Mel without Mel

In a recent thread someone mentioned Spaceballs, and how unfunny Mel Brooks was, playing Yogurt. Don’t get me wrong - I l ove Mel’s films, but I’ve often felt that Mel’s performances IN them to be the weakest parts. There are exceptions of course - The Guv in Blazing Saddles springs to mind (he seems to do better in minor supporting roles) - but I wonder - who could have played these roles better? Any thoughts?

I’ve never heard anyone complain about Yogurt or President Skroob, in particular. I have noticed that Spaceballs seems to get an undeserving amount of hate for some reason. I think it’s one of the funniest movies of all time.

Forget the ring! I found it in a cracker jack box!

(I use variations of that all the time in real life.)

I liked Mel in Spaceballs.

“I can’t make decisions! I’m a president!”

“Geez! Why didn’t any one tell me my ass was so big?”

“Muuukk muck puuck . . .”
“You can read it?”
“No, I was just clearing my throat.”

“Yogurt the wise?”
“Please! Don’t make a fuss.”

Mel should never direct Mel. As a secondary character he isn’t a bad actor. As a director, he peaked with his first film and has been spiralling downwards ever since.

It’s good to be the king

<grabs silenus by the collar and backhands him> SNAP OUT OF IT, MAN! You’re talking gibberish! Blazing Saddles? Young Frankenstein? History of the World Part I? And that’s still the early period. Mel Brooks is a comedy hero to not one but 2 or 3 generations.

But The Producers is still his best film. Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles are right up there as well. After that things start to go south. History of the World was episodic, with a mix of strong and weak sections. High Anxiety was flawed and suffered from a too-cute script. Spaceballs was late and insipid, with obvious jokes and crappy casting. The less said about Men In Tights, the better.

I’ve repeatedly called Blazing Saddles “the funniest movie ever made.” But for sheer movie-making perfection, The Producers has it beat.

Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights weren’t “clever” like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, but they were fucking hilarious, and that’s all that matters for a comedy.

Now if you want to strike Dracula: Dead and Loving It from history, you’ll get no argument from me. Except for Lucy’s death scene, that was hilarious.

I agree it wasn’t the greatest movie but it had its moments. Leslie Nielson did some good physical comedy and there were a few good quotes in there. I loved it when someone asks Van Helsing if so-and-so is a suspect and he says “No! But leeeeeeeaning towards yes.”

Men In Tights was carried more by the actors than Mel, I’ll say. Spaceballs is cheesy fun, but Men In Tights is riotous mainly due to the actors’ delivery of their lines. The British actors in particular really got into it. “He deered to kill a king’s dare! …sigh Dared, to kill, a king’s, deer.”

I was about to say that I remember Dracula being no worse than Spaceballs, but then I watched the link Justin provided. If that’s the best the movie has to offer, then yeah, it’s definitely the weakest of his movies.

“I’m wearing a cardboard belt” gets mentioned in our family from time to time.

You don’t go to a Mel Brooks movie for the acting. And the story is only there so the jokes have a place to sit. I love, love, love Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, History of the World and Spaceballs are both very good. Been a long time since I’ve seen High Anxiety, but I remember it being pretty funny. Men in Tights is meh, and Dracula I didn’t enjoy at all. But lets not forget about Silent Movie which is hilarious. I also found To Be or Not To Be pretty funny.

I recently heard part of the 2,000 year old man skit he did with Carl Reiner. The 2,000 year old man says he thinks Paul Revere was an anti-semite because he rode through the streets warning that the Yiddish were coming. Almost peed myself laughing.