Young Frankenstein

I was going to include this title in a previous segment of October Films, but ran out of room so I decided I would put it in Part 4. Then I had a comment from a friend who also suggested I add this one. It deserves its own article.
And why not? This movie is a classic, and although the term “classic” has appeared often in this blog series, it is the best word to define this 1974 comedy from director Mel Brooks.

Gene Wilder said he wrote the title down on a sheet of paper: Young Frankenstein; it was so funny he developed the story around it. The story, co-written with Brooks, is about the grandson of Victor von Frankenstein, Frederick, a neurosurgeon who has desperately tried to put the dreaded name of Frankenstein behind him even to the point of pronouncing it “Fronkensteen.” He inherits his grandfather’s castle and before too long finds Victor’s diary describing his work. Eventually, young Frederick realizes that “IT—COULD—WORK!”

But Frederick’s going to make sure his creation does not face the same fate as that of his grandfather’s; he’s going to use the brain of esteemed colleague Hans Delbrook. Of course, that doesn’t work out. However, there is a suitable replacement in a brain from an “Abbie Normal.”

Perhaps I should back up, particularly for people who (gasp!) have never seen Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder is Frederick, Teri Garr is Inga, his assistant, and Marty Feldman is Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), Frederick’s… assistant (“My grandfather used to work for your grandfather… Of course, the rates have gone up”). And the creature is played by Peter Boyle, probably best known as Frank Barone, Ray Romano’s screen dad from the TV series Everybody Loves Raymond.

Brooks shot the movie in black-and-white and based the production design used in James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein. One way he accomplished this was by acquiring Frankenstein’s original lab equipment from designer Ken Strickfaden. The scene when Frederick sees the secret laboratory for the first time feels like we have jumped back in time. That’s the mark of a great director. In that scene we even hear Victor Frankenstein’s voiceover as if the walls were talking. (However, that was not old audio of Colin Clive from 1931; it was director Mel Brooks.)

So the film is basically a comic variation of Universal’s Frankenstein with witty dialogue, sharp sight gags and lots of plain humor. “Stay close to the candles. The stairs can be quite treacherous,” and the candles are not lit. There’s even a song-and-dance number with Frederick and the creature performing “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Young Frankenstein also has some of the most quotable movie lines of any film: “Help me with the bags.” “Fine. You take the blonde and I’ll the one in the turban!” Or, “Werewolf?” “There wolf. There wolf, there castle.” “Why are you talking that way?” “I thought you wanted to.”

Young Frankenstein is a rare film: It is a classic based on a classic. And it works. Even 35 years later, people watching this for the first time fall in love with it. Perhaps it’s because we almost feel like we’ve been transported to the 1930s, following in James Whale’s “vootstops” only to see jokes that are much more recent than that era. It’s a tribute that makes us laugh. And like the original movie it spoofs and honors, it is timeless. It’s a perfect movie for October, or any time of the year.