Posted by This is a great comedy, made by Mel Brooks in 1974, quite possibly his best movie.
The hero, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, played by Gene Wilder, is the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who wants nothing to do with the family whatsoever.
However, things change when he inherits the family castle in Transylvania. Frederick slowly gets sucked in the aura of his grandfather’s work and creates a monster of his own, with the help of his lab assistant, Igor.
Igor is the grandson of Igor, the assistant of Victor Frankenstein, and is played by Marty Feldman.
Frederick is trying to be nice to the monster, who is a sensitive soul.
The monster played by Peter Boyle, loves violin music, but is a little “A B Normal”, like the label on the jar from which Igor stole the monster’s brain. There are some wonderful scenes with the monster and the blind hermit, full of unlimited fun.
So the monster abducts Elizabeth, Frederick’s fiance, but it turns into something good for her, as she falls in love with the monster. The following quotation says it all:
Elizabeth: [after sex with The Monster] “Oh. Where you going?… Oh, you men are all alike. Seven or eight quick ones and then you’re out with the boys to boast and brag. YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Oh… I think I love him.”
Elizabeth and the monster finally stay together, Frederick discovers the joy of beautiful Inga, his local personal assistant, played by Teri Garr, and it all ends well.
A few pointers to differences between the film and the novel.
The movie is in modern times, the hero is not mad scientist Victor, but his grandson.
Transylvania has nothing to do with the novel, it is brought in by Brooks in reference to the Dracula horror movie genre.
There is no Igor in the novel; in the 1931 movie there was an assistant to the Doctor, who in the comedy becomes the grandson of the original assistant.
There is no Swiss subtlety in the movie, but repeated allusions to Germany. Frau Bluecher is the best example, the housekeeper of the castle.
The second best example is the pseudo-German “word” schwanzstuecker, derived from a German word for “tail”, or penis. The monster is large in all departments, and this is the secret weapon with which he conquers Elizabeth. In clear contrast with the novel, the Brooks monster is quick to discover his gifts that can make him very attractive to the ladies, and instead of wasting his time begging this creator to create a female double for him, he snatches Frederick’s wife to be. The following dialogue makes it all very clear:
Dr Frederick Frankenstein : “For the experiment to be a success, all of the body parts must be enlarged.”
Inga: “His veins, his feet, his hands, his organs vould have to be increased in size.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “Exactly.”
Inga: “He would have an enormous schwantzstuker.”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: “That goes without saying.”
But at the end, Frederick transfers some of his intellect to the monster, who can now reason and becomes quite an intellectual, and in return he gets the Monster’s supernatural schwanzstuecker, as Inga is more than happy to discover.