The one movie Mel Brooks wants everyone to see: “I recommend everybody in the world”
Mel Brooks has been in the entertainment business for a long time. Starting his career in the 1950s as a television writer, the multi-talented artist has since become an EGOT winner, proving himself to be just as talented as a comedian and writer as he is a director and an actor.
He made his directorial debut in 1967 with The Producers, a controversial yet beloved satire that has since been adapted for the stage. From there, Brooks continued to find acclaim with his boundary-pushing comedies like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Silent Movie, which all emerged to great success in the 1970s. These films reflected Brooks’ propensity for using comedy as a tool for social commentary, and they have since been regarded as some of the finest American comedies ever made.
Brooks’ deep love for cinema has carried him through a long and prosperous career. There are many movies that he cites as his favourites – the ones that have inspired him to work in the industry himself – but there is one title that stands out above the rest. Released when he was ten years old, Swing Time, directed by George Stevens, is one of Brooks’ all-time favourite movies, and it’s one he insists everyone should watch.
Even if you’re not a big fan of musicals or dancing, Brooks is sure that everyone will enjoy 1936’s Swing Time, which starred the classic pairing of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. “Let’s start with one of my favourite movies,” he told Daily Beast, before revealing the scene he loves the most.
Adding: “The scene that I really love has Eric Blore as a character running a dance studio, and he employs Rogers to teach people how to dance. Astaire gets mixed up with her and falls madly in love. We know it’s Fred Astaire, the greatest dancer who ever lived. In order to stick with her, he acts helpless. He keeps flipping so he can hold her. Finally, she says, ‘Save your money, you’ll never learn how to dance,’ which is pretty funny.”
Brooks continued, “And Blore overhears her and fires her. Astaire begs him to reconsider—he says, I’ve learned a lot from her. He amazes Blore and the audience with this incredible dancing that saves her job. It’s absolutely one of the most thrilling scenes in the movie. So I recommend everybody in the world who has never seen Swing Time to get it somehow.”
Swing Time is often considered one of Rogers’ and Astaire’s finest collaborations, and it was a financial success, proving the popularity of the pair as a dancing and acting duo. Brooks was certainly inspired by the musical, having written several of his own, including the Broadway productions of The Producers and Young Frankenstein. You can see Brooks’ love for Rogers and Astaire in his movies, like when Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle perform ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz’ in the latter film, which was popularised some decades before by Astaire.
Evidently, Brooks has always loved musicals and dance movies. He enjoyed the theatricality and drama of these productions, which helped to shape him into the artist he became.
