Monday, December 15, 2008

Mel Brooks Medley

The tip of the hat goes to Mel Brooks this month.
I just looked at his High Anxiety again and was reminded yet again why I've always reacted well to his craft. Brooks, in my view, is one of the very few comedians who knows how to read and, in turn, humanize the intellectual.

If you have not seen High Anxiety yet, might I suggest that you give it a try? Those of you fellow Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm fans will most certainly delight in it. Brooks is also featured in a full season of Curb when Larry accepts to star in The Producers.

Here is the official trailer of the 1977 film. Mel Brooks plays a renowned psychiatrist with a crippling diagnosis called high anxiety. It's spectacularly funny. By the way, Brooks' character is offered the position of 'chair of psychiatry' in a California-based institution called The Clinic for the Very, Very Nervous. Very funny, very good.



Whereas this is from Mel Brooks' film History of the World.






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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite bit from High Anxiety is when Thorndyke gives that talk at the convention and uses euphemisms when the doctor brings his kids with him.

Anonymous said...

And how about the bird scene?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcdVdE7rfk

Anonymous said...

In case you're interested in the script, http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/h/high-anxiety-script-transcript-brooks.html

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen this particular one but will do so. Brooks is funny. I liked him on Curb.

Anonymous said...

Nurse Diesel rocks.
Man, Cloris is it!!

Sra said...

I always enjoyed his Sinatra-esque "High Anxiety -- you win!" Haven't seen this one for years, so thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my favorite bit is when Brophy picks him up and starts taking pix of him. Classic fun!

Anonymous said...

Ha. History of the World... Need to catch that.

Anonymous said...

Your take on Young Frankenstein?