His new colleagues include Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), a shifty physician who thinks he should be the new chief; Prof. Lilloman (Howard Morris), who was once Thorndyke's mentor; and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman), a control freak who deserves the Nobel Prize for nastiness. In another Hitchcock reference, the location where Dr. Thorndyke is attacked in the phone booth beneath the Golden Gate Bridge is Fort Point, where the crucial water rescue scene takes place in Vertigo (1958). In the process it ends up being a bit formulaic as it seems certain movies were just used as a checklist for this movie to check off. Director: Mel Brooks With Broadway, vintage horror films, silents and westerns, the range is much broader. Brooks: Its so much better to have a stock company of players. A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are wil Read allA psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep. Cast & Crew Read More Mel Brooks Director Deborah Dawes Henry Kaiser Mel Brooks Al Hopson Albert J Whitlock Photos & Videos View All Film Editing: John C. Howard The Hollywood Reporter: Why do you think Hollywood so rarely acknowledges comedy directing as an awards-worthy endeavor? With masterful lampoons and farces under his belt, Brooks took on the thornier and more restricted foil of Alfred Hitchcock films. Peter Bogdanovich cast her in her first feature as Ryan ONeills controlling, tight-ass fiance, Eunice Burns (not A Eunice Burns, THE Eunice Burns, she drips disdainfully when denied entry to a black-tie dinner), in the Golden Globe-nominated Whats Up, Doc? Preparing to address the psychiatric association, afflicted Dr. Thorndyke (writer-director Mel Brooks) is interrupted by the first appearance of Madeline Kahn as Victoria Brisbane, daughter of a wealthy patient, in Brooks' Hitchcock send-up, Mel Brooks must come to terms with his own. Most of the story takes place at the fictional Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, with exteriors filmed at Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles. In 1993 she won a Tony Award for her role as Dr. Gorgeous in the play The Sisters Rosensweig by Wendy Wasserstein. The Psycho shower scene parody uses the shrill cries of an angry bellhop in place of the strings: "Here! is less interested in curing its rich clientele than in keeping them indefinitely and thus getting more of their money, Braces broke that glass himself trying to kill Thorndyke, UsefulNotes/Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Film, UsefulNotes/Parental Guidance Suggested Rating. It was crazy. Spellbound takes place at a mental hospital called Green Manors, however, while High Anxiety unfolds largely at the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, where the physicians and nurses are very, very crazy. And another Brooks favorite, Madeline Kahn, is great as Thorndyke's love interest, although not even she can salvage the scene where she and Brooks do a Borscht Belt-type dialect routine to divert attention at an airport. He then takes a shower, during which the bellboy enters and, in a frenzy, mimics stabbing Thorndyke with the paper while screaming, "Here's your paper! Ive had thousands of men again and again. Acting on Thorndyke's behalf, Victoria contacts Brophy to have him enlarge the photograph. But Ive never been saluted as a film director. Madeline Kahn is never doing just one thing onscreen. Here is no exception, as he tackles squarely the unmistakable catalog of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. He flashes his overbite, mugs like a rubber man, and as the lead writer manages to give himself the final word on everything ("What a dramatic airport!"). She was a stellar host on Saturday Night Live and guested on the Carol Burnett Show. You could almost take it seriously, except that Brooks is no Jimmy Stewart, and his hysterical comic acting doesn't let you forget this for an instant. "[10] Vincent Canby of The New York Times agreed, writing that the film "is as witty and as disciplined as Young Frankenstein, though it has one built-in problem: Hitchcock himself is a very funny man. The humour is a mixture of the very broad to the somewhat subtle. Kahn is the Hitchcock blonde whose father is in the asylum. Madeline Kahn - IMDb This film was directed by Mel Brooks.High. Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, - THR: Your first movie, The Producers, is 45 years old. But, unfortunately, there is much more good-naturedness that inspiration here. High Anxiety is Mel Brooks comic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. If it was tired or cliched, she let me know in no uncertain terms. I dont know how they did it. Uploaded by "High Anxiety" is certainly not a dislikable film; it's too good-natured for that. A phone call from the producer Leonard Sillman got her out of bed when he cast her as one of the leads in New Faces of 68; one of her co-stars was Robert Klein. By what name was High Anxiety (1977) officially released in India in English? Being so self-aware, Hitchcock's films deny an easy purchase to the parodist, especially one who admires his subject the way Mr. Brooks does. High Anxiety is definitely lesser Brooks and wildly uneven, but partisans will embrace it wholeheartedly. Surprisingly, however, Brooks' doctor