Reprint: Adventures in Harryhausen Land

 

 

Next month I am hosting a Celebrate the Drive-In Week event, in which I am devoting a whole week to the drive-in movie experience. One of the films scheduled to be reviewed that week is The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which was actually the first Sinbad movie that Ray Harryhausen created some of his iconic creatures for. This article was originally written for a blogathon back in 2017, but since it has some significance in my history of drive-in movie experiences I am reprinting it today. Keep an eye out for those celebratory films I have cued up for the celebration, and if you are of a mind, follow the above link and join in on the fun.

 

These are the two movies I remember most from the days when I used to go to the drive-in with my parents and my sister.  In those days it was a rare treat, because my father rarely closed up the store early.  (He had a gas station/garage that catered to the lake crowd in the days before Dallas built their own lakes, so a lot of people made the trek up from Dallas to the border, where Lake Texoma was the only thing going back in the 60's and 70's).

The earliest memory I have in a drive-in was going to see The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.  I was entranced.  It was probably the first time I had gone to the drive-in and not fallen asleep before the picture was over.  (I certainly don't remember our experience with seeing Patton, but we MUST have seen it as a family, because for years afterwards my father refused to allow us to go to another movie that was rated PG.  Until Star Wars, but I have related that story elsewhere on this blog.)

Sinbad was played by three different actors in each of the Ray Harryhausen entries.  Kerwin Mathews played him in the first of the three, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, in 1958.  It was 15 years later before Ray and company brought forth another Sinbad entry.  This time Sinbad was played by John Phillip Law (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad).  Then four years later, yet another actor, Patrick Wayne (son of the Duke himself) took on the role.

Each one, in his own right played the character with gusto.  Actors being a commodity that is based on their public draw, it is apparent that good looks factored in quite a bit with the cast of Sinbad in each movie.  Of course, Sinbad must have been pretty charismatic to entice his crew to follow him on his voyages, so the charisma of the lead actors is not out of place.  My main issue is the lack of chest hair.  Sinbad is of Middle Eastern origin, a race that is predominated by swarthy men, so he must've had a hairy chest, right?  Kerwin Mathews, as near as I can tell was the only Sinbad with chest hair.  At least Patrick Wayne and John Phillip Law have facial hair. (And Kerwin Mathews is clean-shaven)  Why this should bother me, I have no idea...

The Harryhausen creatures are a real wonder.  Remember this was well before the days of CGI graphics.  While they may look primitive by those standards, they are still far and beyond anything that was conceivable at the time.  And in cases where the actors had to appear to be lifted or hoisted by the creatures in a scene, most of the time it's really hard to tell they are not really human.  (By comparison, check out most of the scenes in the original King Kong, in which a human interacts with the animated creatures.)

Magic and superstition play a focal role in these movies.  What else would you expect?  These kinds of tales were my favorite as a young boy, and this love of fantasy elements continues to this day.  Harryhausen and his good friend, the author Ray Bradbury, each made a pact with the other that even if they grew old, they would  never grow up  And I too have never grown up, not if it means leaving behind a love of these epic sword battles and fantasy creatures.
.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

Golden Voyage  starts out with Sinbad and his crew sailing on open waters.  Sinbad (John Phillip Law; who was the blind angel Pygar in Barbarella ) and crew spy a flying creature carrying something shiny.  An arrow is fired at the creature and it drops the item which turns out to be a piece of a golden tablet.  Sinbad decides to wear the tablet as an amulet, against the wishes of his crew who think it is cursed.

Sinbad (John Phillip Law)

That night Sinbad has a dream.  A man calls out his name and an enchanting woman with a tattoo of an eye on her hand haunt him.  The ship is assailed by a storm which blows Sinbad's ship off course, and they find themselves off the coast of Marabia.  Sinbad swims ashore, and encounters Prince Koura (Tom Baker, who by the way also played one of the incarnations of Doctor Who back in the day).

