| Genre: | Comedy |
| Year: | 1974 |
| Rating: | PG |
| Length: | 108mins |
| Country: | USA |
| Cast: | Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Richard Haydn, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Leon Askin, Oscar Beregi, Peter Boyle, Mel Brooks, Lou Cutell, John Dennis, Liam Dunn, Michael Fox, Danny Goldman, Gene Hackman, Lindia Kristen, CLoris Leachman, Arthur Malet, Richard A. Roth, Norbert Schiller, Rolfe Sedan, Gene Wilder |
| Credits: | Directed by Mel Brooks. Produced by Michael Gruskoff. Written by Mel Brooks & GEne Wilder. Cinematography by Gerald Hirschfeld. Music composed and directed by John Morris. Edited by John C. Howard. Production Designer and Art Director, Dale Hennesy. Set Decoration by Robert de VEstel. Costumes by Dorothy Jeakins. Makeup by Ed Butterworth & William J. Tuttle. Special Effects by Henry Miller Jr. Assistant Director, Marvin Miller. Sound by Gene S. Catamessa. Casting by Jane Feinberg & Mike Fenton. Sound by Richard Portman. |
Synopsis
An affectionate parody of Universal's Frankenstein series of the 1930s, Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein is so lovingly filmed in the Gothic style of the originals (even unto utilizing fine-grain black & white stock) that at times it
artistically surpasses its role models.
Gene Wilder plays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a neurosurgeon determined to distance himself from his notorious forebears. Inheriting the family castle in Transylvania, Dr. F is met at the train station by Igor (Marty Feldman), the hunchbacked, cock-eyed assistant of Frankenstein's grandfather. Igor introduces Frederick to his buxom, Teutonic assistant Inga (Teri Garr) who eagerly awaits Frederick in the back of the hay wagon that will take them to fearsome Frankenstein Castle which is overseen by the formidable Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman), the mention of whose name invariably causes all nearby horses to whinny in terror. While exploring the castle, Frederick and Inga discover his grandfather's cobweb-laden laboratory. Suddenly obsessed with the notion of carrying on grandpa's work, Frederick "borrows" a body from a cemetery. Igor is sent to the nearby medical academy to steal the brain of Hans Delbruck, "scientist and saint"; the robbery goes awry, however, and the bumbling assistant returns with a brain marked "Abnormal," a fact he neglects to share with his new master. Frederick rapidly assembles his creature (Peter Boyle), who closely resembles its Karloffian predecessors, save for its bald pate and the zippers on its neck. Frightened by fire--and only briefly mollified by Frau Blucher's violin--the monster escapes into the night. After its recapture, Frederick endeavors to humanize his creation by teaching it a song-and-dance number, "Puttin' on the Ritz," but once more the monster is enraged by fire. Its next escape coincides with the arrival of ultra-fussy fiancee Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) whom the monster kidnaps and takes to a secret cave where they share some of life's sweeter mysteries. Meanwhile Frederick and his friends desperately try to find a way to save the creature from the angry villagers seeking to destroy him.
The Mel Brooks-Gene Wilder script, the evocative musical score by John Morris and the crisp black-and-white lenswork of Gerald Hirschfield all combine for a frolicsome comedy experience-one which rang up a $39 million profit (nearly 20 times its cost) at the box-office.
|
|
|
|
