🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 99 (from laksa171)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa099.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/03/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/03/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder","crawl_time":1774920084,"first_indexed_time":1727942647,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,theguardian!www,\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder s443","src_root_hash":"4161074618625082499","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Young Frankenstein review – Mel Brooks monster comedy is wonderfully alive as ever | Film | The Guardian","meta_descriptions":["Gene Wilder’s giddy brilliance is backed by a tremendous supporting cast and only a few gags lumber as the film is re-released for its 50th anniversary"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"M\nel Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star\nGene Wilder\n, is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale\/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way.\nWe begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant.\nOn arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment.\nThere is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style.\nBut Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in\nThe Producers\n(still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold.","attrs_markdown":"![](https:\/\/sb.scorecardresearch.com\/p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&cs_ucfr=0&comscorekw=film)\n\n[Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder#maincontent)[Skip to navigation](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder#navigation)\n\nClose dialogue\n\n1\/1\n\nNext image\n\nPrevious image\n\nToggle caption\n\n[Skip to navigation](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder#navigation)\n\n[Print subscriptions](https:\/\/support.theguardian.com\/subscribe?REFPVID=mndxlajtmw9ovckibhi3&INTCMP=undefined&acquisitionData=%7B%22source%22%3A%22GUARDIAN_WEB%22%2C%22componentId%22%3A%22PrintSubscriptionsHeaderLink%22%2C%22componentType%22%3A%22ACQUISITIONS_HEADER%22%2C%22referrerPageviewId%22%3A%22mndxlajtmw9ovckibhi3%22%2C%22referrerUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffilm%2F2024%2Foct%2F03%2Fyoung-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder%22%7D)\n\n[Search jobs](https:\/\/jobs.theguardian.com\/)\n\n[Sign in](https:\/\/profile.theguardian.com\/signin?INTCMP=DOTCOM_NEWHEADER_SIGNIN&ABCMP=ab-sign-in&componentEventParams=componentType%3Didentityauthentication%26componentId%3Dguardian_signin_header)\n\nUK\n\n- [UK edition](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/preference\/edition\/uk)\n- [US edition](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/preference\/edition\/us)\n- [Australia edition](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/preference\/edition\/au)\n- [Europe edition](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/preference\/edition\/eur)\n- [International edition](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/preference\/edition\/int)\n\n[The Guardian - 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Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein.](https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/4c44820590dc6c3fdb076a3c75c8877d1fb867f5\/5_243_2734_1640\/master\/2734.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)\n\nLive! Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Photograph: Moviestore collection Ltd\/Alamy\n\n[View image in fullscreen](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder#img-1)\n\nLive! Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Photograph: Moviestore collection Ltd\/Alamy\n\n[Film](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/film)\n\nThis article is more than **1 year old**\n\n[Review](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tone\/reviews)\n\n# Young Frankenstein review – Mel Brooks monster comedy is wonderfully alive as ever\nThis article is more than 1 year old\n\nGene Wilder’s giddy brilliance is backed by a tremendous supporting cast and only a few gags lumber as the film is re-released for its 50th anniversary\n\n![Peter Bradshaw](https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/uploads\/2018\/01\/10\/Peter_Bradshaw,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)\n\n[Peter Bradshaw](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/peterbradshaw)\n\nThu 3 Oct 2024 09.00 BST\n\nLast modified on Thu 3 Oct 2024 12.09 BST\n\nShare\n\n[Prefer the Guardian on Google](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=theguardian.com)\n\nMel Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star [Gene Wilder](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/gene-wilder), is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale\/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way.\n\nWe begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant.\n\nOn arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment.\n\nThere is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style.\n\nBut Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in [The Producers](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2018\/aug\/01\/the-producers-review-mel-brooks-comedy-gene-wilder) (still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold.\n\nYoung Frankenstein is in UK cinemas from 4 October.\n\nExplore more on these topics\n\n- [Film](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/film)\n- [Comedy films](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/comedy)\n- [Horror films](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/horror)\n- [Mel Brooks](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/mel-brooks)\n- [Gene Wilder](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/gene-wilder)\n- [Comedy](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/culture\/comedy)\n- [reviews](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tone\/reviews)\n\nShare\n\n[Reuse this content](https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffilm%2F2024%2Foct%2F03%2Fyoung-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder&type=article&internalpagecode=film\/2024\/oct\/03\/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder \"Reuse this content\")\n\n### Most viewed\n- [![](https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/bde392fafd135489b8fd2afd580c55d0d46e81df\/331_0_3309_2648\/master\/3309.jpg?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none) Army investigates after two helicopters hovered by Kid Rock’s pool as he saluted](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2026\/mar\/30\/kid-rock-army-helicopters)\n- [![](https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/05b47e119ca879f7848fdf1caff215a4ff9cb46e\/435_0_4259_3407\/master\/4259.jpg?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none) Expat influencers sold Dubai to the world and were paid to look the other way. 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All rights reserved.\n\n(dcr)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Mel Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star [Gene Wilder](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/gene-wilder), is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale\/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way.\n\nWe begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant.\n\nOn arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment.\n\nThere is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style.\n\nBut Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in [The Producers](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2018\/aug\/01\/the-producers-review-mel-brooks-comedy-gene-wilder) (still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold.","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	M el Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star Gene Wilder , is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way. We begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant. On arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment. There is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style. But Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in The Producers (still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold.
