Young Frankenstein (1974)

Much of the words I used to describe Mel Brooks' work in Blazing Saddles applies here as well.To have not one,but two masterpieces of comedy in the same year is incredible.I'm amazed at the way Brooks is able to capture the cinematography of a genre such as 30's horror films,and use it in a spoof of the genre.Sheer genius! As for casting,Marty Feldman is hysterical as Igor.Classic routines,excellent casting,and again,the cinematography make this film one of the all time great comedies.

Fmovies: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) **** Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, Teri Garr, Gene Hackman. Mel Brooks' masterpiece horror comic spoof of all those Universal Frankenstein flicks of the Thirties expertly capturing the set design (actually from the 1931 classic!) and overall look of those timeless films. Wilder is the manic grandson of Baron von Frankenstein ("that's pronounced Frahnkensteen!) who goes back to merry ole Transylvania and follows in his family's footsteps ("vootshteps! vootshteps!") and creates a comic creation with Boyle as the chrome-domed, zippernecked monster who can do a mean song and dance of "Puttin' On The Ritz"! Hilarious sight gags and puns aplenty. Marty as the perpetually hump-shifting hunchback Igor ("that's Eye-gore!") is a scream with his oneliners and bugged eyes. Best line: the good doctor and Igor gravedigging with the summation: "Could be worse, could be raining!" and then downpours. Best bit: Foolishness with the Blind Hermit (Hackman) in one hysterical moment.

Dr. Frankenstein's (Gene Wilder has stated that this is his favorite of all the films he's made) grandson, after years of living down the family reputation, inherits granddad's castle and repeats the experiments carried out many years ago . He says goodbye his pretty girlfriend Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) and travels Transylvania . In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor (Marty Feldman), a gorgeous lab assistant (Teri Garr) named Inga and the old housekeeper, Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) . Later on , he successfully reanimates a body (Peter Boyle) which soon flees and creates wreak havoc .

Hilarious Mel Brooks/Gene Wilder comedy filled with horror satire , amusing events , nice settings and lots of laughters . This spoof of the old Universal terror movies is fun from start to finish . The original cut of the movie was almost twice as long as the final cut, and it was considered by all involved to be an abysmal failure , it was only after a marathon cutting session that they produced the final cut of the film, which both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks considered to be far superior to the original product ; at one point they noted that for every joke that worked, there were three that fell flat , so they went in and trimmed all the jokes that didn't work. Enjoyable support cast such as Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth , Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher , Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp and brief acting by John Carradine , Leon Askin played a lawyer but was cut out , final film of Oscar Beregi Jr and of Richard Haydn , but most of his role was deleted from the final print . And uncredited Gene Hackman as the Blind Man, in fact parting line "I was gonna make espresso" was not in the script, but was ad-libbed by the same Gene Hackman during shooting .

When Mel Brooks found that Ken Strickfaden, who had made the elaborate electrical machinery for the lab sequences in the Universal Frankenstein films, was still alive in the Los Angeles area. He visited Strickfaden and found that Strickfaden had saved all the equipment and had it stored in his garage. Brooks made a deal to rent the equipment for his film and gave Strickfaden the screen credit he'd deserved, but hadn't gotten, for the original films. Evocative as well as luxurious cinematography in white and black by magnificent director of photography Gerald Hirschfeld . Lively and agreeable musical score by John Morris , Mel Brooks's usual .

Excellent makeup by artist Ed Butterworth, being helped by the classic William Tuttle as makeup creator , as just like in the original Frankenstein (1931), greenish face makeup was used on the monster to make his features more prominent . Perfect sets and impressive production design , in fact he electrical apparatus used in the movie was basically the same as the equipment used Frankenstein (1931) , including many of the same props and lab equipment . The motion picture was stunningly directed by Mel Brooks ((Blazing saddles , High anxiety , Twelve chairs , The producers , Spaceballs , History of the world).

It was voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006 and at the 1975 Golden Globe Awards, Cloris Leachman was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy/Musical, while Madeline Kahn was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for their work in this movie.

Young Frankenstein fmovies. There really isn't much I can say that doubtless someone else hasn't said. Brooks used the same location and sets that were used for the lab scenes in the original 1931 James Whale version. Anyone who doesn't laugh at either the scene with Gene Hackman as a blind hermit or the scene where Marty Feldman and Gene Wilder are discussing the brain that Feldman brought for transplant has absolutely no pulse whatsoever. Gloriously funny from start to finish. Kenneth Mars is a hoot and Liam Dunn is a scream in one of the most painful-looking funny scenes in cinematic history! Most Highly Recommended.

Hilarious Mel Brooks send-up of the classic horror story.

The grandson of the infamous Dr Frankenstein travels to his grandfather's castle and works on creating life...

One of Mel Brooks' better movies, and that says a lot. On this occasion, instead of his usual laugh-a-minute delivery, Brooks opts for quality over quantity. The jokes are few and further between, but are hilarious.

Brooks is aided and abetted by Gene Wilder who not only starred in the lead role, but co-wrote the screenplay. Wilder is great as Dr Frankenstein. Good support from Marty Feldman, Teri Garr and Madeline Kahn.

Dialog from Young Frankenstein became part of cultural banter in a good many corners of the country immediately after this movie showed up in theaters. We loved every minute of it, "Give me a hand with the bags, Igor", hitting high singing notes while relating how your last date went, "Put the candle back!" "Nothing, dear, just a rat....filthy, slimy RAT!" "Roll Roll Roll In The Hay!" plus the immortal "..an ENORMOUS schwanstucker!". And what testosterone-filled 19-year-old buck didn't give serious thought to surprising his buddies with the hilarious trick of jamming a scalpel into this thigh? A very successful movie, and a slap in the face to those stuffy, elite- types who say Mel Brooks is not "a humorist". Well, dammit, he makes UNPRETENTIOUS people laugh, so perhaps the man knows funny when he sees it. Of course, as Blazing Saddles ruined most 1950's and 60's westerns for me for awhile, Young Frankenstein makes it very hard to take Karloff and all that bunch from the 1930's seriously any longer. Oddly, Mel can even make us laugh at resurrected, REALLY OLD gags; such as "Walk this way!" (The 3 Stooges). I'll never stop laughing at Young Frankenstein.