Another one that holds up is My Favorite Year. It’s still hilarious.
But the characyers acted as if they were in a comedy, too. You can’t watch Gene Wilder’s Frankenstein, plunging a scalpel into his thigh, comically playing at darts with the inspector, cringingly begging to be let out of the cell he’s locked in with the Monster (after heroically stating that they are not to let him out no matter what he says) and mistake it for playing the part seriously. As I’ve said, compare Basil Rathbone playing darts with the inspector in Son of Frankenstein with Gene Wilder playing darts with the Inspector in Young Frankenstein to see the difference between comedic characters and serious ones.
For that matter, compare Kenneth Mars as the Inspector with Lionel Atwill playing essentially the same part.
Imagine that clip with less zany dialogue and a slightly less bizarre situation and it could be a classic 1930s-40s Universal horror film.
On the other hand, Bud Abbott and Zeppo Marx were straight actors in clearly comedic films with comedic actors.
I get that, which is what makes it great homage as well as a great comedy. I just don’t think anybody is playing it straight. Replace those actors with Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, and Edward Van Sloan and nothing but maybe the horses would be funny.
George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden, both dramatic actors, played their roles with unwavering seriousness—albeit exaggerated—in the black comedy Dr. Strangelove, just as Leslie Nielsen delivered a deadpan performance in the absurdity of Airplane!. Young Frankenstein follows the same formula: a parody that works precisely because its actors commit fully to the material, never winking at the audience but letting the comedy emerge from the contrast between their sincerity and the absurdity around them.
I really don’t care if the actors in Young Frankenstein were or were not playing it straight. Can you please end that stupid sidetrack?
“I’m not an actor. I’m a movie star!”
…with great comic timing. You can’t transplant either of those performances into a drama.
Then steer it somewhere else instead of just complaining about it. This thread is about what makes things funny to a modern audience, right?
I will say that “modern sensibilities” didn’t play a role in our muted enjoyment of Young Frankenstein. Neither myself nor my wife were bothered by the “rape” scene for instance. That actually got a laugh out of us. Modern tastes may have but by that I mean more ingrained expectations of film & comedy structure. I could appreciate how well they stuck with the feel of classic old monster horror but, at the same time, it made for a much slower experience than modern comedy standards.
And just as I was hoping we could end that tangent, I happened upon this:
Yup. Sometimes people do give deadly serious performances in a comedy. It makes a contrast with the comedic shenanigans going on around them. I’ve never denied it.
But…
(and I’ll leave it there.)
Bring Alan Swann to Brooklyn?
Well, why not? What are you ashamed of?
Everything!
Okay, not a Special but a major marathon – I guess interspersed with commentary from Max & Hal. Starts with “Ramon” at 9 PM Eastern Saturday and ends with “Landmark Part 3” at 10:30 PM on Monday. Curiously, the cable guide indicates they are not quite in chronological order.
My favorite television show of all time.