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And so was born the musical version of “The Young Frankenstein,” which admittedly was less successful than “The Producers,” and yet delighted millions of people around the world.īarack Obama miraculously praised Brooks’ ability to make people happy and touch his heart when he awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian decoration in America. She simply forced him to get up from his mourning and work, and work, according to Brooks, is the best medicine for any illness and pain they have. Then Struman came to him and rewarded him with the same coin. After Bancroft’s untimely death, Brooks says he could not be comforted. Brooks rescues her from inaction, from her to the director of the musical and tells her that she can cry as much as she wants, every morning before rehearsals and every evening after rehearsals, but in the middle hours she must function. ![]() He is not sick of the truth, fittingly and sincerely to the one who dedicated an entire scene in “Hot Saddles,” his parody of the Western genre, to a farts marathon around the campfire, and gave his son the character of Adolf Hitler a solo dance and singing in “The Producers.”Įmotion shifts to high gear as the production’s intended director, Mike Okrent, passes away prematurely and his wife, choreographer Susan Struman, sinks into deep mourning and refuses to return to reality. #TO BE OR NOT TO BE MEL BROOKS HOW TO#“ALL ABOUT ME”, Mel Brooks (Photo: No Credit)īrooks also knows how to excite when needed, and does not get sick of schmaltz. Thus we gain charming behind-the-scenes anecdotes of his films and plays, reminders (sometimes too detailed and overloaded) of the best jokes and explanations of the thousands of different and weird ways in which some of the greatest magic moments in the history of film comedy were born. #TO BE OR NOT TO BE MEL BROOKS PROFESSIONAL#The book is mostly built according to the professional stations in Brooks’ life. So Brooks wrote the script for his first film, “The Producers,” and also directed it, despite his inexperience, and so, decades later (for the game he rolled almost by accident) fulfilled his childhood dream and wrote and composed all the songs for the musical made according to the film, Without knowing characters.The musical garnered 12 Tony Awards, more than any other musical in the award’s history.So again, what is there to be modest about? She of course was right, and soon the two stopped going to Chinese restaurants. Be generous with your money and not my money, she scolds him.īut Bancroft, according to Brooks, was the love of his life, a wonderful and supportive mother to their son Max, who suffered from dyslexia before anyone knew what it was (and later became a bestselling author), and the first to believe Mel and claim there was nothing he could not do. He takes her to Chinese restaurants because they are the cheapest, and once she gives him a $ 20 bill to pay for both, and scolds him when he leaves a $ 7 tip. On the way he falls in love with actress Anne Bancroft (and does not even mention in his name his first wife and if three of his children, for legal motives apparently) and starts dating her when he is penniless, more or less. #TO BE OR NOT TO BE MEL BROOKS TV#He fought in Europe in World War II, rolled on his return to citizenship to the writing team of Sid Caesar, a comedian who has since been forgotten but in Brooks’ eyes was the greatest of them all.īrooks wrote sketches and jokes for Caesar’s TV shows, which ran for years and broke viewing records, and was convinced he would stay in the writers’ room forever. Mel Brooks’ autobiography (born in Brooklyn as Melvin Kaminsky) is the story of a particularly beloved little boy, hugged and almost exaggeratedly kissed (though there are things not to be exaggerated), who at about age zero realizes he is funny, seeing Ethel Merman sing on Broadway when he was 9 ( In the cheap seats, which are not recommended for those who suffer from fear of heights) and dream of a career on Broadway, but as a creator and not as an actor. And in other words, he has nothing to be ashamed of. Mel Brooks, the 96-year-old genius creator who belongs to a small elite group of artists who have won the holy grail of business – Oscars, Tony, Grammy and Emmy – may not be a braggart, but he certainly recognizes his own worth and feels no need to apologize. ![]() The book’s subtitle is “My Amazing Life in the Entertainment Business,” and like the headline (“All About Myself!”) It makes it immediately clear that excessive modesty will not be here. Mel Brooks, “ALL ABOUT ME!”, Random House, 637 pages (in English) ![]()
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