TV Guide: Mel Brooks

Listing: Spaceballs

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:00:00 -0500

Sun Dec 14 08:00 PM CW

Listing: Robots

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:00:00 -0500

Sun Dec 14 07:00 PM TELMUN

Listing: The Fly

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:00:00 -0500

Fri Dec 12 06:00 AM AMC

Listing: Dracula: Dead and Loving It

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0500

Fri Dec 12 03:00 AM MOMAXe

Listing: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Wed Dec 10 12:00 AM FMC

Listing: Young Frankenstein

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:00:00 -0500

Tue Dec 9 06:00 PM FMC

Video: How to be a Jewish Son -- or -- My Son the Success!

Hulu — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:58:18 -0500

Season 12, Episode 7: with Mel Brooks, David Steinberg, George Segal, Stan Herman, Dan Greenburg and Larry Goldberg.

Video: Blazing Saddles - (Original Trailer)

TCM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:09:28 -0500

A black man is appointed sheriff of a western town in Mel Brooks' riotous farce Blazing Saddles (1974) starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.

Video: Spaceballs - (Original Trailer)

TCM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:04:54 -0500

"Only a rogue space merchant can stop an evil dictator from stealing a planet's air supply in Mel Brooks' parody of Star Wars, Spaceballs(1987). "

Video: On This Day: June 28

iVillage — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:05:45 -0500

Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear off, and Mel Brooks, Gilda Radner and Kathy Bates were born.

Video: On This Day: June 3

iVillage — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:06:39 -0500

Mel Brooks' musical 'The Producers' won a record number of TONY awards, and Tony Curtis and Anderson Cooper were born.

Video: Extended interview with Mel Brooks

MSNBC — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:54:40 -0500

Nov. 8: NBC s Brian Williams talked to Mel Brooks backstage on Broadway on the eve of the opening of his new musical, Young Frankenstein. Watch the full interview.

Video: Elephant Man, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:07:17 -0500

John Hurt stars as John Merrick, the hideously deformed 19th century Londoner known as The Elephant Man. Treated as a sideshow freak, Merrick is assumed to be retarded as well as misshapen because of his inability to speak coherently. In fact, he is highly intelligent and sensitive, a fact made public when one Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) rescues Merrick from a carnival and brings him to a hospital for analysis. Alas, even after being recognized as a man of advanced intellect, Merrick is still treated like a freak; no matter his station in life, he will forever be a prisoner of his own malformed body. Unable to secure rights for the famous stage play The Elephant Man, producer Mel Brooks based his film on the memoirs of Frederick Treves and a much later account of Merrick's life by Ashley Montagu. The film is lensed in black and white by British master cinematographer Freddie Francis. Though nominated for eight Academy Awards, the film was ultimately shut out in every category. ~ Hal Erickson, All M

Video: 84 Charing Cross Road

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:06:50 -0500

Helene Hanff's book 84 Charing Cross Road had previously been a TV program and a stage play before it was converted into this 1986 film. The scene is New York, 1949: Anne Bancroft plays a struggling writer and passionate bibliophile, who answers an advertisement from a rare-volumes bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road in London. Thus begins a two-decade romance by correspondence between Bancroft and Briton Anthony Hopkins, the man in charge of the overseas department of Marks and Company. Though several meetings are arranged, Bancroft and Hopkins never come face to face thanks to mitigating circumstances. But Anne finally makes it to London, and finds that much has changed. 84 Charing Cross Road was produced by Mel Brooks, the husband of star Anne Bancroft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Video: Free To Be...You And Me

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:23:32 -0500

Marlo Thomas served as both producer and star for this landmark 1974 television special, which, through songs, stories, and comedy sketches, encourages children to accept and celebrate diversity in others, and embrace their own individuality. Guests stars include Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Harry Belafonte, and Cicely Tyson; Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack, and Kris Kristofferson help provide the music. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide.

