Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein is Mel Brooks' most disciplined comedy — a loving, meticulous parody of the 1930s Universal horror films that is simultaneously the funniest and most beautiful-looking comedy of the 1970s. Gene Wilder co-wrote the screenplay and insisted on shooting in black and white, using the same laboratory props from the original 1931 Frankenstein. The result is a film that looks like a genuine classic horror movie and plays like the funniest thing you have ever seen.

Wilder's Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced 'Fronkensteen') is a comic performance for the ages — a man desperately trying to escape his grandfather's legacy who is seduced by the excitement of reanimation. His hysterical outburst ('It's alive! It's alive!') is a masterclass in comedic escalation. Marty Feldman's Igor (pronounced 'Eye-gor') steals every scene with his wandering hump and deadpan non sequiturs. Peter Boyle's Monster, performing 'Puttin' on the Ritz' in top hat and tails, is the single funniest scene in any Mel Brooks film.

The film works because Brooks and Wilder loved the source material. This is not mockery — it is homage performed by people who understood exactly why the original films were great. The gothic atmosphere, the expressionist lighting, the swooping camera movements — all are faithful recreations that happen to be in service of comedy. Young Frankenstein proves that the best parody comes from respect, not contempt.