# Frau Blücher (whinny) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136 "2009-07-24T16:48:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/1 "2009-07-24T16:48:12Z")
My daughter and I were watching [_Rebecca_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032976/) last evening, and we couldn’t help but notice a certain uncanny resemblance between the creepy housekeeper [Mrs. Danvers](http://media.photobucket.com/image/Judith%20Anderson%20Danvers/stinkylulu/supporting%20actress/JA-judithanderson-rebecca-meetingmr.png) and [Frau Blücher](http://www.filmdope.com/Gallery/ActorsL/10068-21781.gif) from [_Young Frankenstein_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/). Coincidence? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/2 "2009-07-24T17:33:45Z")
With a title like that, I was expecting something about the “Blucher means ‘glue’ in German” urban legend. Glad it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/3 "2009-07-24T18:01:28Z")
It would appear Mrs. Danvers was the model evil housekeeper to which a number of later films would pay homage. [Here’s](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/3216864431_b802c0e36d.jpg) a stock picture of Cloris (Last Picture Show) showing that the mole on Frau Blücher’s chin, in the same place as Mrs. Danvers’, was no gift of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/4 "2009-07-24T18:02:01Z")
…well what does it mean in German? ETA: Asked of **mobo85**. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/5 "2009-07-24T18:23:07Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > …well what does it mean in German? > > ETA: Asked of **mobo85**. Yes, I was going to ask the same question. I heard Cloris Leachman on Fresh Air a couple of months ago, and she repeated the Blucher = glue story. She said that that was what Mel Brooks told her. Snopes should put a restraining order on her! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/6 "2009-07-24T18:35:13Z")
It doesn’t mean anything. There was a famous Prussian general by that name who did well against Napoleon, a few other famous Blüchers through the years, a few warships, a sub wolfpack, and a few other things, all apparently named after the first one. I have no doubt that Mel Brooks told Cloris Leachman that it means “glue,” though; it’s Mel Brooks, after all. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/7 "2009-07-24T19:24:36Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > I have no doubt that Mel Brooks told Cloris Leachman that it means “glue,” though; it’s Mel Brooks, after all. One must suspect the guy who named “Lili Von Shtupp” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/8 "2009-07-24T20:00:16Z")
So what made the horses whinny? I always thought she’d had “relations” with a stallion. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/9 "2009-07-24T20:30:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > It would appear Mrs. Danvers was the model evil housekeeper to which a number of later films would pay homage. [Here’s](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/3216864431_b802c0e36d.jpg) a stock picture of Cloris (Last Picture Show) showing that the mole on Frau Blücher’s chin, in the same place as Mrs. Danvers’, was no gift of nature. I won’t comment on the “glue” debate, other than saying that I once passed on this bit of urban lore in a crowded restaurant, only to be vehemently contradicted by a native German speaker at the next table. :o What I find interesting, and the reason I started the topic in the first place, is that I seem to recall from listening to the _Young Frankenstein_ commentary that Cloris Leachman did her own makeup for Frau Blücher, and when she appeared on set in character the other cast members were baffled by her appearance. While I admit that I’d never seen _Rebecca_ before last evening, I would have thought the joke would be far more obvious to folks who had already been working in the movie industry for decades. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/10 "2009-07-24T21:47:15Z")
[Snopes on the “Blucher=glue” story](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/blucher.asp). “Blucher” doesn’t mean anything in German: the horses whinnying at the mention of her name is just a play on the old-timey fashion of having a disturbing organ chord or somesuch whenever the villain’s name is mentioned, made sillier by the choice of horse noises and the fact that she isn’t a villain. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/11 "2009-07-24T22:05:34Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > So what made the horses whinny? I always thought she’d had “relations” with a stallion. The mere mention of her name struck terror into them. It was another riff on old horror films. I recently saw the interview with Gene Wilder on TCM, during which he said that it was nearly impossible to work with Cloris Leachman. She was so outrageously funny that he, the cast and crew kept cracking up. Ditto for the guy who played the constable. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/12 "2009-07-25T00:02:58Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > So what made the horses whinny? I always thought she’d had “relations” with a stallion. That’s what my associates and I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/13 "2009-07-25T00:32:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The mere mention of her name struck terror into them. It was another riff on old horror films. Oh, it was a bit more than that. From the above Snopes link: > [@](#): > > Horses are heard whinnying at any repetition of the words “Frau Blucher,” even in settings — such as the interior of Frankenstein’s castle — where no horses are present! > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > > [@Encinitas](#): > > > > I always thought she’d had “relations” with a stallion. > > That’s what my associates and I thought. Also from Snopes: > [@](#): > > The horses are terrified at hearing the name “Frau Blucher,” but Frau Blucher herself doesn’t bother them at all. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/14 "2009-07-25T00:56:29Z")
They were in the adjoining stable hoping for a…visit. She is leading the group up or down the stairs and says, “Stay close to the candles. The stairs are treacherous!” The candles aren’t lit. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frau-blucher-whinny/504136/15 "2009-07-25T07:11:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > They were in the adjoining stable hoping for a…visit. > > She is leading the group up or down the stairs and says, “Stay close to the candles. The stairs are treacherous!” The candles aren’t lit. And it only took _me_ ten viewings of this movie to realize that the candles weren’t lit.:smack:⭕D