Young Frankenstein
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter BoyleBrand: Fox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, Mono, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-05
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Young Frankenstein
Movie Review: "Walk this way!"
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this film, which is without a doubt one of the ten funniest films ever created (and offhand, the other nine don't come to mind). YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is both an homage and a comic send-up of the 1931 and 1935 Universal Pictures classics FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (with some SON OF FRANKENSTEIN thrown in for good measure) in which an inspired director (Mel Brooks), an inspired screenwriter (Gene Wilder), and an inspired cast (Wilder as "Dr. Fronkensteen," Teri Garr as his tasty Girl Friday Inga, Marty Feldman as the misshapen hunchbacked lab assistant "Eye-Gore," Cloris Leachman as the cigar-smoking and violin-playing Frau Blucher, Madeleine Kahn as Dr. Frankenstein's uptight fiancee Elizabeth, Kenneth Mars as the wooden-armed Inspector Kemp who wears an eyepatch and a monocle on the same side, Gene Hackman as The Lonesome Blind Man, and Peter Boyle as the Monster) create the rarest of synergies onscreen.
Professor Frederick Frankenstein's acceptance of his birthright, and his transmutation throughout YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN from a respected American neurosurgeon to the Transylvanian noble, Herr Doktor Baron Frederich von Frankenstein, grave-robber and necromancer nonpareil, is an amusing echo of Colin Clive's ghoulish journey from dedicated Scientist to Mad Doctor, in which the humor of this movie becomes the honorarium paid to the earlier film.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is as funny today as it was in 1974 when it was released. A staple of the cable channels, it is incredible that a film seen so often can stay so fresh, but YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN has everyone involved contributing their finest skills at the peak of their powers. Although classed as a Mel Brooks creation, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN really belongs to Gene Wilder. His script maintains a perfect balance between pure silliness, dry wit, slapstick, and lowbrow humor, each finding it's own place and time within the film's reality---
---Igor's directions to "Walk this way" (at which point Wilder adopts his assistant's characteristically hunched and loping stance, staggering toward their nearby horse and wagon. This scene inspired Aerosmith to write their classic rock hit, appropriately entitled, "Walk This Way.")
---The screaming of the horses at the mention of Frau Blucher's ("Mrs. Glue"'s) name;
---Gene Hackman's kindly but inept blind man's pouring of steaming soup into the Monster's lap and Peter Boyle's reaction ("How hungry you must have been," muses the oblivious Hackman);
---"Eye-Gore's" ridiculous attempt at playing Igor to type, as in:
Igor---"There wolf. There castle."
Dr. Frankenstein---"Why are you talking that way?"
Igor---"I thought you wanted to."
Dr.---"No, I don't want to."
Igor---"Oh, okay. Suit yourself. I'm easy."
---Wilder and Boyle's unforgettable white-tie performance of "Puttin' On The Ritz" in front of the Transylvania Neurological Society ("For safety's sake, don't humiliate him!")
Endless double entendre ("Elevate me." "Vhat? Here and now?" "Yes. Raise the platform." "Oh! Ze platform, ja, ze platform...").
---(And my personal favorite) Cloris Leachman admitting that she set the stage for the creation of the monster, a la:
Dr. Frankenstein---"So you and my grandfather...you and he were...?"
Frau Blucher (screaming it)---"Yes! Yes! Say it! Say it! He vass my...boyfriend!"
Note if you will, the slight question in her tone at the end of her lines, as though asking if this is okay. I always end up howling with laughter at this moment, even though I've seen this picture at least 100 times. The entire film is crafted with moments like this, a jeweled net of pure comic genius.
Filmed in atmospheric black and white and borrowing the original lab equipment from James Whale's equally ageless now 77 year old film for dramatic effect, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN has unquestionably earned its place both as a classic comedy and as a classic in the monster movie canon on it's own merits. Brooks never topped this film. The closest contender in his oeveur would be BLAZING SADDLES, which, although inspired, relies too heavily on toilet humor to be a true classic. There are few other films made by anyone at any time, which have struck such pure comic notes.
In short, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN will never grow old.
Summary of Young Frankenstein
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - DVD MovieIf you were to argue that Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein ranks among the top-ten funniest movies of all time, nobody could reasonably dispute the claim. Spoofing classic horror in the way that Brooks's previous film Blazing Saddles sent up classic Westerns, the movie is both a loving tribute and a raucous, irreverent parody of Universal's classic horror films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Filming in glorious black and white, Brooks re-created the Frankenstein laboratory using the same equipment from the original Frankenstein (courtesy of designer Kenneth Strickfaden), and this loving attention to physical and stylistic detail creates a solid foundation for nonstop comedy. The story, of course, involves Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and his effort to resume experiments in re-animation pioneered by his late father. (He's got some help, since dad left behind a book titled How I Did It.) Assisting him is the hapless hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman) and the buxom but none-too-bright maiden Inga (Teri Garr), and when Frankenstein succeeds in creating his monster (Peter Boyle), the stage is set for an outrageous revision of the Frankenstein legend. With comedy highlights too numerous to mention, Brooks guides his brilliant cast (also including Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman in a classic cameo role) through scene after scene of inspired hilarity. Indeed, Young Frankenstein is a charmed film, nothing less than a comedy classic, representing the finest work from everyone involved. Not one joke has lost its payoff, and none of the countless gags have lost their zany appeal. From a career that includes some of the best comedies ever made, this is the film for which Mel Brooks will be most fondly remembered. Befitting a classic, the Special Edition DVD includes audio commentary by Mel Brooks, a "making of" documentary, interviews with the cast, hilarious bloopers and outtakes, and the original theatrical trailers. No video library should be without a copy of Young Frankenstein. And just remember--that's Fronkensteen. --Jeff Shannon
Beyond Young Frankenstein
 High Anxiety |  Spaceballs |  Blazing Saddles |
Stills from Young Frankenstein (Click for larger image)
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