[Dr. Eckleburg]

Mel Brooks is one of the sweetest, most generous people on planet earth.

God bless him.

[Darkwolf377]

The writer did a good job of getting across how Brooks' loss of his wife makes everything else seem less than it would have been with her still around.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for posting this. I have always liked the guy, and the interview is a good one.

[tarawa]

The writer makes a comment about how Brooks' comedy isn't as 'enduring' but he has either 2 or 3 spots in the American Film Institutes top 10 comedy films OF ALL TIME.

[KellyAdmirer]

I like how Brooks honestly doesn't know why "The Producers" hit it so big, especially after he seemed washed up. I don't think anyone can explain it, and he's right, it just hit a nerve with people. Now there's a man with some understanding of reality and not delusions of grandeur and self-importance like many of today's pseudo-stars.

[Vince Ferrer]

There are some who think that Brooks's humour is too one-dimensional, too vulgar, to be as enduring as, say, that of Woody Allen (like Allen, Brooks began as a stand-up, and only later moved into producing and directing). Blazing Saddles, a spoof western, was the hit of 1974, and yet, when it comes down to it, it is really just a load of fart jokes in a stetson.

Blazing Saddles will be remembered by the general public far longer than anything Woody Allen has done. Allen will only be remembered by movie critics.

[Wacka]

His original title for The Producers was "Springtime for Hitler". The studio made him change it.

[dancusa]

Some of my favorite Mel Brooks comedy was in Get Smart. Mel , Buck Henry along with Don Addams comedic timing made that one of the funniest TV shows ever.

[jocon307]

Thanks for posting this. The kid is a big fan, so I sent it on to her.

God bless the internet, it is so much fun. That a conservative web site like this can post an interview in a liberal rag like the Guardian that can be actually good that I can send to my kid. I love this stuff!

[Iris7]

Perhaps the folks in the thread will excuse me if I mention that I have never found Brooks funny. "I do bad taste", yes. "With intelligence", no.

Woody Allen is much worse than Brooks though. I would describe Allen as "petulant and parochial".

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Brooks would put throwaway lines in his movies most directors would kill for. My fave is in "Blazing Saddles", when they first cut to the commissary. An actor dressed like Hitler is sitting down to eat.

ACTOR: Hey Irv, how's it going?
HITLER: They lose me after the bunker scene.

For some reason, that just slays me!

[MarkL]

You can tell the sort of person one is by their actions "when nobody's looking."

Mel Brooks, and his late wife, Anne Bancroft, were wonderful, caring people.

For no reason, other than being wonderful, caring people, they did something really sweet for my sister, a complete stranger who they had never met before, and have never seen since.

Although I never met them, I'll always be thankful to them both.

Mark

[Oztrich Boy]

I will never forgive him for remaking To Be, or Not To Be

[bert]

ooops... I thought this was a Valarie Flame thread

[Trajan88]

From "Space Balls"... "You have the ring, and I see your Schwartz is as big as mine. Let's see how well you handle it."

Classic

[nutmeg]

Mel Brooks ping!

[Liberty Valance]

"Look, I really don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy and colorful and lively.” ~ Mel Brooks ~

RIP Ann Bancroft

[smonk]

I was quickly scanning thread titles, and thought this was another hollywood celebrity speaking out against the war in iraq.

*sheepish look*

[Peelod]

bttt