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Young Frankenstein is a 1974 comedy 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, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, mainly those made by Universal in the 1930s, to which the film is best seen as an affectionate homage. This is reflected by the fact that most of the pieces of lab equipment were the very ones used in the 1931 film Frankenstein, designed by Ken Strickfaden. To further reflect the atmosphere of the earlier films, Brooks shot the picture entirely in black-and-white, a rare choice at the time.
Cast
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Frederick Frankenstein, full name Doctor Baron Frederick von Frankenstein, is a respected lecturer at an American medical school and is more or less happily (though blandly) engaged to the tightly-wound Elizabeth. 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 "Fronkensteen". A solicitor approaches the doctor after a lecture and informs Frederick that he has inherited his family's estate. Traveling to said estate in Transylvania, Frankenstein meets his comely new lab assistant Inga, along with the household servants Frau Blücher and Igor (who, after hearing Frederick claim his name is pronounced "Fronkensteen" counter-claims that his is pronounced "Eye-gor." Frankenstein continues to call him "Eye-gor" for the rest of the film). The three of them help Frederick discover his grandfather's private journals and, inspired by their contents, the doctor finally acknowledges his heritage ("My name... is... Frankenstein!") and resumes his grandfather's experiments in re-animating the dead. He and Igor successfully exhume and spirit away the enormous corpse of a recently-executed criminal, but Igor's attempt to steal the brain of a revered scientist from the local "brain depository" goes awry ("Abby someone... Abby... Normal!"). This mistake is revealed when the reassembled and revived monster goes on a rampage and eventually escapes from the Frankenstein castle. While roaming the countryside, the monster has encounters with a young girl and a blind hermit which directly parody scenes from the original Frankenstein movies. He also kidnaps and ravishes the not-unwilling Elizabeth, who has arrived unexpectedly for a visit. Meanwhile, the local townspeople are uneasy and prepare to riot because of Frederick's continuation of his grandfather's work. Most concerned is Chief Inspector Hans Wilhelm Frederick Kemp, who sports an accent so thick even his own countrymen cannot understand him and, thanks to his run-in with a previous Frankenstein's monster, a jointed and extremely creaky wooden arm. Just as the Kemp-led mob storms the castle, Dr. Frankenstein transfers some of his stabilizing intellect to the re-captured monster. As a result, the monster is able to reason with and placate the mob. The film ends happily, with Elizabeth married to the (ex-)monster, and Inga joyfully learning what her new husband Frederick got in return from the monster during the transfer procedure. Spoilers end here.
Trivia
The brain which Igor is sent to steal is labelled as belonging to "Hans Delbrück, scientist and saint." A real-life Hans Delbrück was a nineteenth-century military historian; his son Max Delbrück was a twentieth-century biochemist and Nobel laureate. Broadway musical adaptationIn early April 2006, Brooks began composing the score to a Broadway musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein, which he described as possibly his best film.[3] In November 2006, Brooks and Thomas Meehan, collaborators on The Producers, finished the first draft of the script and in October a reading directed by Susan Stroman was held with Brian D'Arcy James as Dr. Frankenstein, Kristin Chenoweth as Elizabeth, Sutton Foster as Inga, Roger Bart as Igor, Marc Kudisch as Inspector Kemp and Shuler Hensley as the Monster. Cloris Leachman also attended the table read, reprising her role as Frau Blücher and it was widely reported she would be offered the role of Blücher for the stage show.[4][5] However, gossip maven Liz Smith reported in her New York Post column on January 12, 2007, that Leachman was sent a letter informing her she would not be considered for the Broadway production because the producers wanted to keep the film and stage properties separate. On January 24, 2007, it was announced that the musical would premiere in late 2007, with music and lyrics by Brooks, book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and Susan Stroman directing and choreographing. On March 9, 2007, casting for many of the roles in the musical were announced: Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), and Shuler Hensley (Monster). Also reported to star are: Roger Bart as Igor and Andrea Martin as Frau Blücher. However, television roles may prevent them from accepting the roles. Although the role of Dr. Frankenstein has yet to be cast, actors Zachary Levi and Mullally's Will & Grace co-star Eric McCormack have been considered. Zachary Levi has since pulled out, as he will be starring in a television pilot. [6] Cultural influence
Awards
References
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