Browse: Home / Celebrating the Living: Mel Brooks

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • Taco Break: Pairings (by Casper)
  • Borrow or Lend Away
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of July 2002
  • Year of the Month: Tom Morton on THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
  • Film on the Internet: BONE

Celebrating the Living: Mel Brooks

Posted By Gillianren on July 24, 2016 in Features | 6 Responses

This is going to be fun, because my intention today is to show why you should appreciate Mel Brooks even if you don’t actually like his movies very much. Which, um, I don’t. I’ve seen seven of the eleven movies he’s credited as directing, and I like one of them. (The Producers, if you’re curious.) Adding movies he’s written but not directed doesn’t add any, and adding movies he acted in adds three. On the other hand, I think he’s a heck of a guy who deserves our recognition anyway.

I just now discovered that he’s got my dad’s names backwards; Dad was James Melvin, and Mel Brooks was born Melvin James Kaminsky. He was drafted in World War II and served as a combat engineer, disarming landmines. And also getting back at the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge; they played Nazi propaganda on their loudspeakers, so he set up his own and played Al Jolson. Because, hey, you’ve got to be yourself, and he was Mel Brooks.

One of the things I don’t think gets mentioned often enough about him is that he was a producer for The Elephant Man. It’s actually one of several movies on which he is an uncredited executive producer—uncredited because he knew that having his name on the credits would give people the wrong idea about the movie. It was his determination that got David Lynch hired, that permitted the film to be in black and white, and that kept the structure Lynch intended. Just because his movies are what they are doesn’t mean that he doesn’t see the value in other types of movies!

Not only is Mel Brooks one of the rare EGOT winners, he actually has multiples of every award but the Oscar. His sole Oscar is for Best Original Screenplay for The Producers, and of course all three of his Tonys are for the musical version. He has three Grammys, including one that has nothing to do with The Producers, and four Emmys, one for writing and three for his recurring character on Mad About You. He’s got a Hugo, a Nebula, a Kennedy Center Honor, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, and a British Film Institute Fellowship. Frankly, I’m kind of surprised he doesn’t have a Presidential Medal of Freedom yet.

Also, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, he just seems like a mensch. I’m not sure how many people noticed that the theatre putting on Springtime for Hitler in the musical version of The Producers is named after Anne Bancroft, to whom Brooks was married for forty-one years, until her death in 2005. It seems to have been the tribute he could give her. Her name is also on a call box elsewhere in the movie. They acted together some, but mostly, they just really seem to have loved each other. In interviews, he comes across as a really nice guy. And he’s willing to fight for what he believes in.

So no, I’m never going to like Blazing Saddles or even Young Frankenstein; it’s just not my kind of humour. That’s okay. I admire the heck out of Mel Brooks anyway.

Posted in Features | Tagged celebrate the living, Mel Brooks, tribute

About the Author

gillianmadeira@hotmail.com'

Gillianren

Gillianren is a forty-something bipolar woman living in the Pacific Northwest after growing up in Los Angeles County. She and her boyfriend have one son and one daughter, and she gave a daughter up for adoption. She fills her days by watching her local library system’s DVD collection in alphabetical order, watching everything that looks interesting. She particularly enjoys pre-Code films, blaxploitation, and live-action Disney movies of the ’60s and ’70s. She has a Patreon account at https://www.patreon.com/gillianren

Related Posts

Following that birdCelebrating the Living: Alyson Court→

The only role for which Chaplin recieved an acting Oscar nominationAttention Must Be Paid: Charlie Chaplin→

Two men too old to be NYPD detectivesCelebrating the Living: Richard Belzer→

This movie was a disappointment for many reasonsAttention Must Be Paid: Aaliyah→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    31440 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    26712 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    19256 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    18974 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • Yvonne, or: CASABLANCA In One Character and Three Scenes

    10010 views / Posted August 21, 2014
  • Taco Break: Pairings (by Casper)

    August 11, 2022 / The Ploughman
  • Not Pictured: Giving Good Advice

    Borrow or Lend Away

    August 10, 2022 / Gillianren
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of July 2002

    August 10, 2022 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Year of the Month: Tom Morton on THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST

    August 10, 2022 / Sam "Burgundy Suit" Scott
  • Film on the Internet: BONE

    August 10, 2022 / ZoeZ

Last Tweets

  • What’s the bouquet of GOT? Does LOTR have a distinct nose? How do you pair a favorite movie or TV with a beverage? https://t.co/tDXnhdGwMi, 2 hours ago
  • Borrow or Lend Away - https://t.co/DZ9oNeF05o, 18 hours ago
  • Flashback Comics Rack: Highlights of July 2002 - https://t.co/vlBfLAeP5v, 21 hours ago

©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

Menu

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!