is pretty restrained except for his anxiety shakes. - by a Mr. MacGuffin, named after Hitchcock's word for a plot device that has no purpose except to keep the characters hopping through the story. High Anxiety is Mel Brooks' renowned spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds. High Anxiety (1977) - Mel Brooks (Friday's Finest) Internet Service Terms A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep. She advises her studious son, If theres one thing Ive learned in life is that learning things never taught me nothing and books is the worst. Last time I read a book, I was raped. The 1983 swashbuckling comedy starred Graham Chapman along with Cheech and Chong, Peters Cook and Boyle, Eric Idle, James Mason and John Cleese. Wentworth wants to leave the institute, arguing with Diesel. Most of this stuff isn't especially hilarious, however. Kahn wears a blue pin-striped suit with a bowler hat, because she couldnt get away with the tuxedo. I thought Louise Fletcher was pretty intense as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", but Diesel would have given her a run for the money. 1977 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Ron Carey, Howard Morris, Dick Van Patten. As an homage, it is both knowing and reverential. While I have seen some hilarious spoofs like Loaded Weapon 1, I have also seen some dreadful ones like Disaster Movie and Epic Movie. Mel Brooks said Madeline Kahn was maybe the single best comedian that ever lived. This looks like a failed TV pilot. THR: Quentin Tarantinos Django Unchained owed a debt to Blazing Saddles. At the beginning of "High Anxiety", Mel Brooks arrives at Los Angeles Airport and is lead into the men's restroom by a man who turns out to be a lisping flasher (an excruciating moment). Brooks thinks he is so cute, both women AND men want him! Brooks takes on Alfred Hitchcock in "High Anxiety," which casts him as a. Brooks: I thought when Richard Pryor died, that was the end of comedy. But then his character has to carry the plot. The appearance of Albert Whitlock as Arthur Brisbane is yet another of the film's many homages to 'Hitchcock, Alfred' ; Whitlock was Hitchcock's special-effects man on several films. I hope Hitchcock never actually saw this. Youre not writing in the dark and then casting. The best Brooks can do is to place himself in the shower with a fuming bellhop outside the curtain, or scamper through the park with a throng of rancorous birds defecating on his suit. Here's your paper! She didnt need more than fifteen minutes of screen time to steal a movie. Thorndyke and Victoria head back to LA where they rescue Brophy and see Montague and Diesel taking the real Arthur Brisbane to a tower to kill him. (Martha Mitchell and Madeline Kahn both died at the age of 57). High Anxiety is a 1977 American satirical comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. As everyone knows, humor is very, very personal. That's a lot to coordinate into 90-minutes of intended laughs. When events take a murderous turn, he is accused of the crime and left with a full blown case of "High Anxiety." Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman co-star in this hilarious parody. Montague appears from the shadows and gives up before being accidentally knocked unconscious by a trapdoor being opened. There's a touch of Marnie (1964) in a flashback revealing the source of Thorndyke's high anxiety, and a hotel reservation is surreptitiously altered - changing his room from the third floor (low and safe) to the seventeenth floor (high and scary!) Like all his pictures, it's a hit-or-miss affair, sometimes reaching high hilarity, other times plummeting like the proverbial lead balloon. There are a few dud moments sprinkled throughout but it is successfully funny on occasions too. Madeline Kahn 12 of 49 Mel Brooks , Madeline Kahn , Ron Carey , and Howard Morris in High Anxiety (1977) People Mel Brooks , Madeline Kahn , Ron Carey , Howard Morris Mel plays it straight which makes him even funnier. I thought the Mr. MacGuffin reference was clever but didn't see any other fans pick up on it in their reviews here. It would probably be fair to say that the results are quite mixed, although in fairness even Brooks at his best can be uneven. After he is attacked by pigeons in gastrointestinal distress, he meets up with Victoria and realizes Brophy took a picture of the shooting, in which the real Thorndyke was in the elevator at the time, so he should be in the photo. Search instead in Creative? The next morning, Thorndyke is alerted by a light shining through his window, coming from the violent ward. Alfred Hitchcock gets the Mel Brooks treatment here with rapid fire parodies of films like "Psycho", "The Birds", "North by Northwest" and "Vertigo", so if you're a Hitchcock fan there's some amusing stuff here. She made bad movies good, good movies great and great movies classics. Cloris Leachman gives a performance of tremendous skill and total commitment and creates another memorable character; unfortunately, much of what she and Harvey Korman are called upon to do, while daring in 1977, is a little embarrassing today. Mel Brooks' brand of humor -- over-the-top, non-stop, often outrageous -- tends to be a matter of taste, although when he's in top form (e.g., The