Blazing Saddles Meets Young Frankenstein: The 50th Anniversary of the Year of Mel Brooks [Paperback]

An in-depth look at the 1974 releases of Mel Brooks'sBlazing SaddlesandYoung Frankensteinthat will leave cinephiles enthralled.
1974 was a busy year for Mel Brooks. Although still recovering after a series of failed projects threatened his career, he pulled off a one-two punch that saw the release of two of the most beloved American comedies ever made:Blazing SaddlesandYoung Frankenstein.Although both films are well-known, the stories beyond the making of each movie are less so. How did they come to be, and how did the eras culture and politics not only permit them to be made, but help them to become enduring comedy classics?
With their riotous parodies of Westerns and classic horror movies,Blazing SaddlesandYoung Frankensteinwere not only hilarious. They played with charged social and cultural themes in an inimitable way, raising the bar for modern comedies even as they reshaped the two genres they were sending up.Blazing Saddles Meets Young Frankenstein: The 50th Anniversary of the Year of Mel Brooksexplores in depth the zeitgeist and cinematic alchemy that led to 1974 becoming the year of Mel Brooks.

1974 was the year that two of the most beloved American comedies ever made, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, were released. This book explores in depth the zeitgeist and cinematic alchemy that led to 1974 becoming the year of Mel Brooks.Bruce G. Hallenbeckis an author, actor, and screenwriter whose films includeVampyre, Fangs,andThe Drowned. Hismany books on film history includeThe Hammer Frankenstein, RocknRoll Monsters: The American International Story,andPoe Pictures.Hallenbeck has also acted in such features asShadow Tracker, Edge of Reality,andProject D: Classified.He lives in upstate New York with his wife Rosa, two cats, and several ghosts.