Prince Koura (Tom Baker) 

Koura sees Sinbad's amulet. He says that the amulet belongs to him and demands it.  Instead Sinbad fights him and escapes. The crew end up going to the nearest city, which is the capital of Marabia. There Sinbad encounters the Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer), a man who is forced to wear a mask to cover his face.  It was burned in a fire (caused by the dastardly Koura).

The Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer)

The Vizier reveals to Sinbad that his amulet and a second piece that the Vizier has is part of a map leading to a great treasure, which includes a renewed youth, a cloak of darkness and a crown of fabulous wealth.  He convinces Sinbad to go on a voyage to get this treasure.  While awaiting departure, Sinbad is accosted by a merchant who wishes to pay Sinbad to take his no-goodnik son, Haroun (Kurt Christian) with him on his voyage.  Sinbad initially refuses, but the merchant has a slave girl (who, coincidentally, has an eye tattoo on her hand), so he eventually agrees if he can also have the slave girl, Margiana by name (Caroline Munro).

Margiana (Caroline Munro)

Haroun proves to useful as comic relief in the movie, but not much else, at least at first.  Margiana however intrigues Sinbad.  The crew sail, unknowingly followed by Koura who is intent on getting the tablet and treasure for himself.  The first night he casts a spell that causes the ship's figurehead to come to life.  It steals the map after an impressive fight with crew members.  (This is actually the second Harryhausen creation in this film, the first being the flying creature that Sinbad and crew try to shoot down)

Harryhausen's figurehead

Sinbad and crew eventually arrive at the temple of the Oracle (voiced by Robert Shaw, who, among other roles, was Quint in Jaws and the mob boss Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting) which reveals to them the final resting place of the third tablet, albeit in riddles.  Koura, who is still following them casts another spell causing the temple walls to fall around them and entrap them.  But they escape due to the ingenuity of Sinbad.  Meanwhile, every time Koura casts a spell he gets significantly older, as the black magic drains his life force every time.

Magic drains the soul

The trip takes the crew to Lemuria, where Koura has gained the upper hand.  He brings to life the six-armed statue of the native's god, Kali, which fights Sinbad's crew with six-swords (the third Harryhausen creation)

Six hands are better than one

Haroun becomes useful when he knocks the statue off balance and it topples to crash on the ground.  When it shatters the third tablet is revealed.  Koura takes the tablet and leaves Sinbad to the wiles of the natives whose god he has destroyed.   At this point, Margiana becomes a factor when she screams and throws out her hands, revealing the tattoo.

They think she is a special sacrifice meant for their one-eyed god (a centaur that lives in the caverns below) and send her down as a sacrifice.  The centaur comes out of it's cave and Sinbad uses several ruses to rescue Margiana from it. They race to the fountain to try to stop Koura from completing the tasks.  The end is well worth the wait, because not only do we get to see Sinbad and Koura clash swords in an epic final battle, but we get to see two more of Harryhausen's creations duke it out too; the aforementioned centaur, representing Evil and a griffin, representing Good.

A fantastic movie for all ages.  Kids will thrill to the fantasy creatures, and adults will find the story entertaining too.  And Harryhausen fans will see what I feel are the greatest animation sequences of his career (although I am sure there are those who will argue for others.  Be that as it may.)

Sinbad and The Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) is due to be crowned caliph of Charak.  Unfortunately evil befalls the ceremony (which we do not see unfold, but is revealed later in the movie).  Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) arrives in Charak, with goods to unload, but also with the intent of asking Kassim to allow his sister Farah (Jane Seymour) to marry him. (This is the movies.  Probably useless to wonder why a prince would even be allowed to marry a commoner...)  He is stopped by a merchant who tells him the city is under curfew because of the "plague".  Really the merchant intends to cause harm to Sinbad.  Zenobia (played by Margaret Whiting; not the same woman who had a recording career in the 40's and 50's, however), the wicked stepmother of a Farah and a witch, casts a spell causing three ghouls to appear to fight Sinbad in the tent. (The first Harryhausen creation)

