Mel Brooks’ ingenious method of knowing if a movie was going to be a hit: “Put this in your mouth”
As the mastermind behind some of the greatest, most influential, and beloved comedies in Hollywood history, it’s fair to say Mel Brooks has always had a decent handle on how to tickle the funny bones of audiences, even if the studios he was working with didn’t always agree.
When the comedian and aspiring filmmaker first made the jump from the stage to the silver screen in the 1960s, he was met with resistance every step of the way. To a certain extent, it was understandable that the industry’s most prestigious outfits didn’t see the comedic potential in a story predicated on Adolf Hitler, but Brooks got the last laugh.
He fought hard to make The Producers and was rewarded with an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for an instant classic that vindicated his decision to tell a string of white lies to the people footing the bill so that he could make the satirical comedy on his own terms.
Almost the exact same thing happened with Blazing Saddles, and the results were equally indelible. Brooks wanted to push boundaries, shatter cinematic taboos, and incorporate cinema’s first-ever audible farts into his western farce, leaving his paymasters aghast that he’d even contemplate such a thing.
Once again, though, the result was an all-timer. Brooks constantly battled with the studio over which jokes he could get away with, which lines would survive the editing suite, and how far he wanted to go in a particular direction, issues that have only become more common in modern filmmaking.
These days, major motion pictures are subject to studio notes, assembly cut screenings, test screenings, and more, which can often bastardise, diminish, or dilute the director’s original vision. In Brooks’ case, all he needed was a set of hankies to convince himself he was on the right track. Simple? Undoubtedly. Effective? Of course, especially when Young Frankenstein emerged on the other side.
“I gave everybody in the crew a white handkerchief,” the EGOT winner explained to the Los Angeles Times. “I said, ‘When you feel like laughing, put this in your mouth’. Every once in a while, I’d turn around and see a sea of white handkerchiefs, and I said, ‘I got a hit!'”
In most cases, it’s hard for any filmmaker to gauge whether the comedy they’re making will catch on when they’re being driven primarily by their tastes and preferences. However, Brooks ingeniously sidestepped those obstacles by putting them in the hands (or mouths, to be more accurate) of his crew, who were witnessing Young Frankenstein‘s magic unfolding in real time.
Not only that, but it prevented them from ruining multiple takes by laughing, so it no doubt saved a few pennies as well. Brooks was already confident that he was onto a winner with the black-and-white spoof, but seeing a sea of white handkerchiefs stuffed into the gobs of his collaborators whenever a gag landed on set convinced him he was on the right track.
