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Copyright 2016 by Brooksfilms Limited
Foreword copyright 2016 by Judd Apatow
Excerpt on from Larry King Live, 2002.
Excerpt on from Newsweek, February 17, 1975.
Excerpt on from a Danish television interview.
Excerpt on from Washington Post, December 14, 2016, Peter Boyle by Adam Bernstein.
Excerpts on copyright 2016 Loraine Alterman Boyle.
Excerpt on from Later with Bob Costas, 1993.
Excerpt on , from Mars on Life: Kenneth Mars from DigitallyObsessed.com.
Excerpt on from Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1974, The Birth of a Mirthful Monster by Wayne Warga.
Excerpt on from Interviews Too Shocking to Print! Bear Manir Media, 2014, by Justin Humphreys.
Excerpt on , St. Martins Griffin, 2005, copyright Gene Wilder.
Excerpt on from Film Score Monthly, August 21, 2001, Jeffrey K. Howard, John Morris interview.
Excerpt on from The Art of John Alvin, Titan Books, copyright 2014, by Andrea Alvin.
Excerpt on from rogerebert.com, by Roger Ebert.
Excerpt on from Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1974, by Charles Champlin.
Cover design by Amanda Kain
Cover image YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN 1974 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved.
Cover copyright 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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First ebook edition: October 2016
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All images are from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN 1974 Twentieth Century Fox, except:
, National Portrait Gallery, London
, courtesy of Mel Brooks
, map Aleksandra Gigowska/Shutterstock, illustrations OhioBoy
licensed from Photofest
Andy Taray
Original lyrics on from Puttin On The Ritz by Irving Berlin, Copyright 1928, 1929 by Irving Berlin, Copyright Renewed, International Copyright Secured, All Rights Reserved, Reprinted by Permission
Book conceived by Mel Brooks and Michael Gruskoff
Assistant to Mel Brooks: Shelby Van Vliet
Assistant to Michael Gruskoff: Daniel Pour
Editor: Katherine Furman
Special Thanks: Gianna Babando and Esme Perry-Trueheart at the 20th Century Fox photo archives
Print book interior design by Ohioboy Art & Design.
ISBN 978-0-316-31546-3
E3-20160916-JV-PC
Mary Shelley, who at only nineteen years of age conceived her immortal Gothic novel, Frankenstein. Needless to say, Gene Wilder and I will always be in her debt.
Mel Brooks is the funniest. That we all agree on. There is no need to debate it. All of us who try to make comedy know we will never be the best. Mel wins.
What we can debate is which is the best Mel Brooks movie. Yes, this is a subjective question. If you choose Blazing Saddles or The Producers or High Anxiety, I cant prove you wrong. But allow me to make the case for Young Frankenstein.
Young Frankenstein is perfect. Its the comedy equivalent of Sgt. Pepper, or The Great Gatsby, or the 86 New York Mets.
The pace and joke compression are off the charts. The laughs are huge. The jokes land like the punches of a prize fighter: in furious volleys from all different angles, the big ones landing when you least expect them.
What modern comedy doesnt owe a debt of gratitude to Young Frankenstein? The physical comedy is both precise and insane. The genre parody is spot-on and meticulously detailed. There have been a million spoof movies since, but none of them even comes close. You dont need to know a thing about Frankenstein to love this movie. Plus, Marty Feldmans looks-to-camera are so well-timed and iconic, hes basically inventing The Office in 1974.
Gene Wilder (the co-writer) is on fire throughout the movie. Hes a like a comedy cheat code. Its unfair. One second hes screaming at the top of his lungs, mania in his eyes, and the next second hes teasing extra laughs with just the tiniest look or smile or gesture.
The casting is perfect. The women in Young Frankenstein are historically hysterical. What is funnier than Frau Blcher slowly turning to Dr. Frankenstein and asking him if hed like some Ovaltine? Or Ingas roll in the hay? Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn. Mel directed these brilliant women in some of their finest performances. OK, their finest performances. My opinion.
Even Gene Hackman is funny in it. When has Gene Hackman ever been that riotously funny? Sure he was funny in Superman III (or was it IV?) but the spilled soup bit is as good as comedy gets.
Every part of Young Frankenstein is perfect. When Gene Wilder is lecturing the class at the beginning of the movie, the science kind of makes sense. He sounds like he knows what hes talking about. And the movie is genuinely scary sometimes. The monsters speech at the end is emotional and touching. The sets and photography are gorgeous. Even without these things, it would still be one of the funniest movies of all time, but the fact that it succeeds in so many arenas is what makes it the absolute high-water mark. Its credibility makes everything funnier and more impactful.
Another thing to keep in mind: Mel Brooks made Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles in the same year. Has a director ever had a better year than Mel Brooks in 1974? Victor Fleming made Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz in 1939, but Gone with the Wind isnt funny at all. Mel wins again.
A few years ago I went to see Young Frankenstein at a revival house, and it got the loudest, most sustained laughs I have ever heard in a theater. I was jealous, but then I realized, I will never fight as well as Ali, I will never paint as beautifully as Picasso, and I will never be as funny as Mel Brooks. But even if you are only a third as funny as Mel, that still will make for a comfortable living!
I am so glad that this book of beautiful photographs and information about this classic film is out. Maybe I will learn something. If I work hard, hopefully I can get to forty percent.