Young Frankenstein has always been one of my dad’s favorite
movies. It was one of the few comedies that both he and my mom could
agree is funny, and he would watch it whenever it came on TV. I was
probably about 8 the first time I encountered Mel Brooks and Gene
Wilder. I never saw the whole movie, just snippets on my way out the
door or before one of my parents would change the channel. I remember
laughing at the horse’s whinny with every mention of Cloris Leachman as
Frau Blucher; I remember recognizing the dad from Everybody Loves Raymond as the monster; and I remember my fascination while watching Wilder interact with beautiful faux-Swedish Teri Garr.