Young Frankenstein (1974)
Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, Frederick von Frankenstein,
reluctantly decides to follow in his ancestor's footprints in Mel
Brooks' affectionate parody of horror films.
Frederick would like to forget his heritage, insisting that his
university students pronounce his last name "Fronkensteen"
but when news arrives that Frederick has inherited his
grandfather's Transylvanian estate, the young Frankenstein travels
to see his new digs.
 In Transylvania, Frederick meets Igor (pronounced
"Eye-gore"), whose grandfather worked for Frederick's
grandfather. With the voluptuous blonde Inga in tow, Frederick and
Igor travel to the Castle Frankenstein.
At the castle, the group
is greeted by the terrifying Frau Blucher, whose very name causes
horses to whinny.
Despite Frederick's insistence that he wants no part of his
grandfather's experiments, the young Frankenstein is drawn by
strange music to the old lab, where he finds a conveniently-placed
copy of "How I Did It" by Victor von Frankenstein.
Inspired, Frederick builds a body and dispatches Igor to retrieve
a brain.
Unfortunately, the hunchbacked assistant returns with an
abnormal brain, and the resulting monster is impossible to
control. The Monster escapes into the nearby village, first
encountering a young girl, then a blind man with a clumsy
streak.
Frederick gets his creation back for a spell, training him for
a tandem Puttin' on the Ritz soft shoe, but when even that fails,
Frederick must consider drastic measures to save the creature he
has created and come to love.
Young Frankenstein was shot in black and white and used many of
the original settings from Universal's 1930's Frankenstein films.
Anachronism was the key, and the character of the demented
scientist gave Gene Wilder a fresh license for his rages.
Meanwhile, Peter Boyle was genuinely touching as the creature who
longs to don white tie and tails, and dance Puttin' on the Ritz
with his creator!
If we are going to give Mel Brooks his due, this is probably
the place to do it (although the 1968 movie The Producers was
excellent). He was certainly at his least frantic and most
film-reverent here. His later efforts were pretty terrible.
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