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:

1970s | newspaper | framed for murder | los angeles california | photograph | 

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Taglines:

The Master of Comedy takes on The Master of Suspense!

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery

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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:

$4,015,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$31,063,038

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

Even though she is billed second among the cast, Madeline Kahn does not appear until more than halfway through the film.

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Goofs

In the shower scene when the bellboy finishes stabbing the doctor with the newspaper he clearly drops the rolled paper on the floor next to him, then the shot shows the folded paper ink running down the drain.

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Quotes

Nurse Diesel: Perhaps I've been a bit too haaaarsh...

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

Extra footage added for network versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Throb: High Anxiety (1987)

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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

"Get the newspaper, get the newspaper!"

Mel Brooks, if nothing else, is spectacular at collecting up the clichés, the stereotypes, the conventions, the seriousness, and at the same time the joy and entertainment that comes in the different works he has made fun of over his career (countless westerns with Blazing Saddles, historical epics with History of the World part 1, the sci-fi boom of Star Wars/Trek with Spaceballs, silent films with Silent Movie). Here is no exception, as he tackles squarely the unmistakable catalog of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. All of the hits are here, and transfused into a story that is kooky, predictable, but all the while giving some very good belly laughs. Even if it doesn't always strike where the iron is unexpectedly hot like with Saddles or the Producers, it still makes its mark with uncanny ability in making the film watchable while being often unrelenting (whether everything works gag-wise or not) with the spoofs.

Mel Brooks stars as Dr. Richard Thorndyke, a psychiatrist with his own problem- a fear of heights (Vertigo, anyone). In the midst of this a murder takes place (it's an usual one, by the way, involving a scene in a car that's unsettling while hilarious). The major set-pieces take place at a hotel Dr. Thorndyke stays at for a conference, where the plot seems to thicken even tighter. At times one wonders if the film maybe should take itself a little more seriously to work, like with Young Frankenstein. But by also not letting up with the silliness and over-the-top gags, there are at least a few that stand-out in the overall Brooks oeuvre. One or two are just plain dumb funny, like a wolf-man imitation ala Harvey Korman to a patient afraid of werewolves during a session with Brooks. More often than not in the film, the gags are very expected, getting right to the point as it were.

The chief examples lie in two scenes that work great, and one that works OK. The first involves a particular bellhop not too fond of getting order for a newspaper (played by a young Barry Levinson), which leads to an all too obvious but shamelessly funny Psycho spoof. Or, of course, the scene in the park with the birds of THE Birds, which remains a truly disgusting scene in some respects (even if the laughs wear down towards the end, its a brilliantly constructed set-up). One that doesn't quite go up to snuff is a near-murder scene by a telephone booth. Madeline Kahn's character is on the other end, and the scene is maybe a little too familiar, even as a Hitchcock parody. Towards the end its funny, but only after the fact. It's not totally that the timing is off, maybe just something else that's hard to say. It might be funnier to others.

Still, its the glee thats put forth in the performances, and the little running gags (i.e. "I'll get it, I'll get it...I don't get it"), to make it a notable entry in Brooks' body of work. If you've seen Hitchcock's films and not Brooks' I'd still recommend it at least once, if only out of curiosity, as just from a film buff stand-point its kind of fascinating how a satirist like Brooks takes on Hitchcock's style, which often had its own morbid sense of humor (Psycho, in some ways, is more of a pitch-black comedy than a horror film). For me, the merging worked well, if not for a great overall comedy. And, at the least, there's another catchy title song by Brooks himself, leading to a sweet nightclub scene.