Comprehensive information and links about Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein is a 1974 film directed by Mel Brooks, starring Gene Wilder as the title character. Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman also star. The screenplay was written by Brooks and Wilder. The film is a parody of the horror film genre, in particular the various film versions of Mary Shelley's novel , mainly those made by Universal in the 1930s and 1940s, to which the film is best seen as an affectionate homage. Because of the reference to the earlier films, Brooks shot the film entirely in black-and-white, a rare choice for a comedy of that era. A large portion of the initial budget was spent by Brooks as he chose to hire the sets from the original

Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder), full name Doctor Baron Frederick von Frankenstein, is a respected lecturer at an American medical school and is more or less happily (though blandly) engaged to Elizabeth (Kahn). Frederick becomes exasperated when anyone brings up the subject of his grandfather, the famous mad scientist, to the point of insisting that his name is pronounced "Fronkenshteen". Nevertheless, while on a trip to his ancestral home to attend to his family's estate, Frankenstein meets the household servants Frau Blücher (Leachman) and Igor (which he says is pronounced "EYE-gor") (Feldman), who help him discover his grandfather's journals. Inspired by their contents, Frederick resumes his grandfather's work of re-animating a dead (Boyle). Unfortunately, Igor has managed to steal the wrong brain from a laboratory ("Abby someone... Abby... Normal!").

Meanwhile, the local townspeople are concerned and are willing to riot because of Frederick's continuation of his grandfather's work. The most concerned is Chief Inspector Hans Wilhelm Frederick Kemp (Mars), whose accent is so thick even his own countrymen cannot understand him; and whose right arm was pulled off by the monster Frederick's grandfather created, replacing it with a wooden replica (which creaks very loudly).

Trivia

A running gag in the film is whenever Frau Blücher's name is spoken, a team of horses whinny (even when they aren't visible). Contrary to popular belief, her surname does not mean glue; the gag is a parody of the melodramatic use of thunder claps or ominous organ chords played upon the entrance of villains.

Released the same year as and featuring some of the same stars, the humor is a little more refined, but Brooks still manages to bring in some risque themes:

Madeline Kahn's character continues to be obsessed with "large" men. In this case, when she finds out what she's "up against", she begins belting out, "Sweet Mystery of Life".At the moment Frederick is helping Inga (Teri Garr) out of a carriage, Igor is banging on the door of the Frankenstein manor, using its huge and very loud door knockers. Wilder gasps, "What knockers!" and the blushing Inga says, "Oh! Thank you, Doctor!"

Finnish band Eppu Normaali got its name from this movie, based on the Finnish translation of the "Abby Normal" scene.

The scene in which Frankenstein's fiancé arrives in a carriage and is helped to the door by Igor is cut several times; unusual as the scene is relatively short and covers little physical and story grounds. Brooks has admitted that this scene was intended to be shot in one continuous flow, but the actors could not keep a straight facr for the whole scene in any one take.

received two Academy Award nominations for Best Sound (Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Wilder and Brooks). It was named the 13th funniest film in the American Film Institute list of 100 Laughs. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2000, readers of