Released 30 years ago this December: Young Frankenstein!

[GIGObuster]

It was released in 1974 on December 15 to be exact. So, feeling old already? ;)

So, what about the cast these days?

In "Young Frankenstein," Cloris Leachman played Frau Blucher, who wasn't popular with horses (neeeigh!).

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/10/cloris.leachman/
CNN: What was your most difficult scene?

LEACHMAN: It was the scene where Dr. Frankenstein first meets Frau Blucher. Mel [Brooks] gave me this line and told me to say it (does Frau Blucher) "Stay close to zee candles, the staircase can be treacherous" with the emphasis on the word "can." Anyway, every time I said that line Gene would crack in two diagonally. I don't know how many times we did it but it took endless takes to get it.

CNN: What was it like working with Mel Brooks?

LEACHMAN: It was fun, like working with a nice Jewish mother. But I knew Mel from before. he wrote a sketch for the old "Andy Williams Show" and Tony Randall and I were in it.

Mel asked me out a couple of times but I never went (laughs). Anyway, he went on to marry Anne [Bancroft]. Then Anne was just making this movie "Spanglish" and she got sick and I stepped into the role she was playing.
Looking at the picture of Cloris in that article...
She is 78? She looks less than 50!! :cool:

Teri Garr: recently was spotted in "Ghost World" (2000) as Maxine, but she was uncredited, why was that?

Gene Wilder: appeared in "Alice in Wonderland" (1999) (TV) as the Mock Turtle.

Peter Boyle: Gets credit in Pluto Nash and no credit in the Santa Clause 2 (both in 2002) (I refuse to accept he was in Scooby Doo 2!) but he is better known as Frank Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond"

Marty Feldman latest credit was in 2001 (quite a feat since he died in 1982) in the documentary/comedy “We Know Where You Live” (2001). Marty Feldman’s skit "Four Yorkshire men" was recreated.

Speaking of dead people:

Madeline Kahn last was heard in “A Bug's Life” (1999) as the voice of Gypsy Moth, but IMDB reports a strange movie called:
Magic 7 (2005) (TV)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113735/trivia
The project was started in 1990.

….

John Candy and Madeline Kahn (Wastra in this movie) recorded their voice tracks for this project in the early 1990s.

Originally scheduled to air on Earth Day, 22 April 1997, but was postponed indefinitely.

And what about Kenneth Mars, Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friederich Kemp?.... "The Land Before Time X": The Great Longneck Migration (2003) as the voice of Grandpa.

:smack: There are now ten “Land before time” movies! A series that deserves to be dead! Unlike Madeline or Marty… :(

[Sources: IMDB]


Going back to the movie: My favorite bit of trivia is historical:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/trivia
The brain originally intended for the monster was Hans Delbruck. Hans Delbruck was an actual person, a German historian, professor at the Univ. of Berlin, notable for going beyond technical problems and linking warfare to politics and economics.

One thing still puzzles me: Mel Brooks mentions in the commentary that it was a dummy used to make the little girl fly, but in the documentary and stills it looks like the little girl was attached to wires.

One blooper almost never mentioned: Inspector Kemp in the field, looking for the monster, hushes everybody around with his mechanical arm.. the wrong arm.

So, since we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the best comedies, mention all your favorite trivia and quotes from the movie.

[Ethilrist]

"What knockers!"
"He vas my boyfriend!"
"What hump?"
"Abby-something."
"I was going to make espresso..."
"Werewolf?" "There wolf."

[Eve]

Omigod, I feel old. My high school friends Becky and Eric and I went to see it half-a-dozen times the week it opened.

[Muffin]

"Walk this way."

[Just Ed]

So, since we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the best comedies, mention all your favorite trivia and quotes from the movie.
There are so many!

Seda-give?!
Quiet dignity and grace . . .
OK, you take the blonde, I'll take the one in the turban.
Damn your eyes! Too late!
Walk this way.

My favorite bit of trivia is that that last line actually did inspire the writing of the Aerosmith song.

[Baker]

(When discussing making the monster)He vould haf to haf an enormous schvanstuker(sp?), wouldn't he?

[Ethilrist]

(When discussing making the monster)He vould haf to haf an enormous schvanstuker(sp?), wouldn't he?
"He'll be very popular."

[GIGObuster]

(When discussing making the monster)He vould haf to haf an enormous schvanstuker(sp?), wouldn't he?
Igor: He would be very popular!!