Ghoulish encounter

After defeating the ghouls, back at his ship, Sinbad meets up with Farah who pleads with him to help her find a way to reverse the curse on her brother that Zenobia cast on him.  See, Zenobia wants her own son, Rafi (Kurt Christian, and yes that's the same actor who played the no-goodnik comic relief character Haroun in the previous entry) to be named caliph.  To do so she cursed Kassim, and if the curse is not lifted before the passing of a specific time, Kassim will lose his right to be named caliph. To engender this transfer, Zenobia turned Kassim into a baboon.  This is revealed when crewmen spy Farah playing chess with the baboon.  The baboon is, in fact, Harryhausen's second creation of the movie.

Chess with a baboon

 Meanwhile, Zenobia has created a bronze golem she dubs Minoton to power a rowboat to chase after Sinbad, trying to stop him from reaching Melanthius.

Minoton

Sinbad and crew reach the shores of the fabled land where Melanthius is rumored to be.  First they encounter his daughter Dione (Taryn Power; daughter of Tyrone Power), and then Melanthius himself (Patrick Troughton, yet another of the Doctor Who incarnations.  These movies are full of celebrities...).  Melanthius and Dione eventually agree to accompany Sinbad north to the home of an ancient civilization that might have the answer to the reversing of the curse.

(L-R) Sinbad, Melanthius, Dione and Farah

Zenobia uses her magic to turn herself into a seagull, fly to Sinbad's ship, and convert herself to a miniature form so she can spy on Melanthius and Sinbad.  She is caught, but manages to escape, but in the process loses a valuable portion of her potion, so that when she returns to her own ship she can't be completely reverted back to human form.

When Sinbad finally come ashore in the frozen wastelands of the north, they are attacked by a giant walrus (another Harryhausen creation, and, in my opinion, the most unbelievable and ridiculous of the batch.  I felt immensely like it had been added as an afterthought because the studio needed more footage, rather than that it was a valid creature of the story, but that's just my opinion...)

I am the Walrus

Sinbad and crew trek across the frozen wastelands and find a valley that is lush and hospitable.  While they are resting a trogolodyte appears.  Although they initially think the creature is a threat, he turns out to be friendly.

Troglodyte

The final battle which involves trying to get the baboon Kassim into a transforming column of light while battling Zenobia who is intent on trying to stop them, along with another epic battle between two Harryhausen creations, the troglodyte and a saber-toothed tiger is once again a worthy ending.

Battle royale

I regret that you can't experience these movies the way I did (from the back seat of the Plymouth my father drove) on the big screen of a drive-in.  Although, who knows, with the current trend of new drive-ins coming and a few bucks to the manager, you might be able to wangle it.  (Pipe dreams, to be sure, but I'm nothing if not a dreamer).  Meanwhile pleasant sailing on your voyage home.

Quiggy

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #19: Breaking Away

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

Week #19: Indiana -

 

 

 

The state of Indiana was established on December 11, 1816. 

Details about Indiana:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: peony

State tree: tulip tree 

Additional historical trivia:

There is a good chance that the popcorn you are eating came from Indiana. Indiana (and Nebraska) are the producers of most of the world's popcorn supply.

Did you ever get a letter from Santa? It probably actually came from the post office in Santa Claus, IN...

Elvis Presley performed his last live concert in Indianapolis 3 months before his death.

October 6, 1866 was the date of the very first train robbery, in Indiana.

You older girls will remember Raggedy Ann. The doll was created by an Indiana woman. 

Speaking of females, Indiana is home of the first "women only" prison. 

The tiny school of Milan won the state basketball championship in 1954, and was the inspiration for the film Hoosiers.

Famous people born in Indiana: Orville Redenbacher (see the first trivia bit above), Jim Davis (creator of the Garfield comic strip), Michael Jackson (as well as the rest of the Jackson 5), Kurt Vonnegut, David Letterman, James Dean, Larry Bird, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and, believe it or not, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders (who wasn't a real colonel in the Army, by the way..) 

