Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks “got along swimmingly” when they made Young Frankenstein, Brooks writes in his memoir All About Me: My Remarkable Life in Show Business. But their disagreement over one key scene was so fierce that the two friends almost got into a fistfight.
The scene in question? Wilder had the bright idea that Dr. Frankenstein and his newly created Monster, played by Peter Boyle, should break into the musical number “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Brooks agreed that it was a very funny idea, but he had a good reason for not wanting to film it. “I said, ‘No, no, no, we can’t do that,’” Brooks told The Los Angeles Times, as reported by Far Out. “It will make it silly.”
On the surface, Brooks’ reasoning makes no sense. Wasn’t “silly” the point? Of course, but only within the reality of the comedy story. “It was too far out. I was afraid it might have made the screenplay border on being unbelievable,” he says in his memoir, contending the musical number “would tear the continuity of the movie to pieces.”
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Wilder argued back — the scene made total sense: “It’s proof of how incredible Frankenstein’s creation is.”
But was it simply a joke for joke’s sake? “My movies are not about jokes,” Brooks told The Los Angeles Times. “They are about behavior, and behavior can be very funny.”
The creative clash got so heated that it nearly turned into a brawl. After the two men calmed down, Wilder offered a compromise: “Do me a favor. Film it, and we’ll take a look at it. If it doesn’t work, I promise we’ll throw it out.”
That was a big ask. This wasn’t Wilder saying, “Let’s try some alternate dialogue and see which version works best.” “Puttin’ on the Ritz” was a huge musical number that involved costumes, choreography, sets and music. As alternate takes go, it would be expensive and time-consuming.
But Brooks agreed to give it a try, on the condition that if test-screen audiences agreed that it was too silly, he’d cut it out of the final film.
Those test audiences roared with laughter. Brooks had no choice but to turn to Wilder during the screening and admit, “Gene, you were absolutely right. Not only does it work, but it may be one of the best things in the whole movie.”
Brooks said he’d never had such a heaping helping of humble pie. The scene took the comedy to a level of craziness beyond satire, and the director couldn’t have been happier to admit defeat. “I have never been so wrong in my life.”
Content shared from www.cracked.com.