Grrr!! I forgot to mention one more bit of trivia/question from the movie:

There is an “explanation” on why, on the few frames Igor appears in the “Putting on the Ritz” scene, he is not wearing a hump!:

IIRC the missing scene did go like this:

Everybody is preparing for the theater presentation when:
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: (noticing the missing hump when Igor sits at the piano!) Uh.. what happened to….(points at missing hump) Uhhhhh .. to ?
Igor: Oh! Never when using a tux!!! (points at his tuxedo!)

Can anyone confirm the missing scene dialog?

[Ethilrist]

Dunno about the tux, but there is definitely a scene where the hump is on the other shoulder, and the Doctor says, "Didn't that used to be...." and Igor just stares at him... "Never mind."

[GIGObuster]

Inspector Kemp: Vee had better confeerm de fect dat Younk Frankenshteinn iss indeeed: VALLOWING EEN EES GANDFADDA'S VOOTSTAPS!!!!
Villagers: What?!?
Inspector Kemp: Following in his grandfather's vootsteps, vootsteps, vootsteps. [Makes quick step noises]
Villagers: Ohhh. Footsteps!!!

[rolandgunslinger]

"Put the candle back."

[Ghanima]

One time when I was being a tremendous smartass, my coworker said something like "You think you're so smart, Einstein."

I looked him straight in the eye, and said "That's Ein-STEEN!"

[Evil Captor]

"Elevate me!"

"Elevate you?"

"Yes! ELEVATE me!"

"You mean right here, right now? In front of everyone?"

and

"Could be worse ... could be rainin'."

and

"No matter what I do, no matter how piteously I may beg and scream for mercy, DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR."

[rolandgunslinger]

"Sweet mystery of life at last I've found you"

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Taffeta!

[Weirddave]

How about a nice roll in the hay?

And, no matter how much I plead or beg, Ginger absolutely refuses to break into song "Ahh, sweet mystery of life at last I've found you" when we are coitally involved. :( She also refuses to do the line from Coming to America "The royal penis is clean your highness". Honestly, is that so much to ask? :D

[Marlitharn]

Iiiii ain't got nobody...

[Wile E]

Taffeta!

Taffeta, darling!


Who's brain is it?
Abby.
Abby, who?
Abby ... Normal.

I always giggle at the "you haven't touched your food" bit and it's such a tiny gag but it's something I would do.


This is the only movie I have watched over a dozen times. I remember a friend and I constantly quoting this is in school, especially the Abby Normal bit. We'd be walking down the hall and one would say, "Hey, there's Abby!" "Abby Who?" "Abby Normal.". We'd die laughing if we actually met someone named Abby.

[Eve]

. . . Oh, and my favorite joke was, "Pardon me, boy--is this the Transylvania Station?"

[phouka]

The whole movie is something of a tradition for my family. Most of the lines mentioned so far get used at appropriate moments.

"Put. Ze [insert word]. BECK!" is often heard in the kitchen when there are too many cooks. My mom once scared one of her nursing students by telling her to put the stethescope back using that voice.

"Could be worse."
"How?"
"Could be raining."
I've actually done that line with my dad, and had it start raining. I got SUCH a look.

"Ovaltine?"
Used when one person is being overly solitious of another. Very effective way to make them go away.

*sigh* I'm going to have to watch it again tonight.

[E-Sabbath]

I can't believe the DVD had cut scenes. There's some odd stuff in there, too. Including a scene where everyone sweeps down the staircase, singing, which is very familiar but I can't remember why.

[Winkie]

My college roommate and I have probably watched Young Frankenstein together at least 50 times. It is a reflex, reflex I tell you, that when someone says any variation of "Could be worse" I answer "could be raining."

What hump?

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Inspector Kemp: Vee had better confeerm de fect dat Younk Frankenshteinn iss indeeed: VALLOWING EEN EES GANDFADDA'S VOOTSTAPS!!!!
Villagers: What?!?
Inspector Kemp: Following in his grandfather's vootsteps, vootsteps, vootsteps. [Makes quick step noises]
Villagers: Ohhh. Footsteps!!!


Don't forget:

"He vill VRUE ze day he was born UH FRONKENSHTEEEN!"

My brothers and I are constantly riffing on the little exchange that includes:

"Didn't you just make a 'yummy' sound?"

[malkabat]

"No tongues!"

[CalMeacham]

Grrr!! I forgot to mention one more bit of trivia/question from the movie:

There is an “explanation” on why, on the few frames Igor appears in the “Putting on the Ritz” scene, he is not wearing a hump!:

IIRC the missing scene did go like this:

Everybody is preparing for the theater presentation when:
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: (noticing the missing hump when Igor sits at the piano!) Uh.. what happened to….(points at missing hump) Uhhhhh .. to ?
Igor: Oh! Never when using a tux!!! (points at his tuxedo!)

