Mel and Anne, Hollywood’s best matched opposites… Was one of entertainment’s oddest couples – the dramatic actress Anne Bancroft and the wacky comic genius Mel Brooks – all that much a mismatch? That’s a question I pondered at times when I explored her career for my new biography Anne read more
Maybe the first two-thirds of Blazing Saddles are really funny, getting great performances out of lead Cleavon Little, his sidekick Gene Wilder and especially Harvey Korman’s villain. Wilder’s almost an add-on character; he’s around so Little, in addition to being funny and likabl read more
Next Saturday, AFI is awarding Mel Brooks its Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing joy and laughter to millions and changing American comedy as we know it. I figured we can start the celebration a little early, so here are 5 fantastic musical numbers from 5 equally fantastic Mel Brooks movies.
5 read more
Next Saturday, AFI is awarding Mel Brooks its Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing joy and laughter to millions and changing American comedy as we know it. I figured we can start the celebration a little early, so here are 5 fantastic musical numbers from 5 equally fantastic Mel Brooks movies.
5 read more
Blame Cleopatra for why this is late, but never late than never, right? In this expansive News From the Lake segment, I’ll announce some DVD release dates, discuss Mel Brooks getting the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, a new biopic in the works, and what movies you can see in theaters this su read more
Before High Anxiety, Mel Brooks starred in and directed Silent Movie (1976). The ultimate silent movie, it’s a silent film about creating a silent film. Aided by his two loyal associates, Dom Bell (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman), Mel Funn (Mel Brooks) takes a silent film script to read more
Young Frankenstein does not feel like a Mel Brooks film. It’s so startlingly well-directed, one could almost believe he didn’t direct it himself. Brooks, for the film, has this way of keeping the camera mostly stationary and letting his actors and the sets do all the work–one can& read more
