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was the protagonist’s inability to live up to an impossible yet widely cherished
cultural mythology, thereby demonstrating “the fallacy of trying to
live by the conventions of our film heroes and their genres” (Yacowar,
39). Although the series was an instant success and ran from 1965 to 1970,
Brooks left after scripting the first few episodes to focus on other projects,
the big screen in particular. Still, Brooks’ early work already reveals his
characteristic comic tone: “He turned a simple, candid, deflating perspective
upon large, pretentious characters and situations” (Yacowar, 36).
In his feature films, as in his early television work, Brooks was attracted
to a specific type of comedy, the genre parody, and this would bring him
his greatest critical and commercial triumph. Brooks’ first feature film was
The Producers (1968), a satiric send-up of the American musical, as both a
backstage drama and a romantic success story (Yacowar, 71–85; Crick,
15–32). The film starred Zero Mostel, fresh from A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum (1966), and whose outsize ego proved a
constant challenge for the novice director. While the critics were in wild
disagreement over the merits of the film, Brooks won an Academy Award
for his first original screenplay. Thirty years later, in 2001, Brooks turned
The Producers into a Broadway smash starring Nathan Lane and Matthew
Broderick, and a new feature film is currently in production. Next, Brooks
directed The Twelve Chairs (1970), a meditation on classic Russian tales of
greed and ambition.
One of Brooks’ best-known and funniest films is Blazing Saddles (1974),
his first R-rated feature, a raucous and rather crude spoof of sacred and
self-important American Westerns like High Noon (1952) and Shane (1953)
(Yacowar, 100–19; Crick, 50–66). On the surface a genre-busting comic
analysis of the Hollywood myth of the West, one that still ranks among
the American Film Institute’s Top Ten List of US Comedies, Blazing Saddles
also takes such an uncompromising look at racism and bigotry in the
United States that many in today’s hypersensitive pop cultural environment
find the film’s jokes offensive and even outrageous. Brooks takes
aim at another Hollywood myth in his next film, Young Frankenstein (1974),
co-written by Gene Wilder, a masterful and well-researched revival of the
classic horror movie tradition, as well as a literary nod to Mary Shelley.
Most critics agree that this is Brooks’ finest cinematic effort, where he was
finally able to hone his directorial skills with the best creative team, script,
and cast he ever had (Yacowar, 120–40; Crick, 67–83). In Silent Movie
(1976), Brooks pays homage to the silent films of his childhood, and High
Anxiety (1977) is a brilliant salute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Brooks
wants to make funny movies about movies: “You cannot have fun with
198 HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1981)