# What is the greatest Mel Brooks movie, and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946 "2009-11-09T21:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/61 "2009-11-10T13:53:58Z")
Young Frankenstein in a nailbiter over The Producers. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/62 "2009-11-10T14:27:02Z")
I first saw _The Producers_ on late night TV and knew nothing about it or Mel Brooks. This was pre-VHS recorders and the internet so afterwards when I raved to people about the movie and sang them what I could remember of “Springtime For Hitler” it was hard to convince them of Brooks’s genius. Years later I first saw _Blazing Saddles_ and _Young Frankenstein_ at the movies with my group of friends and they were converted. Until videos became commonly available hardly anyone I knew had seen _The Producers_. However over the years I think I have seen _High Anxiety_ the most times of all of them. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/63 "2009-11-10T14:30:26Z")
_Young Frankenstein_ and _Blazing Saddles_ are head and shoulders above the rest, with _Young Frankenstein_ edging out BS for the win. It’s twue! It’s twue! ---
**Author:** ![D.Fenestrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@D.Fenestrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.Fenestrator)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/64 "2009-11-10T14:35:39Z")
It was hard to choose between _Young Frankenstein_ and _Blazing Saddles_… Both are classics and crack me up every time I watch them. I had to go with _Young Frankenstein_, though, since I couldn’t vote for both. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/65 "2009-11-10T14:45:03Z")
Brooks has gone downhill from the beginning. Of course, he started at the very top. **The Producers** and **Blazing Saddles** are two of the funniest movies ever made. **Young Frankenstein** actually has a point, so it drops just a hair. (Somehow, everybody forgets **The Twelve Chairs**. Not Mel’s best, but entertaining in its own way.) \*\*History of the World \*\*was very uneven, and dragged out most of its bits. **Spaceballs** is trash. **High Anxiety** was middling. **Robin Hood: Men In Tights** is grounds for a new pogrom. Face it, once Mel stopped working with Gene Wilder, his movies turned to crap. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/66 "2009-11-10T14:58:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Spaceballs** is trash. Sir! My seconds shall call upon you in the morning. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/67 "2009-11-10T15:04:26Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sir! My seconds shall call upon you in the morning. Can they make it the afternoon? Tomorrow is a day off, and I’d like to sleep in, if I may. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/68 "2009-11-10T15:13:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Can they make it the afternoon? Tomorrow is a day off, and I’d like to sleep in, if I may. I’ve got to wash my cat. How is Wednesday for you? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/69 "2009-11-10T15:16:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Face it, once Mel stopped working with Gene Wilder, his movies turned to crap. Brooks is, sadly, only as good as his collaborators. Gene Wilder is mostly responsible for the brilliance of _Young Frankenstein_ and Richard Pryor was the genius behind _Blazing Saddles_. They restrained his tendency towards shtick, and gave these films their hearts. The rest of his films are hit or miss, with brilliant bits dragged down by mediocre ones and the mistaken belief that the Yiddish language is always hysterically funny (_Spaceballs_, I’m glaring at you!). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/70 "2009-11-10T15:18:17Z")
Speaking of **SpaceBalls** I think “Pizza the Hutt” is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen in a movie. Other good lines. “I can see your Schwartz is as big as mine.” “Spaceballs! Shit there goes the whole planet!” “Check Please!” From the preceding scene leading up to the last quote I crack up every time I see the “chestbuster” don his top-hat and cane. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/71 "2009-11-10T15:21:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ve got to wash my cat. How is Wednesday for you? Tomorrow **is** Wednesday. I believe I have an opening Thursday morning around 11am. Shall I pencil you in for then? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/72 "2009-11-10T15:27:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > (Somehow, everybody forgets **The Twelve Chairs**. Not Mel’s best, but entertaining in its own way.) I did not forget The Twelve Chairs. I omitted it in disgust, after first spitting in its left eye. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/73 "2009-11-10T15:29:27Z")
I didn’t forget – I mentioned it in post #3. I love that film. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/74 "2009-11-10T15:30:47Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sir! My seconds shall call upon you in the morning. And **I’m** the one who needs to calm down? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/75 "2009-11-10T15:37:21Z")
Young Frankenstein by a mile. It never needs to resort to fart jokes like some other film. I object to the phrasing in the poll, it isn’t just because of Terri Garr. As others have said, the entire cast is perfect. I was in high school when I first saw YF and my friends and I quoted that film constantly. Since then I have watched that movie at least 15 more times. I have never watched any movie that much, forget Star Wars, I am a Young Frankenstein nerd. Thank goodness I bought the DVD so I could watch it anytime I want because now I have an urge to watch it again. I actually like Spaceballs in spite of Joan Rivers presence. I quote that a lot too, but my favorite scene is the Michigan J. Alien bit. Check, please! ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/76 "2009-11-10T15:38:50Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > But what knockers… Zhank you. (Another Young Frankenstein vote) ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/77 "2009-11-10T15:55:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Tomorrow **is** Wednesday. Oh, Hell, did I do that again? ---
**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:** [November 10, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/78 "2009-11-10T15:58:39Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > the mistaken belief that the Yiddish language is always hysterically funny Lili Von Shtupp is named after…:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/79 "2009-11-10T16:10:01Z")
It really depends on what kind of mood I’m in. Overall, Young Frankenstein is a better movie, but for flat-out laughs Blazing Saddles works every time I see it. So put me down for undecided. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946/80 "2009-11-10T16:39:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Lili Von Shtupp is named after…:dubious: Shtupp isn’t funny because it’s Yiddish. It’s funny because it’s onomatopoeia. _Shtupp…Shtupp…Shtupp_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-mel-brooks-movie-and-why/516946.md?page=5)