Mel Brooks FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Outrageous Genius of Comedy

by Dale Sherman

Overview

(FAQ). Born to be the center of attention, Mel Brooks grew up learning the ropes of entertainment in the Catskills during its biggest days. He later emerged as a skilled comedy writer by literally muscling his way into television in the late 1940s. Brooks would be involved with some of the most notorious musicals on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s, before finally breaking through nearly 50 years later with a musical version of his first film, The Producers (2001). With Carl Reiner, he would create the 2000-Year-Old Man , and sold millions of comedy albums in the 1960s. He would cocreate the classic cult comedy television series Get Smart (1965-1970). His films which he wrote, directed, and sometimes starred in such as The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), and Spaceballs (1987) have become certified classics to generations of fans and continuing well into the 1990s. Mel Brooks FAQ covers the entire career and life of a man who has won a Grammy, an Emmy, A Tony, and multiple Oscars. Also covered are the intertwining career of Brooks with his wife Anne Bancroft, the novelizations of Brooks' films, and the projects that never came to be. Raunchy and intellectual at the same time, with a career spanning over sixty years, Brooks has also been involved with serious dramatic films through his Brooksfilms production company, which are also discussed in the book. All this has made Brooks the creative genius that has shaped our understanding of comedy over these many decades, as will be seen within the pages of Mel Brooks FAQ .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781495025136
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2018
Series:	FAQ
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	1,064,702
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dale Sherman has been following Mel Brooks's career since first seeing Young Frankenstein at the age of ten. A researcher and collector of comedy, he has written ten books, including Quentin Tarantino FAQ and MASH FAQ. Sherman lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, daughter, pets, and a framed original poster for Blazing Saddles hanging in his office.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 We're Unrehearsed: The Early History of Mel Brooks in Ten Easy Lessons 1

2 Far Enough Out for You? The Beginning Caesar Years 17

3 Too Simple, Too Pure: Television Writing-the Freelance Years 38

4 And Loving It: Get Smart 49

5 The Difference Between Comedy and Tragedy: The Long Journey of the 2000War-Old Man 54

6 All American: Early Broadway Attempts 65

7 I'm Going There, Too: Anne Bancroft 77

8 Where Did I Go Right? The Producers 88

9 Tito Has the Car: The Twelve Chairs 116

10 You'd Do It for Randolph Scott: Blazing Saddles 128

11 Quiet Dignity and Grace: Young Frankenstein 157

12 Which One of You Is Funn? Silent Movie 187

13 I Got It: High Anxiety 207

14 They Stink on Ice! History of the World: Part I 223

15 And Nobody Saw It: To Be or Not to Be 239

16 Just Plain Yogurt: Spaceballs 254

17 A Bunch of Moments: Life Stinks 270

18 It Worked in Blazing Saddles: Robin Hood: Men in Tights 282

19 Would an Enema Help? Dracula: Dead and Loving It 299

20 They're All Oddballs: The Films of Brooksfilms 310

21 Talking in a Closet Under a Naked Lightbulb: The Later Television Series 323

22 You Be What's-His-Face: Guest Appearances 330

23 King of Broadway: Staging The Producers and Young Frankenstein 335

24 To Be or Not to Be: Projects Abandoned 348

Appendix: The Awards 361

Bibliography 363

Index 373

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2018
The "FAQ" series, approaching 75 books, allows experts to delve broadly into biographical details and quirky career tidbits, along with analyses of well-known works, behind-the-scene notes, backstories, and album notes and statistics. Bordowitz (Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man; Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin) explores the band Green Day, with a detailed chronology, a who's who, music and lyric influences (punk, rock), and more. Monush (researcher, Paley Ctr.; coauthor, Lucille Ball FAQ) presents information on filmmaker Steven Spielberg by theme (pivotal events, television direction, writing, use of music). Avid Mel Brooks fan and experienced "FAQ" author Sherman covers the comedian and director's career in roughly chronological order. VERDICT Buy where there is interest in a comprehensive reference on these specific subjects.

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