Celebrating
its golden jubilee today is the monster masterpiece masterminded by Mel
Brooks and Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein, which had its theatrical
premiere on December 15, 1974. A triumph with critics and audiences
alike, it has become one of the pair’s most iconic and beloved films.
Young
Frankenstein was principally the brainchild of Gene Wilder, who had
been cooking up the idea for some time before bringing it to Mel Brooks.
Initially, Brooks balked at the concept, claiming there were already
enough Frankenstein movies. Brooks recalls:
“I was in the middle of shooting the last few weeks of Blazing Saddles
somewhere in the Antelope Valley, and Gene Wilder and I were having a
cup of coffee. He said, ‘I have this idea that there could be another
Frankenstein.’ I said, ‘Not another! We’ve had The Son of, The Cousin
of, The Brother-in-Law of. We don’t need another Frankenstein.’ His idea
was very simple: What if the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein wanted
nothing to do with the family whatsoever? He was ashamed of those
wackos. I said, ‘That’s funny.’”
With
Brooks onboard, Wilder set some conditions, namely that Mel couldn’t be
a major character in the movie. Wilder argued that Mel had a knack for
breaking the fourth wall—even unintentionally—and he wanted to preserve
that wall for this film, which was intended as a sincere homage to the
1930s horror classics. There would be no “winking at the camera.” As a
compromise, Mel contributed some voice-over elements and played a
villager in a minor role. His principal contributions, however, were as
director and co-writer alongside Wilder. In a 2016 interview, Brooks
elaborated on their writing process:
“Little by little, every night, Gene and I met at his bungalow at the
Bel-Air Hotel. We ordered a pot of Earl Grey tea with cream, a small
kettle of brown sugar cubes, and a pack of British digestive biscuits.
Step by step, ever so cautiously, we proceeded on a dark, narrow,
twisting path to the eventual screenplay—in which good sense and caution
are thrown out the window, and madness ensues.”
When
pitching the film to studios, two major hurdles arose: the budget and
the decision to shoot in black and white. Columbia Pictures initially
agreed to back the film but refused to allocate the requested budget or
support a black-and-white production. Brooks, unwilling to compromise,
walked away and brought the project to 20th Century Fox. For the
production, they secured original props from the 1930s Frankenstein
films and mimicked the era’s film-making techniques, including
period-accurate title cards and circular wipe transitions.
Brooks
and Wilder were mostly in sync during filming, though they clashed over
the “Puttin’ On the Ritz” musical number. Brooks initially refused to
include it, believing it would be too absurd to have the monster perform
as Wilder envisioned. Wilder, however, persisted and ultimately
browbeat Brooks into relenting. In hindsight, Brooks admitted Wilder was
right to insist on its inclusion.
The
film features Gene Wilder in the starring role alongside a stellar
cast, including the recently deceased Teri Garr, who was just beginning
to make a name for herself, Peter Boyle as the Monster, Cloris Leachman,
Madeline Kahn, and Marty Feldman. Wilder wrote the role of Igor
specifically for Feldman, who improvised several gags, such as moving
his hump from side to side and quipping “What hump?” when it was
mentioned.
As a whole, Young
Frankenstein offers a remarkably consistent and focused cinematic
vision. It adheres with razor-sharp precision to the moods, imagery, and
styles of the original Frankenstein films while effectively
amalgamating elements from Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein
(1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), and The Ghost of Frankenstein
(1942). The result is a lovingly crafted parody that simultaneously
honours its source material.
Critics
at the time were near-unanimous in their praise. Vincent Canby of The
New York Times called the film “Mel Brooks’ funniest, most cohesive
comedy to date,” adding, “It would be misleading to describe Young
Frankenstein, written by Mr. Wilder and Mr. Brooks, as astoundingly
witty, but it’s a great deal of low fun of the sort that Mr. Brooks
specializes in.” Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars, calling it
Brooks’ “most disciplined and visually inventive film (it also happens
to be very funny).” Gene Siskel gave it three stars out of four,
writing, “Part homage and part send-up, Young Frankenstein is very funny
in its best moments, but they’re all too infrequent.” Variety declared,
“The screen needs one outrageously funny Mel Brooks film each year, and
Young Frankenstein is an excellent follow-up for the enormous audiences
that howled for much of 1974 at Blazing Saddles.” Riding the momentum
of Blazing Saddles’ success, Young Frankenstein became a smash at the
box office, cementing Brooks and Wilder as comedy titans of the 1970s.
Half
a century later, the film has lost none of its charm. Its timeless
tribute to classic film-making ensures it remains impervious to the
ravages of time and trends. Young Frankenstein refuses to fade—a true
classic.
