A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
In 1920s Soviet Russia, a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the revolution.
A filthy rich businessman bets a corporate rival that he can live on the streets of L.A. without the comforts of home or money, which proves to be tougher than he thought.
Director:
Mel Brooks
Stars:
Mel Brooks,
Lesley Ann Warren,
Jeffrey Tambor
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
A rogue star pilot and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a Princess and save the galaxy from a ruthless race of beings known as Spaceballs.
The younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock's glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress.
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.Written by
Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Mel Brooks mentioned "Mrs. Nussbaum" as being one of his patients. "Mrs. Nussbaum" was a radio character, Pansy Nussbaum, played by Minerva Pious in Fred Allen's famous "Allen's Alley" current-events skits. Two years later, in the comedy The Jerk (1979), a character has stolen "Mrs. Nussbaum's credit card". There's also a character named "Mrs. Nussbaum" in the comedy Hell Baby (2013). See more »
Goofs
External images of the aircraft landing in the beginning of the film are of a Boeing 747. The flight deck shots of what is supposed to be the same aircraft are of a Douglas DC-8 (note the center window). See more »
The end credits roll over stills from the movie, except for the "the end" credit. The still of Mel Brooks running towards the camera is an outtake and was not in the movie. See more »
Alternate Versions
When this was aired on Comedy Central in the 1990s, several scenes were inexplicably deleted:
When Dr. Thorndyke arrived at the airport, and is taken into a restroom by a flasher.
The professor reeling from being punched.
After being attacked by the pigeons, it dissolves to Thorndyke running into the dry cleaners and deletes the part where he tries to hide in the shed, but the birds find him.
In the finale, the professor's line "now climb, you son of a bitch, climb!" is bowdlerized to just "now climb!"
Though often overlooked in favor of Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, I believe this to be the pick of Brooks' parodies. Whether you share this opinion would depend on your familiarity with all things Hitchcockian.
It is not only Vertigo, as the title suggests, that gets the Brooks treatment here, but The Birds, Spellbound and Psycho are all parodied to various degrees of subtlety. Many of these films key scenes are simply re-enacted with comic touches, whilst the Hitchcock formalae is very much in evidence. The style is particularly amusing in its parody. Highlights include a probing camera becoming all too literally intrusive when it crashes through a pane of glass in the window, and a dramatic sound composition turning out to be merely the didactic passing bus load of a touring philamonic orchestra.
Resisting the out and out farce of his earlier effort, Blazing Saddles, and managing not to evolve into simply being a one joke movie such as the tendency of his recent efforts, High Anxiety is Brooks at his most clever. The cast, mainly consisting of Brooks regulars, all display splendidly entertaining and aptly silly impersonations of recognisible Hitchcock stereotypes. It is Brooks' finest hour however, with not only directing, writing, and acting to his credit but singing as well!!!
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Though often overlooked in favor of Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, I believe this to be the pick of Brooks' parodies. Whether you share this opinion would depend on your familiarity with all things Hitchcockian.
It is not only Vertigo, as the title suggests, that gets the Brooks treatment here, but The Birds, Spellbound and Psycho are all parodied to various degrees of subtlety. Many of these films key scenes are simply re-enacted with comic touches, whilst the Hitchcock formalae is very much in evidence. The style is particularly amusing in its parody. Highlights include a probing camera becoming all too literally intrusive when it crashes through a pane of glass in the window, and a dramatic sound composition turning out to be merely the didactic passing bus load of a touring philamonic orchestra.
Resisting the out and out farce of his earlier effort, Blazing Saddles, and managing not to evolve into simply being a one joke movie such as the tendency of his recent efforts, High Anxiety is Brooks at his most clever. The cast, mainly consisting of Brooks regulars, all display splendidly entertaining and aptly silly impersonations of recognisible Hitchcock stereotypes. It is Brooks' finest hour however, with not only directing, writing, and acting to his credit but singing as well!!!