Sunday, May 26, 2024

My Memorial Day Weekend Reverie, Part II: Young Frankenstein at 50

I resumed my Memorial Day Weekend reverie on Saturday with a trip down the road to the Brattle Theatre for a noontime showing of Young Frankenstein. This comedy classic from Mel Brooks will be commemorating its 50th anniversary in December. 

Although I have seen Young Frankenstein on TV, it is one of those movies which is better appreciated on a big screen as it is shot in black and white. What grabbed my attention was the beauty of the music score composed by John Morris especially in the introduction. The melancholic "Transylvanian Lullaby" is terrific juxtaposition to the comedic hijinks.

It is remarkable to me how well-known Gene Wilder remains among people in their 20s and 30s nearly a decade after his passing. When I went to the barber (more on that in another post), I mentioned seeing Young Frankenstein and she immediately mentioned Wilder. I would venture to guess she knows Wilder mainly from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory whereas I always associate him with Richard Pryor. 

I told her of my encounter with Wilder in Toronto back in May 2005 when my brother Ezra and I went to see him promote his autobiography Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art. Following the interview, Wilder was signing books and I asked him if he still kept in touch with Pryor. A sad look came over his eyes and said, "Oh, I don't know. I wish I knew." Sadly, Pryor died 7 months later. 

Indeed, most of the cast of Young Frankenstein has left us. Aside from Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn and Kenneth Mars are also dead. This leaves us with Brooks (who does not appear in the film), Terri Garr and Gene Hackman. G-d willing Brooks will celebrate his 98th birthday next month while the 94-year-old Hackman is in the midst of a 20-year retirement. Garr is due to turn 80 in December despite her long battle with MS and a brain aneurysm. 

However, Young Frankenstein will carry on in cinematic immortality drawing laughter centuries from now.

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