High Anxiety (1977)

Mel Brooks' parody of Alfred Hitchcock films.

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks, Ron Clark

Stars:

Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Brooks	...	Richard H. Thorndyke
Madeline Kahn	...	Victoria Brisbane
Cloris Leachman	...	Nurse Diesel
Harvey Korman	...	Dr. Charles Montague
Ron Carey	...	Brophy
Howard Morris	...	Professor Lilloman
Dick Van Patten	...	Dr. Wentworth
Jack Riley	...	The Desk Clerk
Charlie Callas	...	Cocker Spaniel
Ron Clark	...	Zachary Cartwright
Rudy De Luca	...	Killer (as Rudy DeLuca)
Barry Levinson	...	Bellboy
Lee Delano	...	Norton
Richard Stahl	...	Dr. Baxter
Darrell Zwerling	...	Dr. Eckhardt

Storyline

Dr. Richard Thorndyke arrives as new administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous to discover some suspicious goings-on. When he's framed for murder, Dr. Thorndyke must confront his own psychiatric condition, "high anxiety," in order to clear his name. An homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock; contains many parodies of famous Hitchcock scenes from THE BIRDS, PSYCHO, and VERTIGO.

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Plot Keywords:

parody | high anxiety | murder | hitchcockian | belldon's hysteria | 

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Taglines:

Danger, Intrigue, Romance... and a Touch of Kinkiness!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alta Ansiedade

Filming Locations:

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crossbow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ron Carey's character, Brophy, is obviously named after Edward Brophy, a character actor in the classic Hollywood era that played sidekicks in dozens of movies; he also imitates Brophy's distinctively nasal voice.

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Goofs

When Dr. Wentworth is trying to get out of his car he first breaks off the window handle and drops it on the passenger side. Next, he breaks off the door handle, but somehow the window handle is back in place.

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Quotes

Killer: [on the phone] I don't know what they said; I only know that they met. What do you want me to do, kill 'em? if you want me to kill 'em, I'll kill 'em. I don't have to kill 'em, but I'd like to kill 'em... I killed Ashley Wentworth; another killing or two won't make a difference... It would make me happy... I'd like to kill 'em both... I think it'd be better if I kill 'em both... Well, let me kill just one then... Whichever one you want... Alright, I'll wait. But the minute you say kill 'em, I'll...

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Crazy Credits

Opening dedication: This film is dedicated to the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock

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Connections

Spoofs Under Capricorn (1949)

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Soundtracks

If You Love Me Baby, Tell Me Loud
(1977) (uncredited)
Written by Mel Brooks
Courtesy of Fanfare Music Inc.

User Reviews

A "High" old time....

Mel as a psychiatrist? That's crazy!

But it's funny.

And so is "High Anxiety", a spoof of everything Hitchcock, with a few touches of Mel's own creativity dashed here and there.

As head psychiatrist for the Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous, Mel finds strange goings-on involving kidnapping, murder, double-crossing and Harvery Korman in leather.

Nearly every big Hitchcock scene is clobbered as the story progresses: the shower scene in "Psycho", the jungle gym scene in "The Birds", the shooting in "North by Northwest", the climax of "Vertigo".... The list goes on and on.

Mel does too, God bless him. Laugh after laugh after laugh is produced, and Mel and his writers seem to have an inexhaustable supply of sight gags, one-liners and word plays. And they all work.

Suffice it to say, this isn't as funny as "Blazing Saddles", but it's prime Mel and if you're like me, almost any Mel is good Mel.

Eight stars. And he has a lovely singing voice, too.