Hacker Cinema
Young Frankenstein
1974 · Film · 106 min
Directed by Mel Brooks
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.
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13 comments on Hacker News
Growing up we watched Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Silent Movie almost every week. Happy birthday Mel, thanks for all laughs and grotesque which shaped us.
I was raised by elderly grandparents. That was a movie that my ultra conservative grandma loved. It was the only movie that was above a G rating that she let us watch, because she loved Mel Brooks so much. TV and movies were essentially banned when I was growing up. It was either Lawrence Welk, I Love Lucy, or whatever nature special was on PBS if we were allowed to watch TV, until I bought her a copy of Young Frankenstein on VHS. Then we could watch that when we had TV access.
Thank God for Teri's boobs when I was an early teen. I shudder to think what my tastes might be today if all I had was The Lawrence Welk show during my formative years.
Here's what I term my "flypaper" movies. If I happen to glance at the satellite TV guide and notice one of these coming up, there's a good change I'll be watching it.
Lawrence of Arabia The Maltese Falcon Most Hitchcock films Blade Runner The Man From Snowy River The Martian Monty Python & the Holy Grail The Princess Bride Serenity The Thin Man series The Thing Tombstone Young Frankenstein Monty Python and the Holy Grail Clerks and most Kevin Smith movies Baby Drive and most Edgar Wright movies Fanboys Spinal Tap Kung Fu Hustle Apollo 13
Of the ~700 movies I've watched (not bragging, just context - actual movie buffs watch thousands by the time they're my age), those I happily rewatch are:
The Thing (1982)
Silence of the Lambs
Alien
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Young Frankenstein
Rocky Horror
Raising Arizona
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Men in Black
Primer
But even those I've only seen a handful of times each. It takes a lot for me to want to watch/read/play something multiple times, as I'm the kind of person who always thinks, "but I could be trying something new, or getting something done".
This is addressed in pop culture in the movie Young Frankenstein, regarding Igor's hunchback.
Well, Adams books appear that way too. The writing is very contrived and stiff (even as comedic writing) - so it's all about the jokes. They're still great jokes and funny characters, but what's left as the strongest impression is them, not the writing flow, turn of phrase, or even plot.
I mean that in the same sense a movie like Airplane! is just about stringing jokes together, and has no deeper plot or "cinematic" qualities (compared to a comedy like Shaun of the Dead or Young Frankenstein).
Mel Brooks made Young Frankenstein in black and white because he wanted to pay tribute to the original picture. It was a complete success, and he had to fight to get his way. Modern directors are pulling the same stunt, however their movies don't have a special reason to do it. The end result is experience detraction instead of additional charm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2RpZBP_vyg&t=2860s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQUqK_RJz9c&t=105s
Young Frankenstein is filled with so many wonderful moments. "Igor, help me with the bags." "SED-A-GIVE?!"
I just wish they hadn't opened with a coffin jump scare. It sets the tone of the movie as horror and it took 14-year-old me a while to realize it was a comedy. Fast forward many years and I couldn't get my young daughter to watch it because that first scene scared her.
Young Frankenstein is my all time favorite comedy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/
It just has the right mix situational and sarcastic humor. I usually re-watch it every couple of years. Gene Wilder is just so good in that role.
Very sad. Young Frankenstein was probably my favorite movie as a kid - the Frau Blucher scene[1] always made me laugh. He'll be remembered (and watched) for a very long time, which I suppose is the greatest honor an actor can receive.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIID_TGwhM
When he started talking about a song from a movie I was really hoping he'd do the Puttin' On The Ritz from Young Frankenstein.
http://youtu.be/m6rqXHX3O48
I had the same thought, and my personal opinion is "not even close." Idiocracy was good, but very much "one note." I can think of other better films - MAS*H comes to mind, not to mention Catch-22 (though somewhat uneven, still better). Even Mel Brook's movies - Young Frankenstein, and The Producers, especially.
Nothing in Idiocracy matches "Springtime for Hitler."
I see complaints about security here, but you are missing the point, which is a secret passageway.
As we usually see in movies secret passages often have very unsecured ways of entrance (turning a wine bottle in Young Frankenstein). However using a knock for a secret passage would much less easy to stumble upon.
If you haven't noticed I've been thinking a lot about secret passages recently.