You can accuse Mel Brooks of many different artistic misdemeanours – an actor who has a tendency towards ham, someone who is always focused on getting a laugh even when it isn’t quite fitting, or simply that he always tends to go slightly too far on nearly every occasion. Yet, we adore him for these qualities, since they all point to one particular trait: when he sets out to do something, he refuses to do it half-heartedly, always delivering exactly what he promises at the outset, and still having space to throw in several unforgettable surprises in the process. This has been the source of several conversations around his legacy, which has never been stronger than it is today, where he has risen to become perhaps the most influential comedic filmmaker since Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder (having some temporal crossover with the latter – I often wonder how Wilder felt about Brooks, particularly in their shared sense of drawing on the inherent absurdity of life in the construction of their satires), and he continues to be celebrated as one of the most extraordinary filmmakers of his generation. One of his most celebrated works (if not the film most consider to be his very best) is Young Frankenstein, which he wrote in collaboration with Gene Wilder, who pioneered the idea of updating the classic Mary Shelley horror story that has terrified countless generations, filtering its already abstract ideas through the zany, off-the-wall style that has become Brooks’ trademark. Hilariously funny but never anything less than totally captivating in a way that demonstrates the director’s steadfast commitment to his craft, what he achieves with this film is nothing short of exhilarating, and it is comfortably considered one of the great comedies ever produced, an opinion that only becomes more relevant as new viewers discover this strange world that Brooks and his cohorts gleefully created half a century ago.

Regardless of how many times I revisit Young Frankenstein (whether a specific scene or the entire film), the sheer brilliance of its narrative and execution is impossible to ignore. Parody films may be seen as lowbrow and the most insincere form of comedy (which is understandable, considering how the sub-genre has been overtaken by some profoundly ungifted artistic voices that should never have been given a platform in the first place), but when under the careful guidance of a director like Brooks, who did not invent the genre but rather ushered it to impossible heights, setting a foundation so strong, nothing has ever come close to achieving its brilliance. Yet, it’s the fact that these films are all very accessible and never seemingly existed in rarefied air that makes them so popular – Brooks designed them for a wider audience, and thus they have been appropriately positioned as such, widely appealing works that only gained their reputation for being the gold standard of comedic filmmaking through their major popularity. There is always a virtue in making a satire that parodies both a genre and some of its notable constituents, but it takes a truly remarkable filmmaker to turn it into something valuable, which is exactly what we find is the case with Brooks, who aims the iconic 1930s Universal monster movies (amongst the greatest horror films ever made), infusing a very similar story with his own wickedly entertaining perspective, handcrafting these ideas into one of the most entertaining comedies of its era, and a film that remains just as endearing today as it did when audiences were first given a glimpse into the director’s endearing insanity and the profound works that came about as a result.

Brooks tended to craft films that gave opportunities to a wide group of actors, and whether dealing with those who had roles written for them, or newcomers to the director’s world, he always consistently brought out the very best in his actors. It is not a surprise that Young Frankenstein is considered a landmark moment in the careers of just about everyone involved. Gene Wilder, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Teri Garr all turn out to be the very definition of what an ensemble should be, each moment they are on screen in any combination proving to be fertile ground for the zaniest and most bizarre interactions, which Brooks harnesses into the form of a truly exquisite and always consistently hilarious comedy. The film was a passion project for Wilder, who was the leading force behind its development, and he naturally turns in a performance just as strong as his screenplay, navigating the narrow boundary between playing the straight man to the chaos that surrounds him as he enters into this peculiar world and outright just becoming the catalyst of the later excursions into hilarity. The rest of the cast tends to match Wilder on a fundamental level – Feldman in particular delivers what is quite possibly the funniest supporting performance ever put on film, his unique gifts (both comedic and physical) being used as a major point throughout the film, which is made all the better through his presence. Even the likes of Gena Hackman (who appears in a single scene) prove to be extremely entertaining and always consistently great, the entire ensemble of Young Frankenstein is incredible, the cast is aware that they are only as strong as their weakest link, and thus everyone is doing exceptional work, which ultimately results in the pure brilliance of these performances.

Undeniably, Young Frankenstein is an outrageously funny film and a comedy that knows exactly how to garner the most sincere laughs, even in moments where it may not be expected. However, what many don’t realize until we are in the thick of the story is that this is a genuinely brilliantly made film. Parodies usually tend to take shortcuts in terms of getting their message across – as long as the viewer is aware of what is being parodied, it has accomplished exactly what was intended, and even Brooks himself is guilty of this cheap approach in his later films, which are entertaining but nowhere close to what he was producing at his peak. Young Frankenstein is a gorgeous film that is equally focused on the razor-sharp wit and off-the-wall humour as it is the artistic execution of these ideas, with the cinematography by Gerald Hirschfeld and the efforts by the entire creative team (particularly those involved in the production design – the sets in this film are some of the most memorable in film history, with every detail being precise and very effective) creating a film that is visually as striking as it is outrageously funny. The fact that this film has a joke every minute is only enriched by the sheer beauty of the surrounding production, and Brooks does spend every available moment developing the smallest details, working laboriously to realize the vision that he and Wilder had set out to construct, succeeding wholeheartedly in creating a film that is both funny and artistically resonant, a detail that many comedic filmmakers tend to overlook, believing that humour is enough to sustain an entire film – and while this can be the case in the right situation, in the instance of Young Frankenstein, the visual elements are just as enriching to the narrative, and bring about such extraordinary elements that would have been ignored if our attention wasn’t consistently drawn to every intricate and masterful detail embedded in the film.

There are several reasons why Brooks is undeniably one of the most influential voices in the history of comedy, and nearly every one of them can be found somewhere in Young Frankenstein, a film that is driven by such a genuinely madcap energy, it’s staggering that it managed to come across this cohesive and straightforward, as opposed to falling apart at the seams. It almost feels like anything we write about this film is going to be lacklustre since there has been so much work already put into discussing precisely why it deserves its place in the canon – but yet, even with so much to say, we really can just reduce it to the plain and simple fact that the reason Young Frankenstein not only succeeded when it was released, but has also stood the test of time better than most comedies was that it carries itself with such immense sophistication, but is never afraid to be wacky at the right moment. There are simply far too many iconic components to fully expand on every one of them – the hilarious characterization, the gorgeous setpieces and the landmark moments of pure, unhinged comedic chaos all work together to create this astonishing and revolutionary piece of cinema. This is a film with a strong artistic vision and a lot of incredible artistry going on throughout, which adds layers of meaning to a film that didn’t require it but is made richer in the process. There are rare instances of films that more than warrant their place within the canon without coming across as overinflated or bloated to the point of hyperbole, and Young Frankenstein is one such film since it is an innovative, brilliantly-made comedy that knows exactly how to capture our attention, and which offers exactly what it promises, and still has time for a few surprised scattered liberally throughout. Brooks is an absolute genius of a filmmaker, and as the centrepiece of the trio of incredible spoofs he made in the 1970s (with Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety on either end), it proves his status as one of our great comedic voices, and someone whose work is always inventive, funny and deeply entertaining, and all the proof we need towards his absolute genius.