High Anxiety (1977)

Absolutely brilliant

A Brilliant Conflict

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

High Anxiety has got to be one of lamest and most unfunny parody/spoofs that I've ever seen. Considering that these were, indeed, Alfred Hitchcock's films that were the target of this dumb spoof, I'd say the director Mel Brooks really wimped out, big time.The way I see it - High Anxiety really should have been a literal "scream-fest" of total, non-stop laughter from start to finish. It really should have - Especially when you realistically think about the absolute glut of material that Brooks had at his disposal to work with.But, with that said - Apparently Brooks spoofed, or parodied, some 20 Hitchcock films here in High Anxiety. But, hey, you could've fooled me on that one - 'Cause I only recognized, maybe, 3 films that were being spoofed. And those 3 were typically - Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds.Anyway - (*On a trivia note*) - If you can believe this - Alfred Hitchcock (77 at the time) actually viewed High Anxiety, himself - And (guess what?) - He liked it.

Mel Brooks is first and foremost as a movie-maker a good businessman. He understood the things that worked, and the things that didn't, and did a whole lot of the first. What's this, a Mel Brooks parody film with Madeline Kahn that spoofs the Hitchcock movies, with a big self-titled song, in a totally wacky comedy that makes fun of big clichés in the fields of horror movies, psychology with the usual 'film that is aware it is a film' angle ? Oh, just that description alone will make people laugh and buy the film without even hearing the jokes themselves which are, as usual, terribly uninspired, common, predictable and repeated in kind.If you're a fan of his or of this film, seriously ask yourself: how difficult would it be to make a 1hr30min parody on Hitchcock films ? Could you not come up with at least a bit of a plot, some funny material in such an abundant context ? I'll give this a 4 rather than lower just for the two or three really funny moments where I actually laughed. Every so often of course, an intelligent man like Brooks who loves humor so much would ultimately stumbled on an actually funny, worthy concept. It's only mathematical probability. But out of the entire film, two or three funny moments are a terribly scarce occurrence.

There's more plot here than expected from a Brooks' movie. Can he kick his aversion to high places, overturn the hospital's bad reputation, and bring the baddies to justice. That's a lot to coordinate into 90-minutes of intended laughs. Overall, it's a movie of funny moments, but lacks the consistent absudity of, say, Young Frankenstein (1974). The only really wacky character is Cloris Leachman as a nurse from heck. And, oh yes, there's an outrageous bit by Charlie Callas as a guy you might find at the local dog shelter. Meanwhile, Barry Levinson has a funny bit as a bellboy with a screeching sound and homicidal urges. Surprisingly, however, Brooks' doctor is pretty restrained except for his anxiety shakes. But then his character has to carry the plot.The satirical parts are just okay, except for the clever take-off on Psycho's celebrated shower scene. It's a hoot and a half. The other Hitchcocks I could detect are Vertigo (1958), The Birds (1963), and North by Northwest (1959). But none come off in very humorous fashion. I suspect the writers had trouble blending the satirical elements into plot requirements. Thus, the two don't combine as well as they should. Too bad, Madeleine Kahn doesn't get more screen time. She was such a funny performer and without half trying. She should have done the musical number instead of Brooks who unfortunately does it fairly straight. Still, that scene in the convention hall is pretty funny. When the little kids come in, Brooks has to use evasive words like woo-woo instead of more adult language.I guess I was somewhat disappointed, not because the movie isn't generally funny, but because it doesn't reach the wacko heights of either Blazing Saddles (1974) or Young Frankenstein. All in all, the movie's a two-base hit instead of a homerun.

Dr. Richard Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) suffers from 'High Anxiety' and is the new administrator of the Psycho Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous after the former head dies. Devious Dr. Charles Montague (Harvey Korman) thought that he was going to take over. Charolette Diesel (Cloris Leachman) is the strict disciplinarian head nurse. Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten) thinks there are questionable things going on. Thorndyke discovers some patients are staying too long and paying too much. Wentworth is murdered. While at the American Psychiatric Convention, he is confronted by Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn) who wants to rescue her father who is a patient at the Institute.This is a nice parody of Hitchcock movies. It has a lot of fun satire that Mel Brooks is known for. He's not as wild and crazy of someone like Gene Wilder. However he does give a straighter performance which the others can play off of. Although having Gene Wilder act afraid would have been hilarious but obviously he was busy with his own movie. Brooks is more deadpan. This is definitely in line with the other Mel Brooks parodies. It starts very well taking a page out of Airplane. The movie does fade in the second half. The premise probably wore a little thin for me by then.