Can anyone confirm the missing scene dialog?


I've brought this up on he Board before, because I had heard it. My wife claims to have seen it, and so do others I talked to. I as sorely disappointed to find it is not amng the "Deleted Scenes" on the DVD . (And it's a good thing those scenes were deleted. They were awful! The outtakes with Marty Feldmen, though, are proceless!)

Is it possible the scene never occurred? That it was an Urban Legend? I don't think so -- look at Marty Feldman when he and Teri Garr go rushing up to Wilder's Dr. Frankenstein, after the Monster storms offstage -- Feldman's character, dressed in a tuxedo, has no hump!










Interesting bit -- remember when the med student asks about Dr. Frankenstein's ancestor keeping a piece of vermicelli alive in a jar, and Wilder's Dr. Frahn kenstein smarmil asks "Would that be the worm? Or the Spaghetti?". The Student answers "The worm, of course!"

Well, guess what -- Shelley meant the spaghetti. There is no worm called vermicelli, and there was a report of such apparent spontaneous animation of the pasta shortly before she wrote her book. The details are in The Annotated Frankenstein and, presumably, in The Essential Frankenstein as well), edited by Leonard Wolf. I wrote a piece on it a couple of years ago for Halloween on this Board.




My favorite line -- "What Knockers!" "Why Ssnk you, Doktorrr!"

[Troy McClure SF]

As mentioned before, anything that could inspire Walk This Way is good in my book.

[Robot Arm]

My mother told me about going to see this movie with a friend of hers, and the two of them fell apart laughing at the "Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania station" bit. They looked around the theater, and they were the only ones laughing.

And when I used to play darts with some friends of mine, the phrase "Nice grouping" was used on more than one occasion.

[BrotherCadfael]

Now listen to me very carefully. Don't. Move. The Candle."

[Kalhoun]

Funniest movie ever made. And I'm a HUGE Marx Brothers fan, so that's saying something!!

When I get up in the morning, my youngest kitty follows me into the bathroom and does this rolling/stretching thing while I say, "Roll in zee hay, Roll in zee hay!

My whole family likes to strike a monster pose and say "Puttin' on the Ritz!!!" in our best Peter Boyle voices.

And my ex-boss has a sound thingy on his IM at work. When I log on, he gets a message that says, "You take the blonde. I'll take the one in the turban!"

[Dr. Rieux]

"His brain is rotten, I tell you, rotten!"
"Grrrrrr!"
"Ixnay on the ottenray!"

[Airblairxxx]

Already mentioned, but:

Seda-Give?

[Loach]

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor, would you give me a hand with the bags?
Igor: [doing a Groucho Marx] Certainly, you take the blonde and I'll take the one in the turban.

Made even better by the fact that in the cut they could use you can see everyone trying not to laugh. I have seen outtakes from that scene. It took a very long time to film.


Wait. Where are you going? I was going to make Espresso.

My favorite scene. I laugh even after hundreds of viewings. Gene Hackman should have done more comedy.

A riot is an ungly thing... undt, I tink, that it is chust about time ve had vun.

And what about Kenneth Mars, Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friederich Kemp?.... "The Land Before Time X": The Great Longneck Migration (2003) as the voice of Grandpa.

He had a pretty big part in the series Malcolm in the Middle.

[Anaamika]

How about:

"Let me out of here, you bastards! Can't you take a joke?" or however it goes.

And "...accept it with quiet dignity and grace."

And of course "I thought you wanted to." in a slightly hurt voice.

[Mal Adroit]

"Hey there, handsome!"
(Jeepers cats, was the only line left that wasn't quoted!)

For some reason, one of my favorite parts is at the very beginning, when Gene Wilder is lecturing to his medical students. He gets very worked up when the one kid asks him about the work of his ancestor, and to add emphasis to a point he brings down the scalpel he's holding and drives it right into his thigh. Doesn't make a sound then, just looks down briefly, takes his hand from the scalpel to make sure- yes, it's standing there by itself. :p Wilder does this sight gag so calmly, it just makes me howl every time I see it.

[JohnBckWLD]

For return posters and people posting something new to the thread - Please include your 3 Favorite Brooks films.

(Example: #1=Blazing Saddles, #2=High Anxiety #3-Young Frankenstein)

Inquiring minds wanna know.

[silenus]

#1 - The Producers

#2 - Young Frankenstein

#3 - Blazing Saddles


"I just want to give you a little peace!" :D

[Don Draper]

"Hello! Vould yoo like un rrrroll in der hay? It's fun! Roll, roll, roll in der hay!"

[Marley23]

He gets very worked up when the one kid asks him about the work of his ancestor, and to add emphasis to a point he brings down the scalpel he's holding and drives it right into his thigh. Doesn't make a sound then, just looks down briefly, takes his hand from the scalpel to make sure- yes, it's standing there by itself. :p Wilder does this sight gag so calmly, it just makes me howl every time I see it.
MY GRANDFATHER'S WORK WAS DOODOO!

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

1) Young Frankenstein
2) Blazing Saddles
3) The Producers
4) The 12 Chairs
5) High Anxiety

Frankly, the top 3 are gold, the next two are notably good movies, the rest I don't care for.

[Marley23]

1. Young Frankenstein
2. The Producers

Not sure after that, probably Blazing Saddles. He's at his best when he's working with someone else.

[Yamirskoonir]

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"
"Did you just make a yummy sound?"

1) Young Frankenstein
2) Blazing Saddles
3) History of the World: Part I

[Evil Captor]

1) Blazing Saddles
2) Young Fronkenshteen
3) Spaceballs

I have never been able to "get" The Producers. It just isn't funny.

[silenus]

And you like Spaceballs, which I loathe. Proof that arguments about taste are meaningless! :D

Mel can appeal to all sorts....something for everyone.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Madeline Kahn last was heard in “A Bug's Life” (1999) as the voice of Gypsy Moth, but IMDB reports a strange movie called:
Magic 7 (2005) (TV)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113735/triviaThe project was started in 1990.

….

John Candy and Madeline Kahn (Wastra in this movie) recorded their voice tracks for this project in the early 1990s.

Originally scheduled to air on Earth Day, 22 April 1997, but was postponed indefinitely. I wonder if it even exists. The IMDb has been fooled into listing non-existent movies before.

[Bryan Ekers]

I wonder if it even exists. The IMDb has been fooled into listing non-existent movies before.

I'm starting to have my doubts. One of the "photographs" links goes to a drawing of a dragon with the following caption:

This dragon was designed for Roger Holzberg's project "The Magic Seven." James Earl Jones provided a voice track, including several minutes of belching.


"No, Luke, I am your (burp!) ... 'scoose me..."

[Ghanima]

"Yes! YES! YES!!! He vas my BOYFRIEND!!!"


Top three Brooks' movies:
1. Blazing Saddles
2. Young Frankenstein
3. Space Balls

[kaylasdad99]

Nobody mentions that Kenneth Mars also provides the voice for King Triton in The Little Mermaid (two movies and an animated TV series).

The Producers
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles

[Ms Boods]

Gene Wilder's first draft for Young Frankenstein (http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/young.txt)

[TPWombat]

"Give him an extra dollar."

[Cliffy]

I wonder if it even exists. The IMDb has been fooled into listing non-existent movies before.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282390/

Everyone should know about the glory that is J-Bolt (http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/delusions/7.html)! He's the gift that keeps on giving.

--Cliffy

[Threadkiller]

My favorite sight gag from the flick was when they were playing the amplified violin, trying to lure Peter Bo...er, the monster, back. At one point Igor leans in a plays a bit with a French Horn.

At first "why" runs through your head, followed quickly by "why am I talking this movie seriously?".

Cracks me up very time.

[longhair75]

in my opinion, one of the funniest movies ever made.

my favorite scene is gene hackman as the blind monk

[Cartooniverse]

Eve? I love the second half of that exchange where the boy says
Jah ! Jah ! Track 29 !!!

The movie has the beauty of comic timing within the scenes as they play, and in editing. How can we overlook Madeline Kahn striding in at the end, resplendant in her Bride of Frankenstein hairdo? Hilarious.

Other fave moments:

When Eyegore leans back out when nobody can hear him and whispers to the horses, " Bleucher !"

" Mr. Hilltop, you dirty filthy son of a --- " then, the knee to the groin and the bewildered look.

" Oh, I love my pretty little flowers, Oh, I love my pretty little flowers. I love my flowers. "

Gene Wilder picks up the violin and proclaims, " It's still warm ! " :D

" Ovaltine? No, ssssssssssssssankyu ! "

Trivia bit perhaps not mentioned.

From Young Frankenstein (http://www.moria.co.nz/horror/youngfrank.htm)
Perhaps it works the best of all Brooks’s films because Brooks has a clear affection for the originals and has made a real technical effort at recapturing the look and style of the old Frankenstein films, reconstructing them in loving detail down to the Gothic sets and black-and-white lighting. Brooks even employed Kenneth Strickfaden who actually uses some of the original lab equipment that he created for the originals.

