MOVIE REVIEW: Young Frankenstein
MOVIE REVIEW: Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
(Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle)

Igor: It's times like this that I remember what my old dad used to say.
Dr. Friedrich von Frankenstein: What was that?
Igor: "What the hell are you doing in the bathroom all day and night? Why don't you get out of there and give someone else a chance?"



That brief little sequence, when I saw it last night smack dab in the middle of Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein, caused me to laugh for about 10 minutes afterward. It's one of the funniest bits in an extremely funny and often overlooked movie. A lot of the gags seem tired now, but that's only because they have been duplicated so often.

Take for example, Teri Garr's first appearance as the hapless Inga. Inga innocently asks Dr. Friedrich von Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) if he would care for a roll in the hay. Then she proceeds to literally roll around in the hay. Yeah, it's a set-up/punchline sex joke we've seen before, but this is 70s comedy, and we aren't yet in Howard Stern or Andrew Dice Clay territory.

Young Frankenstein is slight, but boasts a powerhouse cast of comedians. Hands down, bar none, the best performance in the movie is that of Igor (pronounced Eye-Gor), by Marty Feldman. With his two lazy eyes and his stiff British accent, he could be standing there reciting the alphabet for all I care and still be absolutely hysterical as the eccentric hunchback. His lines are the best in the movie, his physical humour is spot on, and he upstages Wilder in every scene he's in. I particularly liked the scene where Frankenstein (pronounced Fronkensteen) asks him to sit down, and Igor sits on the floor. Or when he pretends to be a decapitated head then bursts into the song "Ain't got nobody".

As director, Mel Brooks had already scored a hit with Blazing Saddles, but Young Frankenstein seems even more confident. There are deliberate silences after the best punchlines that give you just enough time to prepare for the next one. The set and costumes are great too. The swift screenplay was penned by Brooks and Wilder.

The film also stars the late Madeline Kahn in a career-making role, Peter Boyle as the Monster, and Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp -- although perhaps Inspector Gadget might have been a more appropriate character name. All have moments of genius.

Oh yes, I suppose I should relate a bit about the plot. Friedrich von Frankenstein is the real Victor von Frankenstein's grandson, and he returns to Transylvania to re-animate an "abnormal" (or, as Igor calls it, an Abbie Normal) brain into a giant corpse. Sound familiar? Yeah, it's a spoof of the old horror pictures from Hollywood's past.

It's very appropriate that the movie is filmed in black and white, because I find there is usually little gray area with Mel Brooks. You either love him or you hate him. If you're like me though, and you're into sight gags, bad literal puns and off-the-wall slapstick, chances are you'll find this 1974 gem a deadpan hit. An electrifying revelation. Missing it would be a grave mistake.

09/07/01

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