 

Breaking Away (1979): 

Remember those heady days of the late 70's and early 80's? When life was idyllic because you didn't have to be worried about being drafted, and especially when, even if you did sign up for military service, you were assured of not having to serve in an unpopular war? When, after graduation from high school, the biggest decisions a boy would have to make was whether to go to college or join the work force? When Dennis Quaid was, arguably, one of the sexiest new actors on the screen (and I can say that, firmly entrenched in my own heterosexuality. A young Dennis Quaid was pretty hot at 25...) When a little low budget film like Breaking Away could surprise the critics and the public alike?

At a budget of only $2 million the film crept into being one of the top films of 1979. Roger Ebert, in his review, praised it, saying that "[i]n a summer of big-budget movies that are insults to the intelligence" here was a movie that was "a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure..." (BTW, I looked up to see what "big budget movies" that Ebert might be referring to as "insults to the intelligence" and came away with these: He considered The Hurricane to be the worst movie of the year, this despite the fact that he stayed for the entire movie, but walked out on Caligula. He also did not like The Amityville Horror and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.)

Breaking Away, on the other hand, consistently cracks the top 20 sports movies of all time (a 2003 Sports Illustrated article ranked it # 8), and even gets fairly good rankings on movie lists that cover the entire gamut of movie genres. It's also # 8 on AFI's list of the "100 Most Inspiring Movies list.. With a cast of virtually unknowns (this was only the 7th movie for Jackie Earle Haley, the veteran of the main cast, the 5th movie for Quaid as well as the 5th for Dennis Christopher, and the first for Daniel Stern. To be the main focus of the cast with a bunch of "nobodies", the movie did fairly well, I would say.

The film was not without merits in more ways than one. It garnered five Academy Award nominations, and even managed to win one of them, Best Writing for Original Screenplay. It had the unfortunate situation of going head-to-head against the top movie of the year, Kramer vs. Kramer, and thus lost for Best Picture, Best Director (Peter Yates lost to Robert Benton) and Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Barrie lost to Meryl Streep). It also lost the Best Music award to All That Jazz (and deservedly so, in my opinion on that one).

Essentially it's a coming of age movie more than a sports movie. After all, even though the focus is on the sport of cycling, how many people would actually be interested enough to go see it just for the cycling? Certainly not if you wanted action. A football movie or a hockey movie or even a basketball movie would be much more likely to draw in the sports nut. On the other hand, a movie that centered on the conflict of teenagers trying to fit in to whatever society expected of them, while still retaining their exuberant youthful personality, is a much more likely draw.

The star of the movie is Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher), a kid who is absolutely enamored with the Italian bicycling team, and even by the Italian culture itself. To the annoyance of his father, he affects an Italian accent and cranks out Italian opera on his stereo. He has a big desire to compete against the Italians in a bicycle race, holding them in high regard as basically the "best of the best".

 

Along with high school buddies Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), Dave spends most of his time discussing what the four are going to do now that they have graduated high school. It appears that the only real future they have is getting into the job market, since college is basically a pipe dream. The university students call them "cutters", a disparaging term for the townspeople, many of whom work in the local rock quarry. (Note: The actual term that the real university used was "stoners", but the production team opted to change it for the film, for obvious reasons...)

 

The rivalry between the two factions becomes intense when some of the students from the university invade the boys' favorite swimming hole.

 

Mike in particular has some animosity for the university interlopers because, as a former football star in high school he resents the fact that some out-of-towners are garnering the accolades in the realm of football while he is only able to live on his past glories at school. 

