“MY NAME IS FRANKENSTEEINNNNNNNNNN!”
For something a little different, let’s look at what some consider to be the magnum opus of Mel Brooks, and not without some good reason. It’s a spoof film from an era where spoofs were expected to have actual plots instead of parades of pop culture references, and is an affectionate enough one to take a more interesting spin than many an actual adaptation—let’s put on the ritz with Young Frankenstein.
I was actually able to attend a screening of this with Brooks himself giving an intro a few years back, in the wiseass way only he could pull off. This was were you could tell Brooks was taking on something he had genuine passion for, as he harked back to the old Universal monster films of the 1930s—and he had to fight with producers to replicate that aesthetic with black and white, in an era by which Hollywood had completely shifted to color. Actual props from the Frankenstein films of old were pulled out of storage, and there’s a few touches that hark back to the original iconic novel by Mary Shelley herself.
The story is interesting by itself—concerning a descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein himself, played by the one person who can one-up Brooks in the wiseass department by his facial expressions alone, Gene Wilder. This scion of the name starts off deeply insecure about his monstrous legacy, even insisting at first his name be pronounced ‘Fronkensteen’. However, after a meeting with his very own bug-eyed Igor (Marty Feldman), this Frankenstein ends up returning to finish what his ancestor started in Transylvania, with his estate there held by the stern Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). Mixups with brains and abnormal brains ensue, as does of course a lightning revival scene where Wilder triumphs over every other cinematic iteration of the good doctor for ham alone.
Everything works surprisingly well as a movie as well as a comedy—the characters are all distinct with their own mannerisms, the jokes land, and the side characters are great as well—the standout being for me Inspector Klemp (Kenneth Mars) the Germanic local law enforcement official with der most ridikulus akzent imaginable. You don’t have to be familiar with the old horror classics to get them all, though pop culture might’ve imprinted some of that imagery into you regardless.
The ending even gives us a nice twist on the whole story…well…except for one a bit that shall we say was more acceptable fifty years ago I guess. But overall, this gives us a Frankenstein story that honestly I’d rather watch than say the one with Kenneth Branagh…or Daniel Radcliffe…or whatever the hell that one with Aaron Eckhart was about. It’s a shame that we haven’t had another real attempt to actually adapt Shelley’s story in recent years, given how timeless the theme of irresponsible creation remains…as Hollywood itself tends to demonstrate these days!
Either way, for a spoof that holds up better than many a serious version, Brooks at least showed us how it’s done right here…
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