The myth about spoof is that it must make you laugh but that’s nonsense. It can be enjoyed as entertainment, even if it fails to raise a titter. It’s just a question of finding the other traits of value in the piece beyond the laughter deficit. And so it is with Mel Brooks.
You hear the name and think of laugh fests from Blazing Saddles through Young Frankenstein and The Producers. But there are others. Brooks movies that, though by no means as beloved as the household names, and nowhere near as ‘funny’ as more famed counterparts, still have a comedic and cinematic currency worth decoding.
As Young Frankenstein re-enters select cinemas this week, we look at a few other of Brooks’ comedies you may have missed…
The History of the World (Part 1) (1981)
From variations on Biblical history to a musical number based around the Spanish Inquisition, does The History of the World (Part 1) drown under its own ambition? Narrated by Orson Welles and notable also for the fact that Brooks predicts the trend for spoofing trailers, later seen in the Tarantino Grindhouse tribute and via the Machete series. COMING SOON: ‘JEWS IN SPACE’. A curiosity. Of historical interest.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Hollywood frequently has competing projects vying for monopoly on myth. Deep Impact vs Armageddon, Dante’s Peak vs Volcano, etc. In 1990/91: Patrick Bergin was Robin Hood and then soon after Kevin Costner went one better in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Brooks then gave us Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Not a laugh a second but entertaining. Memorable musical numbers might hang around your head, even if the ‘laughs’ simply won’t. Functions as a spoof of Hollywood’s tendency to mass produce multiple takes on mythology with miscast personnel. ‘I can speak with an English accent’, declares Elwes’ Robin: a dig at Costner’s American accented take on the part (to be fair, Costner did *want* to play it English).
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
Brooks’ final film at the helm to date, though he produced the 2005 remake of The Producers. It’s a shame, as this is not his finest work by a long shot. You might not laugh. At all. But it does a solid job of somehow surveying all iterations of vampirism on film at that point.
From Hammer horror to the Polanski vampire killers and the (then) most recent renaissance from Coppola’s take Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Brooks manages, somehow, to take them all on. So watch as a curiosity – probably the final work of Brooks as director and a genuinely insightful and informed look at the vampire genre.
High Anxiety! (1977)
Ending on a high. How does this one not get more love? It’s excellent, fusing pretty much every Hitchcockian motif into one seamless spoof. This is more pastiche than ‘spoof’. Indeed it functions, genuinely, as a thriller (well, almost). It contains a flawless cast of Brooks stalwarts, is ilm grammar perfect, has a catchy title song and looks terrific.
Winner of several Golden Globes, it’s a must watch for fans not only of Brooks but cinema in general. Overlooked in a sense, in retrospect. Do not let it slip past your radar when reviewing the Brooks’ back catalogue.
What is your favourite Mel Brooks comedy? Let us know!