Video: Screw Loose

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:35:16 -0500

A man discovers honoring one of his father's last wishes isn't as easy as he hoped in this broad comedy. Middle-aged Bernardo Puccini (Ezio Greggio) helps to care for his elderly father in Milan. One day, Bernardo's dad, who is in poor health, makes a request - before he dies, he'd like to spend some time with his American friend Jake Gordon, whom he met during the war. Bernardo dutifully flies to the United States to track Jake down and bring him to Italy for a reunion. Bernardo manages to find Jake (Mel Brooks), but discovers he's currently a patient in a mental institution and not very stable. Not wanting to disappoint his father, Bernardo smuggles Jake out of the hospital to bring him back to Italy, but Barbara (Julie Condra), Jake's doctor, gets wind of his scheme and follows them to Milan to bring Jake back home. Screw Loose (aka Svitati) marked something of a reunion for star Mel Brooks, co-star and director Ezio Greggio, and screenwriter Rudy De Luca; Greggio made his American acting debut in Brooks'

Video: Silence Of The Hams

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:33:51 -0500

In the tradition of Mel Brooks, this Italian comedy offers an episodic parody of classic thrillers and horror movies. Film includes cameos from several stars including Mel Brooks, John Astin, Larry Storch, Phyllis Diller, John Carpenter, and John Landis. The story begins as director Ezio Greggio is being stabbed ala Psycho in his shower. Before he dies he recaps the events leading to his deaths. The scene was L.A. and FBI rookie Jo Dee Fostar has been assigned to interview psycho inmate Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza. Meanwhile Fostar's girlfriend swipes $400,000 bucks from her boss and ends up hiding in the Cemetery Hotel, run by Antonio Motel. Inspector Balsam investigates cases of dead hotel victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide.

Video: Blazing Saddles

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:20:17 -0500

Vulgar, crude, and occasionally scandalous in its racial humor, this hilarious bad-taste spoof of Westerns, co-written by Richard Pryor, features Cleavon Little as the first black sheriff of a stunned town scheduled for demolition by an encroaching railroad. Little and co-star Gene Wilder have great chemistry, and the delightful supporting cast includes Harvey Korman, Slim Pickens, and Madeline Kahn as a chanteuse modelled on Marlene Dietrich. As in Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), and High Anxiety (1977), director/writer Mel Brooks gives a burlesque spin to a classic Hollywood movie genre; in his own manic, Borscht Belt way, Brooks was a central player in revising classic genres in light of Seventies values and attitudes, an effort most often associated with such directors as Robert Altman and Peter Bogdanovich . Some of this film's sequences, notably a gaseous bean dinner around a campfire, have become comedy classics. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide.

Video: Transylvania Twist

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:06:06 -0500

In Transylvania Twist, producer Roger Corman and director Jim Wynorski make Mel Brooks movies look like No l Coward drawing-room comedies. The film begins with nubile innocent Patty (Monique Gabrielle) being chasing through the woods by the Greatest Horror Hits of the 1980s --with Jason, Freddy Krueger, and Leatherface all vying for a piece of her. Robert Vaughn has the hammiest role as a vampire named Lord Byron Orlock. His ravishing niece Marissa (Teri Copley), an American singing star, arrives at Lord Byron's castle in Transylvania after the death of her father. Accompanying her is Dexter Ward (Rick Altman), her wise-cracking Donald O'Connor-inspired sidekick. What happens next involves a frantic search for a mysterious book that will raise the evil one from the dead. The flimsy plot serves as a handy clothesline on to which to hang self-referential parodies of the horror film genre, with time out for some clever editing of an appearance by long-dead Boris Karloff. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide.

Video: Dracula: Dead And Loving It

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:53:39 -0500

Mel Brooks does it again with this send-up of vampire films. That Leslie Nielson plays the great blood-sucking count gives viewers a good idea as to what they are in for. This Dracula takes himself very seriously despite the fact that he's a bit of a klutz with a tendency to slip in the bat guano that adorns his castle floor. Staying very close to Bram Stoker's original story, Brooks also pays sly homage to other major vampire film classics, including Nosferatu. Though silly but subtle gags abound in this outing, Brooks has taken great care to recreate the late 19th-century atmosphere in rich detail and harkens back to Hammer horror movies popular during the '50s and '60s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide.

Video: Robin Hood: Men In Tights

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:51:34 -0500

Mel Brooks directed and co-wrote this satiric comedy which lampoons a number of cinematic treatments of the legend of Sherwood Forest, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) comes home after fighting in the Crusades to learn that the noble King Richard (Patrick Stewart) is in exile and that the despotic King John (Richard Lewis) now rules England, with the help of the Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees). Robin Hood assembles a band of fellow patriots to do battle with John and the Sheriff, including Asneeze (Isaac Hayes) and his son Ahchoo (Dave Chappelle), the blind watchman Blinkin (Mark Blankfield), Will Scarlet O'Hara (Matthew Porretta), and Rabbi Tuckman (Brooks). The Sheriff is eager to put Robin Hood out of business with the aid of criminal mastermind Don Giovanni (Dom DeLuise), but Robin soon has an ally in the royal palace when he falls for the lovely Maid Marian (Amy Yasbeck), whose minder Broomhilde (Megan Cavanagh) has uncooperatively outfi

