Customer Reviews

High Anxiety

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is the funniest movie, and the world awaits the DVD. When, oh when, will it finally arrive????? There are so many of my all time favorite movie moments in this classic comedy. Who could forget Dr. Charles Montague and Nurse Diesel's cagey response after being interrupted during an intimate moment: 'Sorry for the dissssturbance.' (I probably know the dialogue for this entire movie by heart!) Nurse Diesel arrived on the scene long before Madonna and her tectonic bras. What about Dr. Wentworth's trouble with the car radio? Or Brophey's ineptitude? Every scene is memorable, but if I had the DVD, I would repeatedly jump to Dr. Thorndyke's dramatic lounge act where he wooed Victoria Brisbane by singing the very romantic song 'High Anxiety,' all the while slapping the microphone chord on the ground for dramatic effect. Which is to say nothing of Hitchcock--whose movie plots provide endless fodder for this Mel Brooks masterpiece. The cast is superb, and the movie divine. Granted, this is one review that is not written with those who've never seen the movie in mind. My intent is to take a stroll down memory lane, because this movie deserves to be on DVD.

Allow me to begin by stating that "High Anxiety" is by far, one the all-time BEST Mel Brooks films. Being a huge Hitchcock fan, I immediately became attached to this one. Thank you to 20th Century Fox for finally making this available in Region 1 DVD format for the US.

If you're even just a bit curious, check this title out. You won't be dissatisfied.

Enjoy,
Jeff

For my money, the best Mel Brooks' movies are the ones that he doesn't appear or barely appears in, like THE TWELVE CHAIRS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and THE PRODUCERS. This film is one of the exceptions. Also, for my money, the best Mel Brooks' movies are those that are flat out parodies of film genres--like BLAZING SADDLES and SPACEBALLS. This film is the highest achievement of his parodic form.

HIGH ANXIETY is Alfred Hitchcock on goofballs. The references are wide-ranging: "Psycho", "The Birds", "Vertigo" (the main parody plot), "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "Notorious", etc. The result is out and out Brooks' mania, and, of course, a certain reverence to Hitchcock. My only negative comment isn't specific to this film but it does apply: most parodies run out of gas during the course of a feature length film. Once the novelty wears off, the film kind of lags. That's why the best film parodies are usually skits on variety or comedy television shows. Probably the only exception to my theory would be 1980's "Airplane". (See my review of that for a further explanation.) Still, HIGH ANXIETY has enough manic energy to sustain it for the most part. It's a clever film and extremely entertaining.

HIGH ANXIETY was Mel Brooks' salute to Alfred Hitchcock. Though many of the gags do fall flat, the entire movie as a whole is a complete joy.

Mel Brooks plays Richard Thorndyke, the new head psychiatrist of the leading `Institute For the Very, Very Nervous'. Thorndyke himself is plagued by bouts of `high anxiety' (vertigo). When Thorndyke is framed for murder and discovers the sinister cover-ups at the Institute, he joins the leggy Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn) in a race against time to rescue her father from the clutches of sadistic Head Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman)!

Brooks and the rest of the cast have an absolute ball. Cloris Leachman sports a traffic-cone decolletage that would make Madonna jealous, in her inspired performance as Nurse Diesel (and her scenes with Harvey Korman are hysterical; you won't be able to view their performances in HERBIE GOES BANANAS the same way again). Madeline Kahn is Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren combined in her performance as Victoria Brisbane (now that's quite a lot of Hitchcock cool blonde-ness!).

Classic Mel Brooks.

This is a spectacular movie! Typical Mel Brooks' humor, one of his best. But, where is the DVD version?

For some reason, High Anxiety is not nearly as admired as some of Mel Brooks' other films. I don't think I've ever read a truly glowing review of High Anxiety. No one really hates it, but no one really likes it, either. Roger Ebert explained that because Alfred Hitchcock's films contained so much humor, High Anxiety, as a satire was unnecessary and redundant.

If this is indeed the rationale for High Anxiety's lukewarm reception, then I personally think that ALL of the critics just don't get it. While it's true that Hitchcock films contain loads of humor (Robert Donat's political speech in The 39 Steps, the auction scene in North By Northwest and Alec McCowen's "gourmet" meals in Frenzy come to mind), the most vivid Hitchcock moments are dead serious. The burning of Manderley in Rebecca, the fight on the merry-go-round in Strangers on a Train, the bell tower scene in Vertigo, the cropduster attack in North By Northwest and, of course, the shower scene in Psycho are deadly serious scenes. These are the moments that Brooks spoofs in High Anxiety. The humor is dead on, giving the serious Hitchcock buffs several gigantic laughs throughout the film.

Take, for example, Brooks' take on the shower scene from Psycho. Director Barry Levinson plays a psychotic bellboy who is pushed over the edge by Brooks' repeated requests for a newspaper. He bursts into Brooks' hotel bathroom and "stabs" him with the newspaper. Brooks duplicates every angle and visual detail of the original, right down to Janet Leigh's fuzzy bathroom slippers. He uses ink from the newspaper to simulate the blood swirling down the drain in Psycho. It's a obvious target, but Brooks presents the scene with such care and such genuine affection for the original that it work beautifully as both satire and an homage.