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Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4c44820590dc6c3fdb076a3c75c8877d1fb867f5/5_243_2734_1640/master/2734.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none) Live! Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Photograph: Moviestore collection Ltd/Alamy [View image in fullscreen](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/03/young-frankenstein-review-mel-brooks-gene-wilder#img-1) Live! Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Photograph: Moviestore collection Ltd/Alamy [Film](https://www.theguardian.com/film/film) This article is more than 1 year old [Review](https://www.theguardian.com/tone/reviews) # Young Frankenstein review – Mel Brooks monster comedy is wonderfully alive as ever This article is more than 1 year old Gene Wilder’s giddy brilliance is backed by a tremendous supporting cast and only a few gags lumber as the film is re-released for its 50th anniversary ![Peter Bradshaw](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2018/01/10/Peter_Bradshaw,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none) [Peter Bradshaw](https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterbradshaw) Thu 3 Oct 2024 09.00 BST Last modified on Thu 3 Oct 2024 12.09 BST Share [Prefer the Guardian on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=theguardian.com) Mel Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star [Gene Wilder](https://www.theguardian.com/film/gene-wilder), is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way. We begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant. On arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment. There is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style. But Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in [The Producers](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/01/the-producers-review-mel-brooks-comedy-gene-wilder) (still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold. Young Frankenstein is in UK cinemas from 4 October. 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Readable Markdown	Mel Brooks’s outrageously broad and deliriously silly black-and-white comedy, co-written with its neurotically bequiffed star [Gene Wilder](https://www.theguardian.com/film/gene-wilder), is re-released for its 50th anniversary. Their lovingly observed 1974 movie is closer in time to the 1931 James Whale/Boris Karloff classic – whose lab equipment props Brooks actually re-used – than we are now to this film. In some ways it can now be considered not as satire or spoof, but a continuation of the Frankenstein genre, a connoisseur development or theme-variation not so far removed from the Hammer or Warhol riffs, and a whole lot more successful and intuitive than Kenneth Branagh’s deadly serious, deadly dull treatment from 1994 with Robert De Niro as the creature. Interestingly, though Wilder said that Young Frankenstein is based on the Karloff classic and its three sequels, the opening credits resoundingly declare that it is based on the Mary Shelley novel. A tongue-in-cheek joke, of course, but true in its way. We begin the action in the present day where Wilder plays Dr Frederick Frankenstein, a distinguished neurophysiologist, deeply embarrassed by the crazy theories of his grandfather Victor Frankenstein, so much so that he insists on pronouncing his own name “Fronk–en–steen” to distinguish himself from his evil ancestor. But then he receives a legal package containing documents conferring on him the title to Castle Frankenstein in Transylvania (evidently a German-speaking area of Hungary). After bidding farewell to his alluring yet sex-averse fiancee Elizabeth (a wonderfully wisecracking Madeline Kahn), Frederick arrives in the heart of Old Europe, via train from New York, to be greeted at the station by Igor (pronounced “Eye-gor”), the grandson of his grandfather’s old manservant, played by Marty Feldman, in colossal Groucho Marx mode. Also present is Inga (Teri Garr), who is to be his assistant. On arriving, Frederick is disconcerted by the sinister housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), but overwhelmed by his own sense of thrillingly inescapable destiny, and sets out to create the great lumbering man-monster, raised from the dead. It is played by Peter Boyle as aggressive and threatening, but possessed of a poignantly vulnerable and sensitive side. Frederick discovers that by playing a sweet tune on a violin, he can soothe the creature, who goes into a fey, wide-eyed, childlike trance, darting about as if catching imaginary fireflies; it is a very funny moment. There is a lot of really unsubtle material (before revisiting this, I’d actually forgotten about the penis-size gags) and it comes close to Carry On mode for a line where Inga simperingly misunderstands Frederick exclaiming about the “big knockers” on the door of Castle Frankenstein. But the big setpieces are still brilliant: Frankenstein and the creature’s Puttin’ on the Ritz dance routine in white tie and tails, the “creation” scene in the thunderstorm and Gene Hackman’s amazing cameo as the blind hermit who gives refuge to the runaway creature with Hackman instinctively getting the comedy style. But Wilder himself is always superb: his frizzy hair hinting at Frederick’s romantic longings, the pop-eyed hysteria and panic never far from the surface, and the voice which under pressure will rise to that grating, shouty screech. It’s perhaps not as great as his performance in [The Producers](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/01/the-producers-review-mel-brooks-comedy-gene-wilder) (still Brooks’s eternally relevant masterpiece) but this is still comedy gold.
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