Brooks, now 90, still ‘loud and lively’
“If you’re quiet, you’re not living,” Mel Brooks once said. “You’ve got to be colorful and loud and lively.”
As a writer, director and performer, Brooks — the man behind such classic comedies as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” — has been all of that and then some, and, at age 90, his riffing skills are as sharp as ever. “I like adlibbing,” he said on a recent afternoon. “Just give me the premise and get out of the way.”
With a career that stretches back to the earliest days of television, Brooks is also bursting with great anecdotes, and he shares some of them in a new book about the making of 1974’s “Young Frankenstein.” Packed with behind-the-scenes photos and new and archival interviews with the film’s key players, “Young Frankenstein: A Mel Brooks Book: The Story of the Making of the Film,” written with Los Angeles Times film reporter Rebecca Keegan, hit stores Oct. 18.
Earlier this month — the day after hosting a screening of “Young Frankenstein” on the 20th Century Fox studio lot, where the film was made — Brooks spoke with us. The following is an edited transcript.
“I guess I was the king of movies for that year” in 1974.
Watching it on the big screen gives you an even greater appreciation for Gene Wilder’s performance.
His performance is absolutely Promethean. It’s his very best work in film. Gene was essentially really reticent and shy, and when he broke out, he broke out like a volcano. He never just eased out of being mousy and quiet — he busted out like it was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and suddenly this new person would be yelling and commanding our attention. He did that beautifully in “Young Frankenstein.” Looking back, it’s pretty mind-boggling that you put out both “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” in the same year.
I guess I was the king of movies for that year, for ’74. Nobody had two pictures back to back that were so big and gathered so much attention. It was great. Last month, you were among those awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Obama. I imagine he isn’t the first president you’ve met.
No, I’ve got to tell you, when they had the Kennedy Center awards for performing arts, I was offered it when (George W.) Bush was president after the Iraq war started, and I said, “No, I’m going to wait for another president.”
And I did. It was worth the wait. It was a great night. Oct. 23 birthdays: Director Ang Lee is 62. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 60. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 60. Singer “Weird Al” Yankovic is 57. Bassist Robert Trujillo is 52. Actor Ryan Reynolds is 40. Actress Emilia Clarke is 30. Actress Jessica Stroup is 30.