Young Frankenstein in a nailbiter over The Producers.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
I’ve got to wash my cat. How is Wednesday for you?
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!).
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.
Tomorrow is Wednesday.
I believe I have an opening Thursday morning around 11am. Shall I pencil you in for then?
I did not forget The Twelve Chairs. I omitted it in disgust, after first spitting in its left eye.
I didn’t forget – I mentioned it in post #3. I love that film.
And I’m the one who needs to calm down?
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!
Zhank you.
(Another Young Frankenstein vote)
Oh, Hell, did I do that again?
Lili Von Shtupp is named after…:dubious:
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.
Shtupp isn’t funny because it’s Yiddish. It’s funny because it’s onomatopoeia.
Shtupp…Shtupp…Shtupp