Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Timing: 1:46 (106 min)

7.855/10
3365

7.301/10
5534

8/10
181000

All about film

Video 17

Photo 57

Actors and characters

Release date

1974-12-15

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Crossbow Productions, Gruskoff/Venture Films, Jouer Limited

Genre

Comedy

Budget

$2 800 000

Revenue

$86 273 333

Website

Director

Mel Brooks

Actors

Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, Liam Dunn, Danny Goldman
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Michael Gruskoff

Operator

Gerald Hirschfeld

Composer

John Morris

Artist

Audition

Jane Feinberg, Mike Fenton

Editing

John C. Howard
All team (46)

• Mel Brooks' direct parody target was James Whale's classic "Frankenstein" (1931). To achieve even greater parodic similarity, Brooks filmed his movie in the same castle where the original was filmed.
• The sound of the werewolf's howl in the film was imitated by the director himself – Mel Brooks.
• As Frankenstein climbs the stairs to the second floor, you can notice an image of a gargoyle on the wall that suspiciously resembles Mel Brooks.
• At the beginning of the film, the clock strikes 13 times.
• On one of the jars containing brains, you can read the name Charles Certin. This is the name of an assistant artist who was just beginning his career in film at the time.
• A couple on the train converses in English, and then, for fun, repeats the same conversation in German.
• Madeline Kahn was originally supposed to play the role of Inga, but she turned it down. Brooks thought about it and decided to give her the role of Elizabeth. Then Kahn changed her mind and asked for the role of Inga back. It was too late – Brooks had already invited Teri Garr, who was given the task of mastering a German accent by the next day. Which Teri successfully demonstrated.
• The skulls that Fredrik and Inga discover in front of the castle were real human skulls, with the exception of the skull of someone who died six months ago – that skull was an artificial dummy.
• Brooks had so many jokes in reserve that, after the main scenes were staged, he couldn't stop and continued filming.
• The scene where the monster carries Elizabeth through the forest parodies a similar scene from the film "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954).
• Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, and Marty Feldman got into the film thanks to the shrewdness of their common agent.
• The line "I can make espresso" was improvised by Gene Hackman, who played the Blind Man.
• Actor Leon Askin played a lawyer, but his role was completely cut from the film.
• When the film was released in theaters, the name of Gene Hackman (who played the role of the blind old man) did not appear in the credits.
• The band Aerosmith took the phrase “Walk This Way,” which appeared in the film, as the title of their biggest hit.
• The surname of the producer, Michael Gruscoff, appears in the film as the name of a village hotel.
• In 2003, the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry for its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.
• The brain that the monster never obtained belonged to a man named Hans Delbrück. The real Hans Delbrück was a famous German historian and professor at the University of Berlin.
• Mel Brooks directly parodied James Whale's classic film "Frankenstein" (1931). To achieve even greater parodic similarity, Brooks filmed his movie in the same castle where the original was shot.
• Madeline Kahn was initially supposed to play the role of Inga, but she turned it down. Brooks thought about it and decided to give her the role of Elizabeth. Then Kahn changed her mind and asked for the role of Inga back. It was too late – Brooks had already hired Teri Garr, who was given the task of mastering a German accent by the next day. And Teri successfully demonstrated it.
• The skulls that Frederick and Inga discover in front of the castle were real human skulls, with the exception of the skull of someone who had died six months earlier – that skull was an artificial prop.
• The scene where the monster carries Elizabeth through the forest parodies a similar scene from the film "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954).