Young Frankenstein (1974)

(On DVD, November 2001) Alas, years of ever-heightened comic pacing have not been kind to this satire of the first two Frankenstein films. (Which you should see in order to get a few scenes, most notably the blind man sequence.) The jokes come too slow, and sometime feel too forced. Fortunately, the actors pretty much earn our sympathy early on, and help considerably in enjoying the picture. (Particular wows go to Teri Garr, whose luscious Inga steals the show. “Vould you like a roll in ze hay? It’s fun! Roll! Roll!”) Mel Brooks fans will love it: the overall pacing is a lot like Blazing Saddles. The DVD features quite a few deleted scenes (justifiably cut for pacing, but they explain a lot. The “intellectual discussion” should have been kept in the film.) and a good making-of documentary that benefits from a comfortably-distant perspective.

(Second Viewing, On Cable TV, March 2020) There are plenty of reasons why Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein is a great comedy that appreciates with time (I certainly like it a lot more now than in 2001), but my favourite one is that every top-billed actor in the movie goes all-out. Everyone has a memorable quirk to play, everyone has a few great scenes, and everyone gets to highlight something that makes them special — whether it’s Peter Boyle’s bulk, Marty Feldman’s bulging eyes, Cloris Leachman’s scenery chomping or Teri Garr and Madeline Khan’s gift for sexy comedy. And then there’s Gene Wilder (who co-write the script) – playing a neurotic character with carefully-studied cracks allowing a glimpse into the madness underneath. Better yet is that this terrific troupe of comic actors is finely controlled: unlike other Brooks films, Brooks-the-director finely keeps a handle on how to execute Brooks-the-co-writer’s script, and even keeps Brooks-the-actor from showing up. This gives to the film a deliberate nature that often feels missing from other Brooks film that never quite know when enough is enough – this one gets its laughs in, but doesn’t belabour the point. The laughs in Young Frankenstein are not always simple – a mixture of double-entendres, ironic riffs on overblown overacting, eye-rollingly dumb gags and a sophisticated pastiche of an earlier filmmaking era. The production means of the film are surprisingly good, which adds to the high comedy of the whole. Young Frankenstein is an incredibly slick production, and it’s hard to imagine it could be funnier.