 

Mike: "You know what really gets me though? I mean, here I am, I gotta live in this stinking town and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot shot kid - new star of the college team. Every year its gonna be a new one. And every year its never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike. Twenty year old Mike. Thirty year old Mike. Old mean old man Mike. " 

Mike, Cyril and Moocher all have dreams, but dreams that are beyond what they think are realistically possible. Dave, on the other hand, is the essence of optimism. He knows, I mean really knows, that given the opportunity he could be a star cyclist. So when the Italian team comes to town for an exhibition race, he plans to be in the race to compete against his heroes. But his "heroes" turn out to be a bit less than altruistic. They use some very unorthodox tactics to get Dave to wreck his bike during the race.

 

This has the effect of making Dave apathetic about his dreams. Even though his friends want him to compete in the local race, mainly because if he wins it would take those uppity university students they hate down a peg or two, Dave is not very gung-ho about the idea. Inspiration comes from an unlikely source. Dave's father tells his son about how, as a younger man, and one of the quarry workers, he helped cut the stones that helped build the university, even though he never felt welcome on the campus.

 

Ultimately Dave and his friends join the race, with the team name being "Cutters" (thus snubbing their noses at the disparaging term the university students use against them). Dave is, of course, the driving force for the team, since none of his friends are as avid about his chosen interest in cycling. But the entry in the race requires that a team be comprised of four, not just one. The race is kind of like a relay. One biker rides until he feels a need to rest and another takes over. 

 

Dave, of course,  takes the lead, but ends up getting injured amd has to let his friends take over. But the lead he garnered dwindles as the friends are not nearly as adept at this cycling thing as Dave. As usual in these kinds of movies, the last laps of the race make it necessary that Dave takes back his position as the rider. And it's pretty much a foregone conclusion what is going to happen at the final lap, I think.

In the middle of all this action Dave starts a relationship with one of the university girls, Katherine (Robyn Douglass in her first movie role). But Dave gets off on the wrong foot by pretending to be a university student, and not just that, but also being an Italian. You know that's bound to come back at some point and smack him in the butt. 

 

Did you know that this movie inspired a very brief TV series? In 1980 ABC tried to introduce a series, also called Breaking Away, with Shaun Cassidy in the lead role as Dave. It only aired 7 episodes before it was cancelled, however. I don't have any idea how it would have panned out in the long run, but the initial show was in essence a prequel to the film. The events were supposedly occurring the year prior to the events in the film.

 

Not to dismiss Barbara Barrie's Academy Award nomination, I think the standout performance of the film is Paul Dooley as Dave's father. He is hilarious in all his scenes, but early on in the film is one that stands out. Dad follows Dave upstairs when he comes home and comes back downstairs with a shocked look on his face. And you just know what his line is going to be before he even days it:

 

"He's shaving... he's shaving his legs..."

 Breaking Away is a film that will stick with you for its inspirational message. If you watch enough of these kinds of movies the ending may be telegraphed before  the movie ever gets underway, but like several movies I have reviewed over the years, it has enough of it's own charm that the "I've seen this all before" aspect of it gets overwhelmed by the way the actors play out their parts. I highly recommend if you've never seen it to give it a go, and if you have seen it, give it another viewing,

That's it for this week. Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

 

 

 

Young Frankenstein

 

This is my entry in the CMBA Make 'Em Laugh Blogathon.

 

 

Note: As I am writing this, just around the corner, we are going to be celebrating the 100th birthday of Mel Brooks. He will be joining David Attenborough, Gene Shalit and Bambi Linn (from Oklahoma!) for 2026, as well as Dick Van Dyke and Lee Grant, from 2025, to hit that centenary mark (and June Lockhart, who hit 100 before she passed away late last year).. I think, therefore, it is fitting that this review comes out at this point. Happy birthday, Mel!

 

It's no secret that two of my top five all time favorite comedies are ones that were directed by Mel Brooks. Mel Brooks had a sensitivity for what makes people laugh. Of course, he often had a cast of great actors to help him pull it off, not to mention several great writers (besides himself) that helped him create a few of them. Blazing Saddles, which ranks as my favorite comedy, had the help of Richard Pryor and Andrew Bergman, and today's movie was credited with the help of the star, Gene Wilder.

