Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein

Release Date

1974

Director

  • Mel Brooks

Cast

  • Gene Wilder
  • Madeline Kahn
  • Marty Feldman

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, travels to his family's home country and discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Young neurosurgeon Frederick Frankenstein (co-writer Gene Wilder) has spent his entire life trying to live down his family's reputation by altering the pronunciation of his name ("That's Fronkensteen") and rejecting his infamous grandfather's experiments in reanimating dead tissue. But when he is forced to visit the old family castle in Transylvania and discovers granddad's lab journal, he embraces his destiny: to succeed where his ancestor failed. With the help of a salvaged corpse, a purloined brain, and an electrical storm, Frederick creates his monster (Peter Boyle) and brings him to life, with hilariously unintended consequences. The lively supporting cast of characters includes Frankenstein’s voluptuous lab assistant, Inga (Teri Garr), pop-eyed hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman), fearsome housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman), and his high-strung fiancée (Madeline Kahn). Director Mel Brooks turns the Frankenstein legend into comic gold in this inspired parody of 1930s Universal horror classics, filmed in gorgeous black and white and recreating in loving detail the look and feel of the original movies.

Past Programs

2011

The Science of Electricity

The Tampa Theatre, Tampa, FL

2013

Guiding Biology

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA

2014

Movement in Biological Systems

SIFF Cinema Uptown, Seattle, WA

2016

Regenerative Science

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, OR