The New Shayne-Michael.COMedy

The Comedy News For 09/06/10

Mel Brooks On Writing Parody - Show All Articles

By Shayne Michael on May, 2007

Bringing Young Frankenstein To Life

Young Frankenstein is more popular today than the movies it spoofs. How did a film made on a budget of $2 million pull in over $190 million worldwide, establish Gene Wilder as a comedy writer and give Mel Brooks the biggest hit of his directing career? And how does Young Frankenstein hold up against the parodies films at the box office today. The best example I can think of, as a successful parody film is the Scary Movie series. We'll be exploring how Young Frankenstein is different as we examine its creation from the inside out. We will also answer why one set of movies is a good example of parody, yet Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein has earned the title of an American Classic. And hopefully, we'll answer what young filmmakers can learn from him along the way.

The history of Young Frankenstein is simple. Gene Wilder gave the concept to Mel Brooks, which came from imagining what would happen if Wilder were the great grandson of Victor Frankenstein. In that sense, the movie is a continuation of the Frankenstein series, not a remake. This was a legitimate reason to borrow from all five Frankenstein films and integrate their history into the film, without debasing it. Brooks didn't believe the film could be made for less than $2.3 million. When Columbia Studios limited Brooks to a budget of $1.75 million, Brooks withdrew the film and presented the idea to 20th Century Fox. Fox green lighted the movie and offered Mel any budget he wanted.

From the beginning, Brooks and Wilder imagined a picture that didn't berate the Frankenstein series, but rather paid a loving homage to its memory. They accomplished this on numerous levels, some of which would become extremely troublesome to the studio funding the film. The most controversial idea was filming in black and white at a time when 20th Century Fox believed movie patrons would only watch movies in color. But Brooks was adamant. He felt using color film wouldn't capture the tone of the original films. And Brooks intended to pay homage to everything that made the five Frankenstein films unique; that included using black and white film.

In addition, Mel Brooks’s hired veteran composer John Morris to create an original and eerie score. Next, he got the laboratory set Robert De Vestel's created for the original Frankenstein film, from Vestel’s garage. Then, he sat down with Wilder to begin writing. For the first few hours the pair talked about everything but the core elements of the script. The subjects they tackled ranged from the tea the cast would be filmed drinking to which kind of Victorian candles to buy for the castle. It was Brook's way of creating a comfort level as he eased into the meat of what the pair was trying to do. Even when Brooks began talking about the plot, he didn't let himself overplay its importantance. In his words, "A first draft is simply a concept. It's the writer's job to take a sledgehammer to that concept. Anything that doesn't crumble down stays in the film."

Brooks also recognized he wasn't always the master of what was and wasn't funny. One scene, envisioned by Wilder, involved the great grandson of Frankenstein doing a Burlesque number with the monster as they tap dance and sing Irving Berlin's "Putting on the Ritz." Wilder was proud of the idea when he presented it to Brooks. On the other hand, Brooks' reaction was, "What kind of conceit is this?" He felt it was too silly and tore the film apart. Brooks also stated that he wanted the scene to come out of the film. To his credit, he had a deep respect for everyone he worked for, even when that person’s visions differed from his. When he realized how hard Wilder was fighting to keep the scene, he agreed to let it stay in. When Wilder asked why Brooks simply replied, "I wasn't sure if it was brilliant and right or crazy and wrong. And I wanted to see how hard you'd fight for it before I decided which."

Slapstick is an odd and often disrespected element of comedy. Brooks knew enough to use it selectively and with a purpose. In another scene, the monster is choking the doctor. Igor and Inga, his lab assistant, assume that the doctor's violent reaction to being choked is an attempt to play charades. When the comedy becomes slapstick, Brooks always sets it against the stronger emotional substance. That gives even the silliest slapstick routines an air of urgency and importance. Compare that to 80% of Scary Movie in which slapstick comedy is inserted just to be silly. True it worked in the first film, but it's also why the sequels got so old so quick. If Brooks made a similar film called Young Dracula, with an equal attention to character, plot and detail, do you really think be on the same playing field as the Scary Movie series?

The attention Brooks pays to detail creates a feeling of respect for the films it lampoons. As Brooks put it, his responsibility is to marry the material to the sets, sounds and history ingrained within the film. Unlike the Scary Movie series, the producers were not asking, "How can I make fun of the Frankenstein films?" they were asking "How can we make it real which will make it fun?" By building the parody against such a real backdrop, Young Frankenstein became a classic film, and would have remained so even if the five films it were built on had never existed.

Brooks paid attention to even the subtlest details of set design and lighting. And, he wasn't afraid to give his film a deeper theme and to repeat that theme over and over again, something that would certainly be cut today in favor of a more fast paced script laced with overdone special effects. He knew enough to pay overt homage to the Bride of Frankenstein by making Elizabeth her spitting image in the last two scenes and to pay subtle homage to the House of Dracula with a crumbling doorknob, a subtle nod to horror film history you'd never catch without being a student of the films. Brooks knew how to use the every misspoken word of German as a throwaway joke instead of a reason to get upset and start filming the scene over. He knew when to use the history and mythology of the Frankenstein series and he knew when to create his own, like the character Frau Blucher, whose very name sets the horses into a fit of terror and rage each time its spoken.