Mel Brooks, surprisingly, only has 11 movies to his credit, as a director, but with the exception of Life Stinks, I think all of them are comedic gems. In addition to the ones I've already mentioned, he directed the first The Producers, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, plus a few others that are fondly remembered.   

Mel Brooks got his start pairing with Sid Caesar, with whom he created some classic gems of early TV on Caesar's Your Show of Shows. Later he worked with Carl Reiner, father of Rob Reiner, in creating a series of comedy albums featuring The 2,000 Year Old Man, a couple of which managed to be nominated for Grammy for Best Comedy Albums. He also helped get the classic Get Smart, featuring a bumbling spy in the vein of James Bond on the air.  

In Young Frankenstein, Brooks and Wilder hit comedy gold, a well-received follow up to his/their previous work in Blazing Saddles. The film was the brainchild of Wilder who brought the idea to Brooks while on the set of Blazing Saddles. Initially Brooks was not overly enthusiastic. He was quoted as responding to Wilder's idea of another Frankenstein film with "Not another! We've had the son of, the cousin of, the brother-in-law. We don't need another Frankenstein." But when Wilder suggested the idea of a guy who was dismissive of his family as kooks, Brooks admitted the idea had some funny potential.

When it came time to cast the film one of Wilder's stipulations for doing the film was that Brooks had to excuse himself from his usual cameo (or significant) role. Wilder expressed some concern that Brooks tended to break down the forth wall when he was in the scene.  Of course, if you've seen the film you know that fourth wall was actually breached a couple of times anyway, by Marty Feldman. Feldman, by the way, made his first American movie appearance in this film, and is one of the many highlights of the film.

In addition, coming back for another role in a brooks film was Madeline Kahn, who had such an influence in the previous film.  Teri Garr, who had up to this point been mostly cast in uncredited roles in film and TV, also has some great scenes. She had originally auditioned for the role that eventually went to Kahn, but Brooks kept her, and his decision made the role of Inga a memorable one. And of course we can't forget Peter Boyle, who as the monster, gets one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, that of performing a soft shoe and duet with Wilder singing "Puttin' on the Ritz". Boyle had recently come off of what I consider a virtuoso performance as the lead character in an obscure movie called Joe (a movie I though I had reviewed for The Midnite Drive-In, but apparently that was for the previous incarnation of my movie reviewing blog... Gotta rectify that soon.)

They decided to film the movie in black and white, as opposed to color. The decision met with some resistance from the brass, who suggested a compromise, film the opening in black and white but the bulk of it in color, but Brooks remained firm in his decision. He wanted to stay true to the visual style, the way the old Universal Studios horror movies they were paying homage to were filmed. In that respect of staying true to the older films they even managed to get the permission of Kenneth Strickland, the creator of the original lab equipment which Strickland owned. And I'm not sure if he was paid money, but one of the stipulations that Strickland had for granting the use of the equipment was that he received a credit in the movie for it. I like that. He just wanted his name recognized more than anything else. (I feel an affinity for that sentiment. I, too, have had pieces I have written published in magazines, (under my real name), not wanting the money so much as having my name in print...)

The Oscars for 1974 were pretty much dominated by The Godfather, Part II, but Young Frankenstein did manage to get a wee bit of recognition. No, it didn't win an award, but it got nominated for two, Best Adapted Screenplay which it lost to The Godfather, Part II (which, technically shouldn't have counted, since the story was not a part of the original Puzo novel...) and Best Sound to Earthquake (and that one I don't begrudge one bit...) 

If comedy is a pariah at Oscar time, one could say that it was highly unlikely for Young Frankenstein to win anyway.  Only a smattering of movies that could be remotely considered "comedies" have won Best Picture, and at least a few of those were probably given for the musical part of the picture (Gigi, An American in Paris, My Fair Lady, Chicago) and many of the others were more romantic comedies than outright comedies. Not that I would have replaced any of the would-be contenders that year with Young Frankenstein for Best Picture (possibly The Towering Inferno, but that's just because those all-star cast movies always seem to get the nod, whether they were overly melodramatic or not... And one of these days I am going to delve into a piece on the "disaster flick" fascination of the late 70's....)

