'Young Frankenstein' - Mel Brooks' Brilliant Horror Spoof

Mel Brooks is Hollywood's greatest spoof-meister, and Young Frankenstein may be his funniest movie. Shot in gorgeous black and white with the same sets and the same feel as the classics Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, it's a loving send-up, with sophisticated style, hilarious dialog, inspired silliness and broad physical humor.

You don't have to watch the two original Frankenstein films to enjoy Young Frankenstein, but you should. They'll help you appreciate the painstaking visual homage, and refresh your memory of the scenes and plot lines Brooks sends up with such delight.

Gene Wilder is the serious young Dr. Frankenstein who rejects the work of his crazy grandfather, Baron von Frankenstein, and insists everyone pronounce his name "Frahnk-en-schteen." But when he inherits the old family castle, the promising young doctor is intrigued, and off he goes to Transylvania.

After following clues left by the housekeeper, he reads his grandfather's diaries, and starts to think his grandfather's mad dream of reanimating dead flesh just…could… work!

Spoofs work best played straight, and Wilder is pitch perfect as the young Frankenstein, sliding from earnest, arrogant young doctor into classic mad scientist mode. Even his hair goes insane. Peter Boyle makes a terrific, hulking Monster, managing to emote under the monster makeup, with his bolted neck and clumsy elevator boots. Their "Puttin' on the Ritz" is the tap dance to end all Hollywood hoofer duets.

Wilder earns huge props as the screenwriter, and he and Boyle are hilarious, but the supporting cast runs away with the movie. Marty Feldman is Igor (that's EYE-gor), the goggle-eyed family retainer whose hump keeps migrating from one side of his back to the other, and Teri Garr is wide-eyed and kittenish as the slightly dim lab assistant. Cloris Leachman is genius as the fierce housekeeper Frau Bluecher (cue frightened horses), revealing her relationship with Grandpa Frankentein: "Yes! Yes! He vas my…boyfriend!"

Madeleine Kahn shines as Wilder's frigid fiance, who thaws into a lioness after her abduction by the Monster, and winds up looking a lot like Elsa Lanchester in The Bride of Frankenstein. In a send-up of a touching scene in the original Frankenstein movie, Gene Hackman plays a blind man who invites the Monster to share his humble dinner and is a bit off the mark with his serving skills. The physical comedy is priceless.

Add in frightened townspeople with pitchforks and a burgomeister who looks suspiciously like Dr. Strangelove, and there stands one of the greatest ensemble casts in the history of spoofs.

Mel Brooks has stamped his own brand of funny on movies, television and Broadway. He's a writer, director, producer, actor, voice artist and lyricist, and his humor tends to the broad, with plenty of trademark schtick. Yet Young Frankenstein is a little different from most of his movies. It starts by recreating the gorgoeus gothic atmosphere and mood of the originals, and then dipping the whole thing in a crunchy coating of Mel Brooks nuttiness.

'Young Frankenstein' - the Bottom Line

Young Frankenstein is a great spoof and a great movie. It will make you laugh, I guarantee it. Who can ask for anything more?

If you liked Young Frankenstein, you might also want to try Blazing Saddles, The Producers, or High Anxiety.

'Young Frankenstein' at a Glance:

Year: 1974, Black and White
Director: Mel Brooks
Running Time: 106 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox