Young Frankenstein

***Young Frankenstein*** is a 1974 American satirical horror comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn and Gene Hackman. The screenplay was written by Wilder and Brooks.

The film is an affectionate parody of the classic horror film genre, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel *Frankenstein* produced by Universal Pictures in the 1930s. Most of the lab equipment used as props was created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film *Frankenstein*. To help evoke the atmosphere of the earlier films, Brooks shot the picture entirely in black-and-white, a rarity in the 1970s, and employed 1930s-style opening credits and scene transitions such as iris outs, wipes, and fades to black. The film also features a period score by Brooks' longtime composer John Morris.

A critical favorite and box office smash, *Young Frankenstein* ranks No. 28 on *Total Film* magazine's readers' "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time", No. 56 on Bravo TV's list of the "100 Funniest Movies", and No. 13 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest American movies. In 2003, it was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States National Film Preservation Board, and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. On its 40th anniversary, Brooks considered it by far his finest film as writer-producer (albeit not his funniest film).

## Plot

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is a physician lecturer at an American medical school and engaged to the tightly wound socialite Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn). He becomes exasperated when anyone brings up the subject of his grandfather, the infamous mad scientist. To disassociate himself from his forebear, Frederick insists that his surname is pronounced "Fronkensteen."

When a solicitor informs him that he has inherited his family's estate in Transylvania after the death of his great-grandfather, the Baron Beauvort von Frankenstein, Frederick travels to Europe to inspect the property. At the Transylvania train station, he is met by a hunchbacked, bulging-eyed servant named Igor (Marty Feldman) and a lovely young personal assistant named Inga (Teri Garr). Upon arrival at the estate, Frederick meets the forbidding housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), whose name, whenever spoken, causes horses to rear up and neigh madly in fright. Though his family legacy has brought shame and ridicule, Frederick becomes increasingly intrigued about his grandfather's work after discovering the secret entrance to his grandfather's laboratory. Upon reading his grandfather's private journals, Frederick is so captivated that he decides to resume his grandfather's experiments in re-animating the dead. He and Igor steal the corpse of a recently executed criminal, and Frederick sets to work experimenting on the large corpse. Matters go awry when Igor is sent to steal the brain of a deceased revered historian, Hans Delbrück; startled by lightning, he drops and ruins Delbruck's brain. Taking a second brain, Igor returns with a brain labeled "Abnormal Brain! Do Not Use", which Frederick unknowingly transplants into the corpse.

Soon, Frederick is ready to re-animate his creature (Peter Boyle), who is elevated on a platform to the roof of the laboratory during a lightning storm. Eventually, electrical charges bring the creature to life. The creature makes its first halting steps, but, frightened by Igor lighting a match, he attacks Frederick and must be sedated. Upon being asked whose brain was obtained, Igor confesses that the brain he supplied belonged to "Abby Normal" ("Abnormal").

The townspeople are uneasy at the possibility of Frederick continuing his grandfather's work. Most concerned is Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars), a one-eyed police official whose German accent is so thick even his own countrymen cannot understand him. Kemp visits the doctor and subsequently demands assurance that he will not create another monster. Upon returning to the lab, Frederick discovers that Frau Blücher is setting the creature free. After she reveals the monster's love of violin music and her own romantic relationship with Frederick's grandfather, the creature is enraged by sparks from a thrown switch and escapes from the Frankenstein castle.

While roaming the countryside, the Monster has frustrating encounters with a young girl and a blind hermit (Gene Hackman). Frederick recaptures the monster and locks the two of them in a room, where he calms the monster's homicidal tendencies with flattery and fully acknowledges his own heritage, shouting out emphatically, "My name is Frankenstein!"

Frederick offers the sight of "The Creature" following simple commands to a theater full of illustrious guests. The demonstration continues with Frederick and the monster launching into the musical number "Puttin' On the Ritz," complete with top hats and tails. The routine ends disastrously when a stage light explodes and frightens the monster, who becomes enraged and charges into the audience, where he is captured and chained by police.

The monster escapes with Elizabeth when she arrives unexpectedly for a visit. Elizabeth falls in love with the creature due to his inhuman stamina and his enormous penis (referred to as *Schwanstuker* or *Schwanzstück*).

The townspeople hunt for the monster. Desperate to get the creature back, Frederick plays the violin to lure his creation back to the castle. Just as the Kemp-led mob storms the laboratory, Frankenstein transfers some of his stabilizing intellect to the creature who, as a result, is able to reason with and placate the mob.

Elizabeth marries the now erudite and sophisticated monster—with her hair styled identically to that of the female creature from the *Bride of Frankenstein*, while Inga joyfully learns what *her* new husband Frederick got in return during the transfer procedure—the monster's *Schwanzstücker.*

## Cast

* Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (usually pronounced 'Fronk-en-steen' at first, but eventually becomes uniformly 'Frank-en-stine')
* Marty Feldman as Igor (briefly pronounced 'Ee-gore' at first, but quickly shifts to 'Eye-gore')
* Peter Boyle as the Monster
* Teri Garr as Inga
* Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher
* Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth
* Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp
* Richard Haydn as Herr Falkstein
* Liam Dunn as Mr. Hilltop
* Rolfe Sedan as Train conductor
* Danny Goldman as Medical student
* Leon Askin as Herr Walman (*deleted scenes*)
* Gene Hackman as Harold, The Blind Man
* Mel Brooks as Werewolf / Cat Hit by Dart / Victor Frankenstein (voice) (*uncredited*)
* Lou Cutell as Frightened Villager (*uncredited*)
* Ian Abercrombie as Second Villager (*uncredited*)