Producers, Young Frankenstein) he's appreciated by almost everyone. She won a Daytime Emmy in 1987 for playing in the ABC Afterschool Special, Wanted: The. Im writing High Anxiety before its a movie its just an idea. It was love at first woof, as she streaked her hair to settles down with the man with the knobs to become Mrs. Zipperneck, freeing Dr. Frankenstein to marry Inga, the assistant with fabulous knockers, played by Teri Garr. High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film directed by (and starring) Mel Brooks. Almost none of the rest of the jokes work, either. A real treat for Hitchcock and Brooks fans, for it is by far one of the better spoofs out there. Extra footage added for network versions. His head had been cut off, and so had his, uh. Although she proclaims that life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage, her husbands death allowed her to append her beliefs, now that hes dead, I have a life. Blasted by critics at the time, who blamed John Landis for writing the script, Clue has gone on to become a cult favorite and Kahns comic flames soliloquy, which was improvised on set, is considered a classic comedy bit. For High Anxiety, it was 'What is a Hitchcock film? It's a Worthy Venture--Doesn't Quite Work--But That's Mel Brooks Anyway. The blonde in the turban was just as funny in black and white in Young Frankenstein. High Anxiety (1977) directed by Mel Brooks - Letterboxd Color-94m. Richard Pryor was signed to do a one-day cameo as the Pharaoh on the last day of shooting. It lampoons many of Hitchcock's standard plot devices and directorial techniques, but not in a mean-spirited way. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. What is the cutting? Originally cast as Agnes Gooch in the 1974 film Mame, she was fired by comic icon Lucille Ball over artistic differences. They think they're only pretending to be "loud and annoying," but that's exactly what they are. Later in a cocktail lounge, he snaps a microphone cord like a whip and makes Madeline Kahn hyperventilate with passion. It's a comedy to go crazy over! Brooks: That was the yardstick for me; that was the gold. Thorndyke, Brooks is nevertheless as irresistable as he is irrepressible, with Madeline Kahn a fine match for him as the flakiest mysterious blonde this side of Kim Novak. Kahn is the Hitchcock blonde whose father is in the asylum. The climax of High Anxiety is the climax of Vertigo as it would look in a funhouse mirror. There are a couple of funny moments in this movie, all provided by Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman. High Anxiety is Mel Brooks' renowned spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds. And as everyone also knows, this movie's actor-director-writer-producer is not to everyone's taste; among the great Jewish-American comic filmmakers, I'll take Woody Allen or Albert Brooks over Mel Brooks any day. To give you an idea of this place where the lunatics have definitely taken over - Cloris Leachman plays a nurse who's into S&M with Harvey Korman. Sarah Silverman is genuinely talented and funny. Mel plays it straight which makes him even funnier. Mel Brooks: I have never been saluted as a director in my life. Never.. I am a massive Hitchcock fan, and when I heard of High Anxiety, I was intrigued. It's only four years after Young Frankenstein, for instance, which is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. When Dr. Thorndyke sings the title song ("High anxiety, whenever you're nearHigh anxiety, it's you that I fear") in a ritzy nightclub, Brooks is lampooning every too-smooth crooner who ever slowed the pace of a Hollywood drama. "[15] In addition to parodying Hitchcock films, High Anxiety became noteworthy for frequently mocking popular psychoanalysis theories at the time, with New Statesman journalist Ryan Gilbey stating that "viewers were familiar enough with the babble and buzzwords of psychoanalysis to respond instinctively to the films wittiest sequence, when Brooks speech at a psychiatric conference has to be spontaneously modified so as not to impinge upon the innocence of two young children who have joined the audience. Kahn played Betty in Yellowbeard, Marty Feldmans last film appearance. Campy Available to rent or buy Rent HD $3.99 Buy HD $9.99 More purchase options He currently thinks he is a cocker spaniel. When he cracks the mic chord like a whip while singing the title song, she reacts in a spasm of sadomasochistic ecstasy and when she mistakes Thorndykes labored breathing during a murder attempt as the heavy breathing of an obscene phone caller she responds How did you get my room number? First he'll have to conquer his own psychological weakness - a dreaded condition called high anxiety, which makes him very, very panicky whenever he's far above the ground, whether in a glass-walled elevator or an upper-story hotel room. What does it look like? This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first speaking lead role (his first lead role was in Silent Movie ). Cloris Leachman is hilarious as Nurse Diesel, and her manner is a funny as her costume. Madeline learned to sing opera to get tips while singing beer songs in a German restaurant, called the Bavarian Manor. After she lets him go, he drives home, but the radio is rigged to blast deafening rock music. . Thorndyke