Member-only story
12 Facts About “Young Frankenstein”
It’s my favorite Mel Brooks movie.
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder collaborated on many great projects. However, my personal favorite is Young Frankenstein. Mel’s movies are generally marked by a ton of gags. Some work, some don’t. But in Young Frankenstein, pretty much everything worked. Or so it seemed.
In addition to a great script, the film had a great cast. In addition to Wilder, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman all turned in great performances. Gene Hackman does a fantastic turn as a blind hermit. Let’s take a look at some more facts about Young Frankenstein.
1: Gene Wilder pitched the idea of Young Frankenstein to Mel Brooks while they were working on “Blazing Saddles.”
It seems that riding a blazing saddle is good for the creative process.
2: Originally, Brooks didn’t want the monster to sing “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” feeling it would be too silly, but Wilder eventually prevailed.
It’s hard to imagine anything would be too silly for Brooks. Actually, that’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie.
