Young Frankenstein (1974)

Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, after years of living down the family reputation, inherits granddad's castle and repeats the experiments.

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Gene Wilder (screen story and screenplay), Mel Brooks (screen story and screenplay),

Stars:

Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Wilder	...	Dr. Frankenstein
Peter Boyle	...	The Monster
Marty Feldman	...	Igor
Madeline Kahn	...	Elizabeth
Cloris Leachman	...	Frau Blücher
Teri Garr	...	Inga
Kenneth Mars	...	Inspector Kemp
Richard Haydn	...	Herr Falkstein
Liam Dunn	...	Mr. Hilltop
Danny Goldman	...	Medical Student
Oscar Beregi Jr.	...	Sadistic Jailor (as Oscar Beregi)
Arthur Malet	...	Village Elder
Richard A. Roth	...	Insp. Kemp's Aide (as Richard Roth)
Monte Landis	...	Gravedigger
Rusty Blitz	...	Gravedigger

Storyline

A young neurosurgeon (Gene Wilder) inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, frau Blucher -iiiiihhh!-. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather is only crap, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind...

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Plot Keywords:

frankenstein's monster | castle | experiment | assistant | bride | 

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Taglines:

The scariest comedy of all time!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

15 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein junior

Filming Locations:

Mayfair Theatre - 214 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$86,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gruskoff/Venture Films, Crossbow Productions, Jouer Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Mel Brooks was preparing Young Frankenstein (1974), he found that Ken Strickfaden, who had made the elaborate electrical machinery for the lab sequences in the Universal Frankenstein films, was still alive in the Los Angeles area. He visited Strickfaden and found that Strickfaden had saved all the equipment and had it stored in his garage. Brooks made a deal to rent the equipment for his film and gave Strickfaden the screen credit he'd deserved, but hadn't gotten, for the original films.

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Goofs

When Fredrick and Inga are caught after having sex, the shot of the platform coming down from the roof is reused from when the monster is reanimated. you can see Dr Frankenstein's legs and lab coat standing on the side of the platform as it lowers.

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Quotes

[in Victor Frankenstein's laboratory]
Igor: [sings] I ain't got no body, and nobody cares for me. Yakka tak ta a yakka tak ta ha!
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor.
Igor: Froedrick.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: How did you get here?
Igor: Through the dumbwaiter.

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Crazy Credits

The zero in the 20th century fox logo at the beginning is slightly tilted.

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Connections

Referenced in American Virgin (1999)

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Soundtracks

Ave Maria
Music by Franz Schubert

User Reviews

It's pronounced EYE-gor

Dialog from Young Frankenstein became part of cultural banter in a good many corners of the country immediately after this movie showed up in theaters. We loved every minute of it, "Give me a hand with the bags, Igor", hitting high singing notes while relating how your last date went, "Put the candle back!" "Nothing, dear, just a rat....filthy, slimy RAT!" "Roll Roll Roll In The Hay!" plus the immortal "..an ENORMOUS schwanstucker!". And what testosterone-filled 19-year-old buck didn't give serious thought to surprising his buddies with the hilarious trick of jamming a scalpel into this thigh? A very successful movie, and a slap in the face to those stuffy, elite- types who say Mel Brooks is not "a humorist". Well, dammit, he makes UNPRETENTIOUS people laugh, so perhaps the man knows funny when he sees it. Of course, as Blazing Saddles ruined most 1950's and 60's westerns for me for awhile, Young Frankenstein makes it very hard to take Karloff and all that bunch from the 1930's seriously any longer. Oddly, Mel can even make us laugh at resurrected, REALLY OLD gags; such as "Walk this way!" (The 3 Stooges). I'll never stop laughing at Young Frankenstein.