Young Frankenstein
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Young Frankenstein is a 1974 film directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder as the title character. Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman also star. The screenplay was written by Brooks and Wilder. The film is a parody of the horror film genre, primarily, of course, of the various film versions of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, especially those made by Universal in the 1930s and '40s, to which the film is best seen as an affectionate homage.
Plot
Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder), full name Doctor Baron Frederick von Frankenstein, is a respected lecturer at an American medical school and is more or less happily engaged to Elizabeth (Kahn). Frederick becomes exasperated when anyone brings up the subject of his grandfather, the famous mad scientist, to the point of insisting that his name is pronounced "Fronkenshteen". Nevertheless, while on a trip to his ancestral home to attend to his family's estate. After meeting the household servants Frau Blücher (Leachman) and Igor (Feldman), Frederick discovers his grandfather's journals. Inspired by their contents, Frederick resumes his grandfather's work of re-animating a dead body (Boyle). Wackiness ensues.
Meanwhile, the local townspeople are concerned and are willing to riot because of Frederick's continuation of his grandfather's work. The most concerned is Chief Inspector Hans Wilhelm Frederick Kemp (Mars), whose right arm was pulled off by the monster Frederick's grandfather created, replacing it with a wooden replica (which creaks very loudly).
A running gag in the film is whenever Frau Blücher's name is said, a horse whinnies (even when they aren't visible). Contrary to popular belief, her surname does not mean glue; the gag is a parody of the melodramatic use of thunder claps or ominous organ chords played upon the entrance of villains.
Awards
Young Frankenstein received two Academy Award nominations for Best Sound (Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Wilder and Brooks). It was named the 13th funniest film in the American Film Institute list of 100 Laughs. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The success of Young Frankenstein led to another horror spoof, 1974's Vampira starring David Niven and Teresa Graves. It was renamed Old Dracula for North American release.
External links
- Young Frankenstein entry (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/) at the Internet Movie Database
- Gene Wilder entry (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000698/) at the Internet Movie Database
- Mel Brooks entry (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000316/) at the Internet Movie Database
- Sound clips (http://www.moviesounds.com/youngf.html) at MovieSounds.com (http://www.moviesounds.com/)
- NYTimes review (http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=55978)it:Frankenstein Junior