"High Anxiety" *** (out of ****)
The master of the spoof takes on the master of suspense with hilariously frightening results in "High Anxiety" (1977).
Of course when I say the master of the spoof I'm referring to filmmaker Mel Brooks, undoubtedly best known for his films "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" (my pick for the funniest film of all time). And the master of suspense is Alfred Hitchcock.
Film snobs like to look down at me when I say this but it was Mel Brooks who first made me give serious consideration to entering films. Snobs like to hear names like Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Renoir, Ingmar Bergman or Martin Scorsese. All dramatic filmmakers not comedy directors. As Woody Allen once said, when you write comedy you sit at the kid's table. Society holds that idea as truth.
But after watching Brooks' films, I was around 12 when I discovered him, I would always think to myself it looks like they are having so much fun making this movie. I wonder what the outtakes are like. And that was it. My plan was to be the next Mel Brooks. I felt I could make the same type of movies.
Strange for a man I admired so much, I've never written about any of his films before. It had been years since I watched a Mel Brooks movie. But because I planned to devote April to comedies I thought I should write about Mel Brooks.
"High Anxiety", while not my favorite, always seemed the most easy to digest. "Blazing Saddles" or "Silent Movie" were films which I had to be in the right mood in order to watch but I could always pop "High Anxiety" into the VCR and watch it. It very well may be his most accessible film. And like "Spaceballs" it has a strong cult following. I've even heard from some people who say "High Anxiety" is Brooks' best film. Funnier than "Blazing Saddles".
Mel Brooks stars as Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, a Harvard professor who is going to be the new head of an insane asylum called "The Pyscho Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous". The former head seems to have died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances, at least according to Thorndyke's driver, Brophy (Ron Carey, a Brooks regular).
At the institute Thorndyke meets Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman), who wears a heavily padded bra, along with Dr. Mantague (Harvery Korman) and Dr. Wentworth (Dick van Patten). Also working at the institute is Thorndyke's old instructor, Prof. Lilloman (Howard Morris) who Thorndyke's mistakenly calls "Professor Little Old Man".
Thorndyke discovers that some patients are being held at the institute much longer than needed in order to keep money coming in. There have also been other strange deaths. But the most shocking to Thorndyke is an Arthur Brisbane who is at the institute, a well known industrialist. The further Thorndyke examines these going on, with the help of Brisbane's daughter, Victoria (Madeline Kahn) the more his life seems to be in danger.
The Hitchcock targets are "Pyscho", with another deranged Bell-boy (Barry Levinson), "Vertigo", by the very title of the film, "North by Northwest", Cary Grant's name in that movie was Roger O. Thornhill. "The Birds", where a group pigeons attack Thorndyke in the park and "Spellbound" which also had its setting in an insane asylum.
Because it is Mel Brooks, the spoofing doesn't just stop with Hitchcock. Brooks is an equal opportunity offender. The Brophy character is obsessed with photography, tipping its hat to Antonioni's "Blow-Up", the Nurse Diesel character resembles Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", also set in an insane asylum. And a killer wearing teeth braces makes us think of the Jaws character from the James Bond films.
When Mel Brooks began his career his idea was to actually copy Hitchcock by making his own cameo in each of his films. In "The Producers" you can hear Brooks' voice during the "Springtime for Hitler" number. In "The Twelve Chairs" he has a brief role as a serf and in "Blazing Saddles" another brief role as a cross-eyed governor. With "Silent Movie", released one year before "High Anxiety", Brooks would now play the leads in his films. We also get to hear Brooks sing the title song, which he also wrote. Brooks did this a lot. Nearly every one of his films has a song he wrote. Here he sings in a Frank Sinatra style.
"High Anxiety" is not going to be for everyone. Many in the public consider Brooks' humor to be in bad taste, something Brooks doesn't deny. The film has a go-for-broke style to it. If any of the writers, including Barry Levinson, Rudy De Luca and Ron Clark, thought something would get a laugh it was put in. Sometimes Brooks even recycles gags from previous films while still being able to play around with the suspense genre. One clever joke has Thorndyke and Brophy discussing the happenings at the institute, when the idea of murder enters the conversation all of a sudden we hear intense music. But, not only do we hear it, so do the characters! As the music grows louder we see a bus driving down the highway with the Los Angeles Symphony rehearsing inside. Brooks did something similar with Count Basie and his orchestra in the middle of the desert in "Blazing Saddles". In "High Anxiety" I like the joke more. It serves more of a purpose commenting on the use of music in films.
The only problem I can see with this film is you have to be a Hitchcock buff to enjoy it. Or least have seen the particular films being spoofed. When I first saw "High Anxiety" I wasn't as familiar with Hitchcock as I am now. Therefore some of the references went over my head. The film would still be funny but you wouldn't be able to fully appreciate what Brooks is doing. Now that I have seen close to all of Hitchcock's films I get the jokes more and appreciate how Brooks and his writers were able to tie it all in.
"High Anxiety" was nominated for two Golden Globes back in 1978. One for "Best Actor (Brooks)" and one for "Best Picture".
If you've seen "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" and are wondering where to go from there "High Anxiety" is worth seeing. The jokes come fast and are always in bad taste as Brooks pokes fun at S&M, homosexuals, the insane and anything else he can get his hands on. And honestly, would we have Brooks any other way?
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