Brooks also knew, that occasionally, a character needs to be in on the joke. When he duplicates the blind man's scene from the Bride of Frankenstein, the ensuing comedy of errors includes hot soup being spilled in the creature's lap followed by the blind man breaking his glass as the two raise their glasses to toast their friendship. As the camera focuses on the monster's expression, as you can read Peter Boyle's subtle expression that says, "Not again." Brooks also knew how to build tension as the blind man lights the creature's finger on fire when he mistakes it for a cigar, and then climaxes with the monster bursting out his front door leaving sweet, blind hermit standing alone, in the middle of a Transylvanian Forrest, yelling, "Wait. Where are you going? I was going to make espresso?"

Brooks used another comedy tool, often reserved for stand-up. After the monster abducts Elizabeth, she awakens in a cave to find the creature making an advance at her. At first she resists, until the monster drops his pants and she sees something impressive. Her resistance slowly wanes and they end up making love, which climaxes with Elizabeth singing the operatic, "Oh Sweet Mystery Of Life." The scene is mirrored in the end of the film when Dr. Frankenstein and his lab assistant Inga are in bed. As the camera zooms in on the pair, Inga asks the doctor, "In the transference, the creature god some of your wonderful brain. But what ever did you get from him?" Then, the camera zooms in on the impish look on Dr. Frankenstein's face, the lights fade and we hear Inga singing the singing the same operatic song. This isn't the only call back Brooks used. The horse’s reaction to Blucher's name are scattered and repeated throughout the film. The doctor's insistence that, “His name is FrankensEEn,” to deny the shame accompanied by his heritage is also repeated over and over. It’s also mirrored when Igor insists his name is EYE-gor, more than likely for the same reason. Moreover, the pronunciation of Dr. Frankenstein’s name is made a critical part of the plot as he accepts his heritage and declares, "My name is Frankenstein!" after winning a battles with the monster's violent nature by appealing to its self esteem as if the two were appearing on an episode of Dr. Phil episode.

Brooks also paid attention to timing and set ups. He knew the mob scene wouldn't be filled with enough tension, unless the monster committed at least one murder before trying to escape. He was careful when to use sexual puns and which characters to give them to. Teri Garr, who played Inga, was given the most sexual puns because she exuded an innocence that would make them feel sweet and sincere.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: For the experiment to be a success, all of the body parts must be enlarged.

Inga: His veins, his feet, his hands, his organs vould all have to be increased in size.

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Exactly.

Inga: He vould have an enormous schwanzstucker.

In another scene, Frau Blucher catches Inga and Dr. Frankenstein in bed together, on the platform they used to bring the monster to life as a bed. As she leaves, and with the subtlest twinge of jealousy and revenge, she informs Dr. Frankenstein his fiancée is at the door and then adds, "I suggest you put on a tie." Ask yourself if the Wayan brothers would handle any sexual innuendo in the same subtle way. And then ask yourself, how many doors Brooks left open by leaving the climax unspoken.

So why has the movie stood the test of time? For one thing, it's just as emotional as is funny. Brooks used the characters to tell as story. He didn't use a story to spoof a few popular characters. The music was alert and directed the audience's attention in each scene. He incorporated clever throwaway jokes, like when Inga yells, "Stop, you'll kill him" while Dr. Frankenstein is choking the monster that he has not yet brought to life. He used back lighting to illuminate rain, black and white film to recreate the feel of the original film and carefully lit close-ups to bring the emotion in the characters face to life, so he wouldn't have to sacrifice the atmosphere created by using black and white film. He even went as far as getting the sets from the original Frankenstein movie to make the movie feel real.

The story beneath it all ties everything together. That story was pieced together with the history of the original five films. It was created to add to the mythology Marry Shelly, not replace it. Brooks also did one other thing very different than a filmmaker would expect today. He never asked network executives what should stay in the film and what should go. He had a simple theory, "if it's funny to me it stays." That didn't stop him from screening the daily shoots for secretaries and security guards on the lot. But, he was careful to look for the opinion of Jane and Joe Average, as opposed to a network executive whose judgment, he felt was clouded from making one-too-many films.

Finally, Brooks also displayed a level of kindness with the cast and crew. He respected their opinions and listened to their ideas. When you listen to the director's commentary on the film you'll find him alluding to the genius of Gene Wilder, Terri Garr, Chloris Leachman and Marty Feldman far more often than he alludes to his own. You'll hear him boast how each actor, composer, set designer and extra used their unique gifts to bring his creation to life. It was that skill of listening to the ideas of others, the history of the films themselves and trusting his own judgment that brought the film Young Frankenstein to life.

Mel Brooks Guide To Parody Writing

• Pay loving homage to whatever you make fun of.
• Give the most innocent characters the best sexual puns.
• Add to the history of the film; don't remake it.
• Know when to add your own history into the mix.
• Use sounds, light and set to bring a feeling of the original film to life
• To make a classic parody, you must parody a classic.
• Callbacks are as critical in films as they are in stand up comedy.
• Trust the ideas of your cast and crew.
• Sometimes you have to fight for ideas the studio doesn't want.
• Sometimes when you think something's not funny, you're dead wrong.

This essay was begun at a time when the Shayne-Michael.COM/ HeyLady partnership was still on. I bought the DVD to write an essay about the advice I felt Mel Brooks would give aspiring filmmakers almost three years ago. It has taken so long partly, because of the collapse of the partnership and partly because this was not an easy essay to write. I hope it contains some very helpful ideas.

Next Essay: The Cost Of Bad Mouthing Other Comics

Rollover to rate this article.

[Cite This Article]

Related DVD
		Young Frankenstein By Mary Shelley Released: 8, 2006

Rank This Article