Film Review
Not long after he delivered cinema's most side-splittingly hilarious
spoofs of the western and gothic horror genres in
Blazing Saddles (1974) and
Young Frankenstein (1974), Mel
Brooks turned his penchant for parody to another of cinema's great
icons, the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Whilst the plot
for
High Anxiety is most
reminiscent of
Spellbound and
Vertigo,
numerous other Hitchcock films are gleefully referenced, notably
Psycho,
Dial M for Murder,
The
Birds and
North By Northwest. As in
his previous films, Brooks manages to craft an affectionate parody
which pays homage to the object of his lampoonery whilst simultaneously
eking every last scintilla of comic possibility out of it. No one
extracts the Michael (or, in this case, the Alfred) with more style
than Mel Brooks.
Brooks and his talented team of writers and technicians clearly had
great fun giving a comic twist to some of the most memorable set-pieces
of Hitchcock's films. The best example of this is the shower
sequence from
Psycho,
a deliriously funny shot-by-shot recreation, in
which the hero is attacked not with a knife but with a newspaper
(presumably proving that the pen is indeed mighter than the
sword).
The film also pokes fun at Hitchcock's oft-emulated technique. In
a typically Hitchcockian tracking shot, the camera goes too far and
smashes through a window. In another similar shot at the end of
the film, the camera crew almost demolish half of the set.
Although he is clearly having a laugh, Brooks also reminds his audience
that it isn't easy to copy a true master.
High Anxiety is an absolute
treat for all aficionados of Hitchcock, who will doubtless be in their
Seventh Heaven spotting all of the references to his films (many of which
are surprisingly obscure). But it is also a great piece of comedy
entertainment with very broad appeal. Yes, the humour is
somewhat scattergun - many of the jokes are stillborn and go virtually
undetected. But for every three or four misfires there is at
least one belter that will have you laughing your entire bronchial
apparatus out onto the carpet. The film may not achieve the
dizzying comedy heights of
Blazing
Saddles and
Young Frankenstein,
but it is unquestionably sublime entertainment, with enough
laugh-out-(very)-loud gags to land you well and truly in the funny farm.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Mel Brooks film:
History of the World: Part I (1981)
Film Synopsis
Dr Richard H. Thorndyke, an esteemed Harvard psychiatrist, is proud to
take up the post of director at the Psychoneurotic Institute for the
Very, Very Nervous. But within minutes of his arrival at the
remote coastal establishment he suspects that something is amiss.
The staff are a very strange bunch who look as if they could benefit
from being locked up in a padded cell, especially the weird Nurse
Diesel, who seems to strike terror into the hearts of her
colleagues. Thorndyke becomes concerned that some of the
patients under his care are exhibiting signs of normality and should
have been released months ago. Dr Montague, his senior analyst,
soon disabuses him of this notion, with the help of some elastic bands
and a set of werewolf teeth. Realising that Thorndyke poses
a threat to her evil machinations, Nurse Diesel decides that he must be
put out of circulation. Rather than kill him, which would be a
bit too obvious, she hires a man to frame Thorndyke for the murder of
another man whilst he is attending a psychiatry conference. The
scheme works and Thorndyke is forced to go on the run from the
police. Victoria Brisbane, the daughter of one of the inmates at
the institute, contacts him and agrees to lend her support in clearing
his name. Fortunately, Thorndyke's snap happy chauffeur, Brophy,
took a photograph of the killing, with Thorndyke just visible as an
innocent bystander in the background. But before Brophy can get
his enlarged photograph to the police, the wicked Nurse Diesel gets to
him. Thorndyke has one last hope to save himself and Victoria's
father, but this requires him to face his greatest fear, an acute fear
of heights...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.