Gene Wilder proposed the idea while he and Mel Brooks were making Blazing Saddles. Brooks was initially unsure of doing yet another take on Frankenstein but liked the grandson idea, and the two wrote the movie together.
Wilder said he would only play the role of Frederick Frankenstein if Brooks weren’t in the movie. Previously, Brooks had played key roles in all his films, but Wilder felt that Brooks had a habit of breaking the fourth wall, intentionally or not, and Wilder did not want this in this movie.
1974 saw the release of both Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.
Wilder wrote the role of Igor for British character actor Marty Feldman, and Feldman agreed to take the role, giving Wilder his first choice.
Teri Garr and Madeline Kahn were originally supposed to play each other’s roles, but Kahn requested a swap and Garr jumped at the chance to sport a campy German accent.
Scenes would have to be sometimes shot north of a dozen times before Wilder could compose himself and not laugh during a take.
Kahn asked if she could instead sing “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life,” wanting to sing a song that started with an “Ah” sound.
The show was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2008, where it ran for a year and was nominated for 3 Tony awards.
The film has stood the test of time, with a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and AFI listing it as the 13th best comedy movie of all time on their list of the 100 best comedies ever.
The film was nominated for Best Sound and Wilder for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
Cloris Leachman was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for playing Frau Blucher and Elizabeth Kahn was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, though neither won.
Gene Hackman volunteered to appear in Young Frankenstein as a favor to his friend and tennis partner Gene Wilder, because he wanted to give comedy a shot even though he had already won an Oscar at that point.
The first cut of the film was nearly twice as long and supposedly not very good, until Brooks and Wilder cut it down heavily in editing.
Aerosmith’s song “Walk This Way” was inspired by one of Igor’s iconic jokes.
It was the Feldman’s idea to move Igor’s hump around on his back.
Brooks wanted to capture the feel of the old Universal monster movies. Not only did they shoot in black-and-white and use old-school credits and scene transitions, but many of the props used in the film came from the 1931 version of Frankenstein.
After one stressful day of filming, Wilder and Brooks got into an argument at Wilder’s home. Brooks stormed out but soon after called Wilder, saying, “Who was that madman you had in your house?,” and advised Wilder that it is dangerous to have “crazy people” over. Wilder recognized this was Brooks’ way of apologizing, and the two were OK from there on out.
Mel Brooks couldn’t be kept out of the film, despite Gene Wilder’s hopes. When Frederick Frankenstein throws his dart and hits a cat off screen, Brooks decided to shriek like a cat during one of Wilder’s takes, which made it into the final cut.
Brooks says that while he doesn’t think it is his funniest film, that goes to Blazing Saddles, he considers Young Frankenstein to be his best film in terms of overall quality.
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(Never gets old)
Igor: [doing a Groucho Marx] Certainly, you take the blonde and I'll take the one in the turban.
It’s my personal top 10 funniest movie ever made.
Only a true racist would write what you wrote. What's the matter, did the smartly conceived movie hurt your widdle feewings, Caldonia?