Still, I could have nominated a couple of other candidates for Oscars from this film.  For one thing, this movie would have been entirely different without the talent of Boyle. Admittedly he had no real lines until the ending (except the mumbling attempt at the aforementioned duet), but I really can't think of anyone else at the time who could have pulled it off with such panache. And not that it would have actually won against the raft of powerhouses that WERE nominated, but I think the film deserved a nod for cinematography. That decision to stay true to the older films and use strictly black and white shows not only dedication to the older films, but also some talent in being able to pull it off.

So before I move on: remember I said this is one of my top 5 comedies? Well, here for your enlightenment are the list of the top five that I consider the best: 

 

1. Blazing Saddles (1974): 

2. This is Spinal Tap (1984): 

3. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944):

4. Young Frankenstein (1974): 

5. Johnny Dangerously (1984): 

 

 

 

Young Frankenstein (1974):

The scene opens with the coffin of Baron von Frankenstein being opened and a box contained in the coffin being removed. Catch the reluctance of the corpse to let that box go because, unfortunately, it is the only real comedic scene in the opening moments of the movie. It really doesn't start to get hilarious, at least for me, until the 15 minute mark.  

 

The opening involves Dr, Frederick Frankenstein (that's pronounced "Fronk-en-steen"...) is delivering a lecture at a university. Frederick (Gene Wilder) demonstrates the difference between voluntary and reflex action of the brain, and asserts that, despite what one student points out about Frederick's heritage, that once a brain is severed from the body it cannot be revived. He claims that his infamous ancestor was a "kook" and that his research must therefore be flawed.

 

Frederick is approached by an executor for his family estate making him the inheritor of the family castle in Transylvania. He goes to visit the estate, where he is met by Igor, played by Marty Feldman, (his name is pronounced "Eye-gor") and is introduced to his laboratory assistant, the extremely attractive Inga (Teri Garr). Don't miss the early funny part of the film where Igor tells Frederick to "walk this way", and shows him what he means.

 

We finally get a glimpse of the Frankenstein Castle.

 

"It's only a model..."

 At the castle Frederick meets the mysterious housekeeper, Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). Just mentioning Blucher's name causes the horses to whinny in fear. (I think that Leachman is struggling in these scenes to not burst out laughing, which is a good thing because it would be entirely out of character for her to actually laugh...)

 

When Frederick inspects the castle he inquires about his grandfather's private library, of which Frau Blucher claims to not have any knowledge. But later, upon awakening from a nightmare he hears music coming from behind the walls. He finds a secret passage behind a book case. Which involves a revolving bookcase and a candle that has to be placed just so...

 

The result is that Frederick finds his grandfather's secret laboratory. He finds the diaries (including a tome titled "How I Did It"), and becomes obsessed with the idea that he could recreate his grandfather's legacy. He obtains the body of a newly hanged criminal and sends Igor to a local morgue to retrieve the brain of a genius, Hans Delbruck. 

 

Unfortunately butterfingered Igor drops the brain and destroys it. But, ever resourceful, he just grabs another brain. He doesn't tell Frederick about his mishap right away, however. 

Frederick performs his experiment, using lightning as a power source. A great parallel to the original speech delivered by Colin Clive as the original doctor, over the top, almost parallel to Clive's essaying of the same madness. 

 

But it initially appears he has failed. 

 

But he is being pessimistic a bit prematurely. Meanwhile in town the citizens are becoming wary. Five times before (five???) a Frankenstein has occupied the castle and brought into the world an unwanted experiment. So Inspector Kemp (Kenneth Mars) volunteers to go to the castle to have a chat with Frederick and make sure that he is on the up and up.

