# Mel Brooks, auteur **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003 "2006-01-01T22:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/1 "2006-01-01T22:53:32Z")
In the thread on the new musical version of _The Producers_, **ask not** judged the original film totally unfunny, calling it Mel Brooks’s second-worst film (better only than _Life Sucks_, which I’ve never seen). IMHO, _The Producers_ is not only Mel Brooks’s funniest film, but the funniest movie ever made. I am, of course, also fond of _Blazing Saddles_, which is totally stupid, but which wears me down with one horrendous joke after another until I start laughing almost in spite of myself – and then laugh the rest of the time. I don’t get _Young Frankenstein_, which has just never struck me as all that funny – though I will admit Peter Boyle doing _Puttin’ on the Ritz_ cracks me up every time. _Space Balls_ – not bad, but not comic genius. How does everyone else rank his films? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/2 "2006-01-01T23:02:19Z")
It’s a pretty rough rule of thumb, but if you want to say that Brooks started at the top and then lost a step with each succeeding film you wouldn’t be far wrong. History of the World is worse than the next two, for one exception (even I never saw Life Stinks so it doesn’t count), but the fall is steady. The Producers musical is by far his best film in ages. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/3 "2006-01-01T23:06:08Z")
The original _The Producers_ is a great movie. _The Twelve Chairs_ is a good movie. Nothing else he’s ever done has ever worked for me. _Young Frankenstein_ has some forgivable moments, _Blazing Saddles_ has some nearly forgivable moments, but all the rest are totally unforgivable. Not a fan. I’d sooner see a Woody Allen movie than a Mel Brooks movie, and I’d sooner feed my gums to a weasel than either. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/4 "2006-01-01T23:24:11Z")
Top Brooks movies: 1. The Producers 2. Young Frankenstein 3. Blazing Saddles 4. The 12 Chairs 5. History of the World, Part 1 Spaceballs and Men In Tights are two of the worst movies ever made, for which Mel will be owing some serious time in Purgatory. We’ll see if The Producers the Musical gets him any time off. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/5 "2006-01-01T23:45:04Z")
The new version of _The Producers_ is funny, but it can’t be Mel’s best film because it’s not even the best version of _The Producers_. It’s so schticky and the performances are so hammy and one-dimensional. Didn’t make me laugh less, but it just can’t compare to movies where there’s actually a little acting and character. I still think _Young Frankenstein_ is his funniest movie, but it goes back and forth with the original _Producers_. _Blazing Saddles_ comes after that, and I’ve never actually seen _Silent Movie_. I don’t mind _Space Balls_, but once you get past the big three I mentioned, there are always funny bits (they can be really large bits; most of _History of the World_ qualifies), but the movies as a whole don’t really come together. He’s not a great parodist at all, and for some reason he’s done a bunch of those movies. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/6 "2006-01-01T23:51:43Z")
I like _Silent Movie_, but it’s been many years since I saw it last so I may change my mind if I saw it again. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/7 "2006-01-02T00:15:39Z")
I despise Mel Brooks in all his forms. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/8 "2006-01-02T00:17:50Z")
Brooks definitely faded. **Young Frankenstein** and **Silent Movie** are his best, and he also did OK with **The Producers** and **Blazing Saddles** (though neither is as good as their hype. But after **Silent Movie** , his work has been very weak. It didn’t help that Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker took his “anything for a joke” style and pushed it to the limit; Brooks couldn’t keep up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/9 "2006-01-02T01:36:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Brooks definitely faded. **Young Frankenstein** and **Silent Movie** are his best, and he also did OK with **The Producers** and **Blazing Saddles** (though neither is as good as their hype. From a certain perspective, that’s more like peaking than fading. _The Producers_ was the first movie he directed, _Blazing Saddles_ was the third; then came _YF_ and _Silent Movie_. But after that, yeah. Not much by comparison. He hasn’t even directed a movie in ten years, and I’m not sure what to make of the rumored _Space Balls_ sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/10 "2006-01-02T02:10:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Spaceballs and Men In Tights are two of the worst movies ever made, for which Mel will be owing some serious time in Purgatory. We’ll see if The Producers the Musical gets him any time off. Any clemency would be offset and then some by _Dracula: Dead and Loving It!_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/11 "2006-01-02T02:33:10Z")
