Young Frankenstein

Ashamed of his family's notorious legacy in grave-robbing and experiments in re-animating the dead, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) returns to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania, where he discovers his grandfather's book describing how he created a man from body parts and bestowed life into the dead tissue (the book is appropriately titled How I Did It). Convinced he can replicate the experiment, Frederick creates a man that looks like a monster (Peter Boyle) but craves love more than anything else.

The great accomplishment of Young Frankenstein (1974) is that it works simultaneously as a parody, tribute, and sequel to the original run of Universal Frankenstein films.

Yes, it's from Mel Brooks, who brought Young Frankenstein to life the same year he unleashed Blazing Saddles on the world, and it's filled with his trademark ribald gags and his regular cast of oddball performers, including Gene Wilder, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, and Kenneth Mars.

But look beyond the jokes; Young Frankenstein has a strong beating heart. It's very funny, arguably Brooks' best in that regard, but it's more than that. It's also touching and sweet. It's a Frankenstein movie in which the mad scientist accepts responsibility for his actions, allowing himself and his creation to live happily ever after, and more importantly, the movie makes you believe it possible.

 
Shot in black-and-white and using many of the same props and sets from the original Frankenstein films, Young Frankenstein looks and feels like a Frankenstein movie straight out of the 1930s, hitting the expected story beats: the gothic castle, the hunchbacked assistant, the resurrection at the height of a lightning storm, the mob with torches and pitchforks, the monster's encounters with a blind man and a little girl, and so on. The plot itself is similar to Son of Frankenstein, which concerned Basil Rathbone as the titular son of the original mad scientist recreating his father's experiments.

Brooks and company crank up the ridiculousness, pushing these formerly serious moments just past the point of drama and into the absurd. When the name of the imposing Frau Blucher (Leachman) is spoken, horses whiny in fright...no matter the situation or even if horses aren't present. When the Monster tries to eat soup with the blind hermit (Gene Hackman), the old man unwittingly pours hot soup in the Monster's lap, and the creature's reaction is not rage but increased annoyance.

I can't say much more about the comedy without spoiling the jokes, so I'll talk more about the heartwarming elements. The central conflict in any Frankenstein story is between monster and maker. Dr. Frankenstein rejects his creation, and the Monster retaliates, sometimes in anger, sometimes confusion. The doctor decides the only thing he can do is destroy what he built, and in process, all around him suffer.

Initially, Frederick seems to be on the same path, but eventually, he changes course. He comes to love the Monster, as a parent would a child. He accepts responsibility for what he has done and sees his creation not as a monstrosity but as a beautiful being worthy of love and protection.

Young Frankenstein has its share of bawdy, self-aware humor, but it is Mel Brooks at his most assured and confident. Brooks in his other movies often demonstrates a willingness to do anything for a gag, but with Young Frankenstein, he demonstrated he didn't always have to.