I recall my father-in-law being almost struck dumb when my wife asked him once who A E Matthews was. "You mean to say you've never heard of A E Matthews?" he asked in his dulcet tones after he'd recovered somewhat. I didn't know who the bloke was either but I wasn't saying anything! I supposed this was what they meant when people talked about the generation gap. I imagine my son's contemporaries will be equally surprised when they are asked one day, "Who is Will Ferrell?" or whether Justin Timberlake is a ski resort?
Recently, my wife and I have enjoyed something akin to a Mel Brooks retrospective. Not the later stuff when his work lost any of its earlier subtlety and Mel (oh dear!) began to appear in his own movies; the brilliantly inventive sometimes pantomimic earlier stuff. Finest of all in my view being The Producers with its unashamedly theatrical script and larger than life performances. However, I suppose the two movies that really captured the comic zeitgeist and tickled the funny-bone of the seventies and my generation were Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. These two were probably the Anchorman and Dodgeball of their day. I saw them together and in various double-bills across London as a student and later - VHS being nothing more than a twinkle in someone's eye at the time and DVD was far-far-away in fairyland.
My son (weaned on The Producers and Young Frankenstein) showed the 'wind-breaking' clip from Blazing Saddles to some friends of his recently who had never seen it before. "You mean to say they'd never seen ..." I heard myself begin to cry-out. I had reached an A E Matthews crossroads in my life!
I just watched the farting scene from Blazing Saddles myself a minute ago and although I've probably seen the thing a dozen or more times it still makes me laugh - see what you think -
Recently, my wife and I have enjoyed something akin to a Mel Brooks retrospective. Not the later stuff when his work lost any of its earlier subtlety and Mel (oh dear!) began to appear in his own movies; the brilliantly inventive sometimes pantomimic earlier stuff. Finest of all in my view being The Producers with its unashamedly theatrical script and larger than life performances. However, I suppose the two movies that really captured the comic zeitgeist and tickled the funny-bone of the seventies and my generation were Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. These two were probably the Anchorman and Dodgeball of their day. I saw them together and in various double-bills across London as a student and later - VHS being nothing more than a twinkle in someone's eye at the time and DVD was far-far-away in fairyland.
My son (weaned on The Producers and Young Frankenstein) showed the 'wind-breaking' clip from Blazing Saddles to some friends of his recently who had never seen it before. "You mean to say they'd never seen ..." I heard myself begin to cry-out. I had reached an A E Matthews crossroads in my life!
I just watched the farting scene from Blazing Saddles myself a minute ago and although I've probably seen the thing a dozen or more times it still makes me laugh - see what you think -
As for Young Frankenstein, far as I'm concerned almost every scene is a jewel. Both films star the wonderful Gene Wilder and bubble with the magnificent comic ebullience of Madeline Khan. All the performances are terrific throughout both films but Y F has the advantage of Marty Feldman, Kenneth Mars, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachmann and an unforgettable (and almost unrecognisable too) performance as a blind old peasant from Gene Hackman. To single out a scene is nigh on impossible - this, for me, is film comedy at its very best. Take a look
at the moment when Dr F arrives in Transylvania and meets Egor (Igor actually) for the first time -
at the moment when Dr F arrives in Transylvania and meets Egor (Igor actually) for the first time -
Enjoy!
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