I am not familiar with any movie by that name. Nope. Never made. Lalalalalalalala! ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/12 "2006-01-02T02:40:00Z")
I _loved_ **History of the World: Part 1** I didn’t think my sense of humor was that off, but I really enjoyed **Space Balls** , **Blazing Saddles** and **Men in Tights** (in that order). I didn’t realize there were so many of his movies that I hadn’t seen. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/13 "2006-01-02T03:00:19Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Any clemency would be offset and then some by _Dracula: Dead and Loving It!_ Aw comon, how could you NOT like a movie with this line: “But… but I’m British!” “Well SO ARE THESE!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/14 "2006-01-02T03:43:32Z")
I also enjoyed _High Anxiety_. (Note: as far as I know, there’s no movie called _Live Sucks_. Mel Brooks did a movie called _Life Stinks_, and it wasn’t very good.) ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/15 "2006-01-02T03:50:40Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I despise Mel Brooks in all his forms. Mel Brooks is a lycanthrope of some type? That explains so much. I have never understood people choosing YF over Blazing Saddles. A horse whinnying whenever they say “Frau Blucher” as one of the main gags? Bleah. Vs “The little bastard shot me in the ass!” ? No contest. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/16 "2006-01-02T04:11:55Z")
Producers, YF, Blazing Saddles. To me, they’re all 3 examples of comic genius. I didn’t care for the rest of Mel’s stuff all that much. I think it took the combo of Brooks and Wilder working together. Brooks to make Wilder extend his talents a bit more, and Wilder to damp down a few of Brooks’ “zanier” tendencies. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/17 "2006-01-02T04:35:16Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > Mel Brooks is a lycanthrope of some type? That explains so much. A lycanthrope is a human that changes specifically into a wolf-type creature. Perhaps you meant therianthrope? Transmogrifier? Metamorph? Or how about shapeshifter? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/18 "2006-01-02T04:43:15Z")
Alas, In my family, Mel Brooks in most all of his forms is a guilty pleasure. Yes, even the bad ones. But help me out here, I could have SWORN he was in a movie about the Jews in WWII…the only real thing I remember was one of the acting troupe complaining that he had to wear a pink triangle…It wasn’t a very good movie. Blazing Saddles and Young frankenstein are my top level faves. History of the world’s next. The original Producers seems a lot like he was still refining his timing, and/or its humor hasn’t aged well. Space balls and Men in tights are next…the wife HAD to buy Dead and Loving it. As bad as it is, there is a laugh or two in it. (Stake through her heart) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/19 "2006-01-02T04:44:39Z")
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > But help me out here, I could have SWORN he was in a movie about the Jews in WWII…the only real thing I remember was one of the acting troupe complaining that he had to wear a pink triangle…It wasn’t a very good movie. This was not properly a “Mel Brooks” movie. It was a shoddy remake of the Ernst Lubitsch classic _To Be or Not to Be._ ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003/20 "2006-01-02T05:27:49Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Aw comon, how could you NOT like a movie with this line: > > “But… but I’m British!” > “Well SO ARE THESE!” 😃 Yeah, I _loved_ this movie! I was hooked from this line: “_Shed_-juled?” I started laughing then and laughed right up till Van Helsing opened the casket to get in that last word (especially loved, “Renfield, you asshole!”). I also loved _Young Frankenstein_ (just love Marty Feldman in that, and the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” scene killed me. Oh, and “Sed-a-GIVE???”). But _Blazing Saddles_ has to be my favorite. The part where Johnson is giving his welcoming speech to the new—_n-word_ literally took my breath away, I laughed so hard (I was too young to get the “Laurel and hearty (Hardy) handshake” joke at the time, though! 😃 )! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-brooks-auteur/338003.md?page=2)