Mel Brooks\u2019\u00a0Young Frankenstein<\/i> is clearly one of the greatest horror parodies of all-time, and\u00a0the<\/i> greatest\u00a0Frankenstein<\/i> movie ever made in which the Monster dons a tuxedo and tap dances to an Irving Berlin tune.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the fact\u00a0<\/span>Brooks didn\u2019t want to shoot that iconic musical number<\/span><\/a>, it turns out that the director came shockingly close to cutting what may be the movie\u2019s most famous joke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When Marty Feldman\u2019s Igor picks up Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) at a foggy train station, he instructs him to \u201cwalk this way\u201d as they leave. Of course, he wants the doctor to\u00a0literally<\/i> walk \u201cthis way,\u201d prompting him to similarly hobble forward on a miniature cane. The gag played so well back in the \u201870s that Aerosmith\u00a0<\/span>wrote a whole song inspired by it.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n According to Wilder,<\/span><\/a> Brooks came up with the line on the spot, admitting that it originated with a decades-old vaudeville gag. \u201cMan walks into a drugstore and says to the pharmacist, \u2018I\u2019ve got terrible hemorrhoids \u2014 have you got some talcum powder?\u2019\u201d Brooks recounted to Wilder. \u201cPharmacist says, \u2018Yes sir \u2014 walk this way.\u2019 Man says, \u2018If I could walk that way, I wouldn\u2019t need the talcum powder.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Feldman claimed<\/span><\/a> that he was the one who ad-libbed the line on set, which made \u201cMel laugh because it was an old Yiddish joke.\u201d But it was Brooks who insisted on putting it in the actual movie, even though Wilder and Feldman tried to talk him out of it since \u201cit was a cheap joke and corny.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When it came time to preview the first cut of the movie for an audience, according to assistant editor William Gordean, Brooks soured on the joke after becoming worried the movie might be \u201cperceived as slow and dull.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMel was starting to take out some gags,\u201d Gordean explained in the documentary\u00a0Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein.<\/i> \u201cAnd at one point, he said, \u2018Well, we\u2019re going to take out the gag at the railroad station in Transylvania where Marty says to Gene, walk this way.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The other assistant editor, Stanford Allen, objected. \u201cStan said, \u2018No, please don\u2019t do that, please,\u2019\u201d Gordean recalled. \u201cAnd Mel said, \u2018No, it\u2019s coming out, it\u2019s coming out. It\u2019s a cheap joke.\u2019 And Stan said, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s a cheap joke, but it\u2019s funny. Please don\u2019t take it out.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo finally Mel relented and said, \u2018Okay. It\u2019ll stay for the preview, but it\u2019s coming out (on) Saturday,\u2019\u201d Gordean continued. \u201cThat scene came on, the audience\u00a0howled.\u00a0<\/i>And we came up to Mel afterwards, out on the sidewalk, and said, \u2018Alright, do we take it out tomorrow?\u2019 And he said, \u2018Get out of here!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not only did Brooks keep the bit in\u00a0Young Frankenstein<\/i>, he used it again in several subsequent movies, with diminishing returns.<\/span><\/p>\n And we wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the joke pops up yet again in the upcoming\u00a0Young Frankenstein\u00a0<\/i>prequel TV series\u00a0<\/span>that somehow exists.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n