also reunites with Professor Vicktor Lillolman, a past mentor now employed by the institute. Amazon.com: History of the World, Part I : Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks, Mel Same thing with Gene Wilder, whether it was sad and touching or whether it was hysterical. In a Mama skit on Carol Burnetts variety show she plays Mavis Danton, an actor/director of the local playhouse theater whose claim to fame is her edited-out-of-the-TV-version role in Catwomen on Mars. Thorndyke must prove his innocence to the police. Victoria is reunited with her father, marries Thorndyke, and they embark on their honeymoon. Wentworth wants to leave the institute but Diesel refuses to let him. . The Institute apparently could use the money from the Brisbane family, and keeps the real Arthur prisoner. Brophy's trouble with heavy objects ("I got it! My tits are falling off). Despite what his driver thinks, Thorndyke's predecessor died of a sudden heart attack leaving the position to be filled. However, having said that, you don't even need to have seen a Hitchcock movie to find this one funny. For other uses, see, Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 15:48, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Mel Brooks: 'I'm An EGOT; I Don't Need Any More', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High_Anxiety&oldid=1140946726, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 15:48. We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! He arrives in Los Angeles to take his position and meets the eccentric staff: Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). "[9], Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "One of the problems with Mel Brooks' High Anxiety is that it picks a tricky target: It's a spoof of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but Hitchcock's films are often funny themselves. Brooks is an equal-opportunity satirist, so non-Hitchcock movies also get dragooned into High Anxiety. While there are numerous allusions to almost every Hitchcock film, the main plot and setting are taken from Spellbound and Vertigo. Veteran Brooks ensemble members Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, and Madeline Kahn are also featured. With more than a nod and a wink to Monty Pythons Life of Brian, Dudley Moore slurred the part of Herschel, who makes idols during Old Testament times. Nurse Diesel: Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup. After a Harvard psychiatrist (Brooks) takes over the. Mel Brooks movies: 12 greatest films ranked worst to best Why do you think it still seems fresh? He was wheeled back into the show in a knee-length cast and turned the theater into his own private vaudeville house, pretending to forget lines and trying to crack up his costars. The following day, Thorndyke books a room in the vertigo-inducing Hyatt Regency (hotel of) San Francisco. Diesel claims it was the TV, but it was actually a passionate session of BDSM with Montague. We meet the main character, Nobel Prize-winning psychiatrist Richard Thorndyke (Brooks), when he arrives at the institute to become its head after the mysterious death of the former director. It would have been very cool if Hitch had made a cameo, why didn't anyone think of that? It also includes the then-new Hyatt Regency Hotel with its tall atrium lobby. He is trapped in his car, and he dies from an ear hemorrhage. Nurse Diesel, who thinks she is a witch and tries to fly a broomstick out the tower window, riding it to her death on the rocks far below, cackling maniacally all the while. (Madeline Kahn), a patient's wealthy daughter, and he was attacked from behind by assassin "Braces" (Rudy DeLuca) (a take-off on Bond's "Jaws"); with the cord wrapped around his throat to strangle him . Released in United States Winter January 1, 1977, Re-released in United States on Video January 12, 1994. Happy now?! [The AFI] is the first that said, Youre a movie director.. She died on Dec. 3, 1999, just a month after she publicly announced that she was sick with ovarian cancer, the same disease the prematurely struck down her friend and co-performer, Gilda Radner. But Hitchcock's movies are already so particular and good-humored that there's scarce room for satire. I am not going to listen to any more of this, I mean; Ive had just about enough! also featuring Kahn, . On the other hand, the jokes are strong at times and can be very funny. Mel Brooks is a very funny man, and though sometimes I think his comedy is a little on the low side, "High Anxiety" has some truly hilarious moments. Revisiting Robert Zemeckis' Death Becomes Her, Mortal Kombat X: 8 Things to Expect in the Story, Always Sunny to Talking Sopranos: The Best TV Rewatch Podcasts Hosted By Cast & Creators, The Star Trek Story Bridging the Gaps Between Deep Space Nine and Picard, Taskmaster and The Underrated Comic Genius of Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Mel Brooks arrives at the "Institute" to find suspicious goings on, and tries to find out what's going on and who is behind it. She throws cold water on an obscene phone caller by admitting Im simply crushed. She spent two years at the nightclub The Upstairs at the Downstairs in a comic ensemble that included Fannie Flagg and Lily Tomlin acting and singing in reviews and skits like Dial-a-Deviant. Madeline