Post by Mark T. Locker.
Rest in peace, Gene Wilder. There seem to be two camps of people: those who mostly remember this hilarious, frizzy-haired goofball as Willy Wonka in the 1971 production; his face in one of the final scenes has been plaster across millions of political memes throughout the last few years; and those who remember him as Frederick Frankenstein, grandson to the mad genius who created the Creature, known as Frankenstein’s monster. He was of course in many other great movies: Blazing Saddles; Stir Crazy; The Producers. But the two movies coming back to the big screen this fall are Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Young Frankenstein.
I come from a Young Frankenstein family. It’s both hilarious and beautiful at the same time. It’s got dark mystery mixed with the zany antics you would expect from a Mel Brooks film. Marty Feldman’s Igor is so bizarre and funny that it’s hard to know how anyone manages to keep a straight face. If you haven’t seen the movie, the basic run-down is that the grandson of Dr. Victor Frankenstein., Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, is a great surgeon and teacher who wants nothing to do with his grandfather’s work. But when he inherits his grandfather’s estate, he must take the trip to see it for himself. Try as he might, he cannot resist the allure of playing God.
Using the set from the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, the eerie old-fashioned feeling is contrasted with the amazing cast of Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeleine Kahn, Teri Garr and Peter Boyle. There are a number of raunchy jokes (this is a Mel Brooks movie, after all) so bear that in mind for family viewing.
Autumn is coming; what better way to celebrate fall and honor Gene Wilder than with curling up under blankets and watching this classic.