Cartooniverse

[jgroub]

I prefer Blazing Saddles to Young Frankestein, but it's still a killer movie.

My cousin's family has this thing that they do. They have been doing it for 30 years.

If anyone says "Frau Blucher", they all whinny and neigh.

You'd be surprised how often she comes up in conversation.

[The Scrivener]

"An incredibly large mute."

"Cigars!"

I wonder how many women have at one time or another borrowed from Madeline Kahn's making a sizzling sound when she touches her hip...?


Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles
The History of the World, Part I ("It's called plumbing! With it, you can pipe the shit... out of your house!")

[kalex]

This is a mother's angel.

I use that one all the time, usually when squishing my SO's face. He's a patient man.
Funniest movie ever.

Taffeta, darling!

[photopat]

Definitely my favorite of Mel's films (and Gene's for that matter).
Then Blazing Saddles and History of the World Part 1, along with The Silver Streak and Stir Crazy for Gene.

[Llama Llogophile]

This thread's getting out of control.

"We've... all of us... GOT to behave NORMALLY!" :D

[GIGObuster]

I wonder if it even exists. The IMDb has been fooled into listing non-existent movies before.

I'm starting to have my doubts. One of the "photographs" links goes to a drawing of a dragon with the following caption:

This dragon was designed for Roger Holzberg's project "The Magic Seven." James Earl Jones provided a voice track, including several minutes of belching.

"No, Luke, I am your (burp!) ... 'scoose me..."

You guys made me wonder, so is up to Google:

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Candy_John.html
The Magic 7 (voice, recorded in the 1990's) (2004)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/imdb/imdb_frame.jsp?pagetype=title&page=/title/tt0113735/
[quote]IN PRODUCTION
Release date: 2005
Status: Unknown
The status was last updated on 27 September 2002
Since this project is categorized as being in production, the data is subject to change or could be removed completely.

http://www.bullz-eye.com/celebritybabes/jennifer_love_hewitt.htm
will also lend the voice to the TV animated feature, "The Magic 7," in production for 10 years and including the pre-recorded voices of deceased film stars like John Candy and Madeline Kahn.

http://casadiablos.com/stephres.htm
The Magic 7

Character Animator

After school special. Dr. Scratch segment shown at Siggraph '93

This last one convinced me that this movie does “exist” (when in doubt I learned to look for people who worked in the biz to see if they mentioned in their bios) but I have to grant it: by “exist” I am talking here in the very tenuous Hollywood term.

Around 1994(!) work was essentially completed in writing and directing the live action and dialogue units for THE
MAGIC 7, but then IIUC the original studio suffered a meltdown and the project is only in life support with another studio, who knows if this movie will ever be completed.



As for Mel's favorite movies:
1) Young Frankenstein
2) Blazing Saddles
3) History of the World: Part I (A pack of Troyans!!)

[cmkeller]

The bit that had me in stitches: Dr. Frahnkenshteen is walking down the steps to the lab for the first time, and he passes a shelf of skulls in different stages of decomposition. 2 years dead...1 year dead...6 months dead...

(Eyegor's head) "I'm alive!"

[Manduck]

I like that Victor finds his grandfather's book, and the title is "How I Did It".

Also the gag where Frankenstein is telling Igor to come down from the roof because of the danger of electrocution, and Igor instantaneously appears behind him.

[Lute Skywatcher]

This last one convinced me that this movie does “exist” (when in doubt I learned to look for people who worked in the biz to see if they mentioned in their bios) but I have to grant it: by “exist” I am talking here in the very tenuous Hollywood term. It's supposed to be an After School Special?!

[Kizarvexius]

"Does that mean that you -- ptoo -- love me?"

The look on Igor's face after he says "Blucher" makes me laugh every single time.

"Oh, schitt!....To ze lumberyard!"

"There wolf...there castle"

"I suggest you put on a tie."

[SolGrundy]

"Cigars!"
Not just my favorite line from Young Frankenstein, but one of my favorite lines in any movie ever.

And I see my other favorite's already been mentioned, too: "A violin! And it's still warm!"

Oh well, how about this story, then:
I was driving some friends back to San Francisco from LA, and we'd left too late as usual. We were all exhausted, so we just drove the last three hours of the trip without stopping, and the last couple of hours without saying a word to each other. We finally get to my friend Rain's house and I stop the car and we get out to get her luggage. We're both clomping around, heads down and stiff-legged, around to the back of the car. She stops, puts out her arms, and suddenly shrieks, "Puttin' on the RIIITZ!"

[Greg Charles]

"Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles", while both very funny, don't compete for the title of Brooks's best, which is clearly "The Producers". :)