debuted on stage as a chorus girl in a Kiss Me, Kate revival. There's more than a dozen well known films and a hundred well known sequences that Brooks could have parodied. Upon his arrival, Thorndyke is greeted by the staff, Dr. Philip Wentworth, Dr. Charles Montague, and Nurse Charlotte Diesel. High Anxiety is Mel Brooks' renowned spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds. Brooks plays Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (the H. stands for "Harpo"), who is assigned as the new administrator of the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. The show aired on ABC from September 27, 1983 to March 13, 1984. which proves useful in clearing Dr. Thorndyke's name. In 1985 Kahn joined a stellar comic ensemble cast with Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Colleen Camp and Lee Ving in the comic mystery Clue, based on the board game. Mel riffs on Hitchcock, right down to Madeline Kahn's gray suit a la Kim Novak in Vertigo. Cloris Leachman as Nurse Diesel plays out her nasty grimaces and drawls as far as she can, and also puts on an outlandish performance in the spanking scene. All of the hits are here, and transfused into a story that is kooky, predictable, but all the while giving some very good belly laughs. Brooks: If you make something that makes sense, that is basically truthful about the human condition, it works it stays alive. An homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock; contains many parodies of famous Hitchcock scenes from THE BIRDS, PSYCHO, and VERTIGO. High Anxiety is Mel Brooks' renowned spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds. But somebody has to tell him you cannot run Abraham Lincoln over with a Buick youve gotta stop somewhere in making up history. Kahn played Alice Gold, her husband is a school principal who has a fling with a schoolteacher. High Anxiety (1977), the first movie he produced as well as directed, co-wrote, and starred in, follows the pattern that had served him well in most of his five previous pictures and would remain a trademark in years to come: it's a movie about movies, a show about show business. Penis envy" becomes "pee-pee envy"; the womb is temporarily rechristened "the woo-woo. And the concept of this film, a spoof of Hitchcock films, seems like gold. His films, even at their most terrifying and most suspenseful, are full of jokes shared with the audience. High Anxiety (Film) - TV Tropes How did having her by your side contribute to your career? THR: What do you think of the state of comedy today? Cloris Leachman and Harvy Korman are fellow doctors at the asylum, and watch over the institute when Mel must attend a conference. CookiePolicy Hitchcock's suspense melodramas are sparked by his perverse wit; they're satirical to start with. Madeline Kahn debuted in Boston under the name Madeline Gail Wolfson. High Anxiety (1977) - High Anxiety (1977) - User Reviews - IMDb Mel Brooks' delirious comedy/thriller is a delight even if you're not already an Alfred Hitchcock fan--but if you *are,* you'll love it even more as you peg specific spoofs/references to such Hitch classics as SPELLBOUND, VERTIGO, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH '56 (Brooks' piano bar rendition of the title song is the movie's highlight) and THE BIRDS. High Anxiety on iTunes - Apple 1 watched in the last 24 hours. Her first husband had disappeared, but she explains that because he was an illusionist, that was his job. Thorndyke and Brophy travel to San Francisco, where Thorndyke is to speak at a psychiatric convention. The heroine of The Birds (1963) undergoes horrible bird attacks, and the hero of High Anxiety undergoes horrible bird droppings. on the Internet. She knew what was really good, what was funny and what was unique and original. It is a parody of Freudian therapy and Alfred Hitchcock films. Her characters had some of the best names in film: Empress Nympho, Lili Von Schtupp, Trixie Delight. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A man must come to terms with his own "high anxiety" in this loving parody of the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Very very funny Hitchcock spoof with some adult humor. But High Anxiety sort of gets away with the poorer moments more or less and is really quite enjoyable from the point of view of its Hitchcockian references alone. Mel Brooks has had his stinkers, some much worse than this (Dracula: Dead and Loving it being by far his lowest point), but this came at the end of an era of great comedic successes for him. Madeline Kahn gave a deeply nuanced performance in the brief role of Martha Mitchell in Oliver Stones Nixon from 1995. In High Anxiety, Mel Brooks comic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, Kahn plays Victoria Brisbane, the daughter of one of the patients (who thinks hes a cocker spaniel) at the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. So give your brain a night off, brush up on your Hitchcock, and settle in for a potpourri of laughs, groans, dull spots, and inspired spots. When asked by Cosby whether she loved him, Pauline responds with I live with that potential every single day. Kahn recorded her role in the animated movies My Little Pony: The Movie and The Magic 7 and did the voice of Gypsy the moth in A Bugs Life in 1998.