The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions.
Today’s prompt: What’s the funniest movie you’ve ever seen?
There are so many possible answers to this question, but I decided to arbitrarily go with Young Frankenstein, which ranks high on my list of most quotable and rewatchable movies. Maybe not all that arbitrarily, though. After all, not only is it supremely funny and makes me laugh almost all the way through, but it basically mines every type of humor. Absurd comedy, check. Slapstick comedy, check. Physical comedy, check. Wordplay, check. Deadpan comedy, check. Comedy of humiliation, check. Referential humor, check. It is, for my money, Mel Brooks’ most sustained and successful parody, combining the stories of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein to make something almost even better than either of those great films. And also, it’s damn funny.