Video: Look Who's Talking Too

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:42:47 -0500

Amy Heckerling repeats the successful formula of Look Who's Talking in this sequel, with the addition of John Travolta singing All Shook Up to a group of nursery schoolers and Mel Brooks cast as the voice of a toilet. The film begins with James struggling to support his family. He stills wants to become an airline pilot, but in the meantime is driving a cab. His wife Molly (Kirstie Alley) is struggling too, as a busy accountant. The strain is showing on their marriage, but then Molly becomes pregnant again, giving birth to a daughter named Julie (voice of Roseanne Barr). When the new baby arrives back home, their son Mikey (voice of Bruce Willis) has to contend not only with the new intrusion but also with Mr. Potty (voice of Mel Brooks). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide.

Video: Life Stinks

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:42:42 -0500

If a comedy is to be made from the plight of the homeless, who have to scrape through their days returning deposit bottles and cleaning car windshields to get their daily bread as the rich get richer and more heartless, it may as well be Mel Brooks' Life Stinks. The trademark Brooks humor dominates this fable about a ruthless billionaire, Goddard Bolt (Mel Brooks), who wants to obliterate a poor section of Los Angeles and build a high-tech commercial center in its place. His only problem is that he owns only half the land needed for the construction, the other half belonging to equally ruthless billionaire Vance Craswell (Jeffrey Tambor), who has his own ideas for the land. The two try to buy each other out until, finally, a deal is struck: Craswell bets that Bolt cannot survive a month on the streets as a homeless man. If Bolt makes it, he gets the property. If he doesn't, Craswell gets it. Bolt agrees and, as a poor man, he begins to feel the pain of being uprooted and alone, even meeting a friendly homeles

Video: Last Remake Of Beau Geste, The

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:37:28 -0500

Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie G

Video: My Favorite Year

Video Detective — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:35:51 -0500

Richard Benjamin's directorial debut is an engaging slice of nostalgia, purportedly based on an incident in life of Mel Brooks. Mark Linn-Baker stars as Benjy Stone, junior writer on the popular 1950s TV comedy/variety series {~The King Kaiser Show}. Kaiser (Joseph Bologna)'s guest star this week is Hollywood matinee idol Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole), a swashbuckling Errol Flynn type, right down to his indiscriminate womanizing and fondness for mass quantities of booze. Stone is assigned to keep the actor out of trouble during rehearsals and deliver him sober to the performance. Becoming fast friends, Stone and Swann alternate baby-sitting responsibilities: Swann takes the young writer to the Stork Club and on an early-morning jaunt through Central Park with a borrowed police horse, while Stone takes Swann to his home in the Bronx, where the star is fawned over by Benji's mom (Lainie Kazan) and asked embarrassing questions about his love life by Uncle Morty (Lou Jacobi). Despite a few anxious moments, all goes

Video: 'The Producers'

NY Times — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:18:47 -0500

A. O. Scott reviews the new screen version of Mel Brooks's "Producers."

Photo: Mel Brooks - 2003

courtesy Steve Grayson/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks

Photo: Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft - 1998

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft

Photo: Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft - 55th Annual Writers Guild of America West Awards - 2003

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, 55th Annual Writers Guild of America West Awards

Photo: Anne Bancroft & Mel Brooks - Opening Night of "The Producers" - Hollywood, California - 2003

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks, The Producers

Photo: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft and David E. Kelley - Writers Guild of America West Awards, March 2003

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

anne bancroft, david e. kelley, mel brooks

Photo: Mel Brooks - Opening Night of "The Producers" - Hollywood, California - 2003

courtesy Lester Cohen/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks, The Producers

Photo: Mel Brooks, Jason Alexander , Angie Schworer, Martin Short - Opening Night of "The Producers "- 2003

courtesy Lester Cohen/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks, Jason Alexander , Angie Schworer, Martin Short, The Producers

Photo: Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks - 55th Annual Writers Guild of America West Awards

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks

Photo: Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks and Nathan Lane - Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane Honored With a Double Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - 2006

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane, Hollywood Walk of Fame

Photo: Harrison Ford and Mel Brooks - 55th Annual Writers Guild of America West Awards

courtesy Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Harrison Ford, Mel Brooks

Photo: Mel Brooks - Opening Night of "The Producers " - Hollywood, California - 2003

courtesy Lester Cohen/WireImage.com

Mel Brooks, The Producers