where recent comedies feature forced dialogue to cover up lousy acting, Young Frankenstein captures the best of both.
The humor does not stop with the cast though. The set design opens itself up to snarky remarks and even adds to the humor when characters wander the castle. The sound effects and even the music get in on the laughs. Lightning crashes and horses scream whenever someone mentions Frau Blücher by name, the film score rises and falls to clue you in on what’s coming next. All of this shows that every member of the team was working as hard as possible to achieve their goal.
Admittedly, I fear that the films of my generation may stand in the way of me fully appreciating Young Frankenstein for the comedy gold that it is. Comedy has gradually gotten stupider over the years and the art of the spoof is all but lost. Given films like the Scary Movie franchise and its followers, modern audiences have all but lost their appetite for satire and spoofs. It’s easier for us to see jokes coming now, which, despite protecting us from stupid comedy like Disaster Movie, makes it harder to let go of our inhibitions and let the filmmakers have their way with us.
If you have seen Frankenstein or at least know the basic premise, you need to see Young Frankenstein. Even if you don’t like monster movies (or perhaps especially if you don’t like them) you will get a kick out of Mel Brooks and his friends firing on all cylinders.
RATING: 4 out of 5