 

At the same time, the monster comes to life, but is acting so strangely that Frederick becomes suspicious of the brain that he actually put into his creation. Igor admits he had an accident with Delbruck's brain and just grabbed a nearby brain as a substitute: "Abby somebody... Abby... Normal!" Frederick sees the problem right away: "Are you telling me that I put an abnormal brain in a seven and a half foot long GORILLA???" (It's beginning to look like Frederick might have been better off if he had failed.) 

 

While Inspector Kemp is, as needs be, suspicious of the new resident at Frankenstein castle, Frederick is coming to the realization that his creation is dangerous. But a revelation from Frau Blucher reveals that she knows a little secret about the heredity of the Frankenstein family and their creations: they adore music. Some of the scenes that follow are sweet, such as the attempt of the monster to try to catch some butterflies that apparently only it can see, as Frau Blucher plays a melodic tune on a violin. But the monster runs off after being startled by an electrical short in a nearby outlet.

The monster escapes and, in an homage directly referencing a similar encounter in the original The Bride of Frankenstein, it encounters a blind hermit, played exquisitely by Gene Hackman (who was uncredited in the first release). The monster, having been attracted by the sweet strains of music that the hermit is playing pays a visit. (And if you watch nothing else from this film, you just HAVE to watch this scene play out...)

 

Side note Hackman originally came into the movie as a result of his friendship with Wilder. Hackman asked Wilder if there was a part in the movie for him, because he wanted to get into some comedic roles. Both Wilder and Brooks immediately came to the conclusion that the only role that Hackman could be perfect for was the blind man. And they weren't wrong. You only had to see his later role as Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve Superman films that Hackman could do comedy just as well as he could dramatic roles.

Frederick finally recaptures the creature and has plans to turn him into a functional calm and friendly member of society. Eventually he premieres his creation to a group of scientists and public, performing "Puttin' on the Ritz". 

 

(Initially Brooks was adamant that this scene would not work and was against having it filmed, but Wilder was insistent. And work it does. It is probably one of the most memorable scenes in the film. And the film audiences did laugh.)

But things go haywire when one of the stage lights explodes and brings out the fear the creature has for fire. The audience reacts by throwing vegetables at him and the creature runs amuck. It is destined to be made a lesson for how man shouldn't meddle in the realm of that which is reserved for God. But take heart, once again the monster escapes and Frederick has plans to help the monster complete it's adjustment to polite society.

 One of the more interesting homages occurs when Frederick's fiancee shows up and has an unexpected romantic interlude with the monster. Not only does it make her no longer an uppity virginal debutante but it also gives her a new updo that is straight out of The Bride of Frankenstein...

 

 

 

In terms of box office and critical reception, the film holds a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That means pretty much every critic at the time had good things to say about it. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, and even his competitor Gene Siskel managed to concede it a three star rating. IMDb gives it an 8 out of 10 on it's rating.

Not everyone was glowing in it's praise, however. One reviewer quoted in the wikipedia article, although praising of the movie itself, had some disparaging words about Feldman's portrayal. Leslie Halliwell is quoted as saying that the script was "far from consistently funny, but there are splendid moments".

The public however, seemed to think it was a gem. In terms of box office sales it ranked third for the year, only behind The Towering Inferno and Blazing Saddles in terms of draw. With a budget of only about $2.5 million it pulled in well over $30 million in US sales, and ultimately about $85 million worldwide. 

Definitely Young Frankenstein is well worth watching, even multiple times. I return to this movie often, especially when I want to remember one of the cast members. Unfortunately most of them have passed on to the studio in the sky, most recently Teri Garr, whom we lost in 2024, and Gene Hackman who passed away last year.. But as stated in the opening, we still have the director, Mel Brooks. (Note: I would imagine the little girl is still alive but I can't find any information one way or the other on her status. She would be in her 60's by now if she is.)

Well folks, the time has come to go back to the castle. Drive safely.

Quiggy