Brooks recognizes that even though Hitchcock was one of the most innovative and technically brilliant filmmakers of all time, even he, like every other director, relied on favorite storytelling devices. For example, Brooks and Ron Carey are driving down the highway discussing a psychiatrist who recently died under mysterious circumstances. When Carey declares that he thinks it was murder, ominous string music, a la Bernard Herrmann, comes blasting onto the soundtrack. Brooks and Carey look out the window of the car and see the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a bus next to them, providing on-the-spot musical accompaniment. Because Hitchcock was such a master craftsman, these "cliches" never got in the way of the audience's enjoyment of the film. However, Brooks recognizes these "cliches" and brilliantly spoofs them.

I wish the critics would take another look at High Anxiety and recognize that it belongs right beside The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie and History of the World Part I as one of Mel Brooks' best. If any director is a ripe target for satire, it's Alfred Hitchcock. It's a tribute to The Master that hits its target dead center.

Speaking as a great fan of Alfred Hitchcock and his infectious combination of twisted humor and compelling suspense, I would say HIGH ANXIETY is truly a valentine to the man and his vast body of cinematic work. Mel Brooks, the clown prince, is at it again! This time, he stars as Dr. Richard Harpo Thorndyke, The new head administrator of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. Thorndyke must contend with the likes of Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman) and his equally demented partner in crime, the devious Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Together, they are out to frame Dr. Thorndyke for a murder he never commited. In the face of this madness, the doctor encounters the alluring and seductive Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn), the daughter of an industrialist who entered the Institute, to be treated for his condition. What's more, many of the scenes pay homage (if in parody) to some of the most well-known and well-loved scenes from some of Hitchcock's best films (including STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, THE BIRDS, VERTIGO and PSYCHO). For those of you familiar with Mel Brooks and his brand of comedy, you won't be disappointed. For those of you who have never seen a Brooks film and are not familiar with Hitchcock, this will still provide belly laughs.

Being that I'm a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, AND a fan of Mel Brooks, I cannot recommend this film highly enough! Mel Brooks manages to comically deconstruct SEVERAL of Hitch's best works in this film. Mel's version of the shower scene from Psycho is truly a classic, second only to Hitch's original (it's almost a frame-by-frame retake!). Several other cues are given the Brooks touch; dramatic music playing suddenly, camera moving slowly forward towards a window leading to a room full of people, particular shadow work, even an attack by hundreds of birds! Not one to be missed!

"Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup!" Trying to explain why you like one Mel Brooks film and have no particular feeling for another is like trying to explain why one guy slipping on a banana peel is funny and another guy doing the same is a medical emergency. All I know is that I think that line, especially as stated by Nurse Diesel, is uproarious and that High Anxiety is one of my favorite Mel Brooks films. Some say it's a take-off on Hitchcock, or even a satire. Far from it, in my view. I think it's an affectionate, good-natured hug from Brooks for a director he respects. So, on one level, we can sit back and enjoy the Hitchcockian references, some of which are very clever. On another level, we still can enjoy the famous Brooksian low comedy that sends one gag after another almost as fast as we can blink. When the two come together...when the birds splatter a fleeing Dr. Thorndyke, for instance...it's a match made in heaven. Besides, anyone who can turn a man being strangled in a telephone booth into a coy phone sex scene has my vote.

Sure, the movie is erratic, but that's Brooks. What makes so many of the gags work, I think, is that Brooks, as the dignified, mystified Dr. Thorndyke, is an observer. Brooks in this movie reacts to things far more often than he instigates. And if you enjoy the Hitchcock films that flash by -- Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, Spellbound, Under Capricorn, Notorious, The Birds and such -- there is a built-in level of affectionate amusement. High Anxiety, for all it's imperfections, is funny. This is no criticism of many of Brooks' other films, but I also think High Anxiety has a lot of charm, more than any of his except Young Frankenstein and The Producers (the first version).

Brooks does an outstanding job playing Thorndyke, the new head of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He may be the center of the story, but it's a quiet center; he surrounds himself with memorable grotesques he's not afraid to let steal their own scenes. Among others, there's Harvey Korman ("Less bondage, more discipline!"), Madeline Kahn playing one of Hitchcock's blonde ice queens, Cloris Leachman playing a remarkably ugly head nurse and fitted out with what seems to be an armor-plated bra, and an assortment of low comics doing fine bits, including Charlie Callas as a patient who thinks he's a cocker spaniel. Don't let him get close to your leg. The one moment when Brooks grabs the film for himself is when Dr. Thorndyke is persuaded in a hotel bar to take the mike and sing. Brooks does such a great combination of cheery lounge lizard and a self-consciously swinging Sinatra he almost stops the movie in its tracks.

The DVD transfer is, in my opinion, almost a disgrace. It's way too soft and slightly washed out. There is no excuse for releasing a well-known and modern movie in the careless shape this DVD is in. Just as regardless of the audience, the studio has given no extras of any consequence and nothing from Brooks himself.

Though not quite as funny as Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety is one of Mel Brook's funniest movies, actually the first time I saw this movie was on cable when I was little and I didn't like it too much and was bored but now that I'm older I have since seen it again a few times and now I really like it and think that maybe I didn't like it when I was little was because it wasn't as silly as Young Frankenstein or Silent Movie and Also I hadn't yet seen any Alfred Hitchcock movies, and Now being a fan of Alfred Hitchock I can now totally laugh at Mel Brook's homage to Hitchcock's classics and I especially liked the hilarious scenes spoofing The Birds and Psycho, they are both truly classic comedic scenes and this movie is highly recommended to any fan of Mel Brooks and also Alfred Hitchcock and like others I'm waiting for this movie to come out in DVD! A nice widescreen DVD with all of the extra goodies would be great. And also I would love to see Silent Movie put on DVD too.