Script To Screen: “Young Frankenstein”

A classic scene from the 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein.

Setup: Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson, after years of living down the family reputation, inherits granddad’s castle and repeats the experiments.

109	ANOTHER ANGLE
as A SPOTLIGHT hits the darkness next to him.
And there -- IN TOP HAT AND TAILS -- stands the Monster.
he is heavily made up.
                        FREDDY
		(playing the piano
		and singing)
	If you're blue and you
	don't know where to
	go to, why don't you...
The Monster accompanies the music with short, simple
"Soft Shoe" steps.
                        FREDDY
	...go where fashion
	sits.........................
                        MONSTER
	Poo -- tmmm anngh ma Ritz!
                        FREDDY
	Diff'rent types who wear
	a day coat, pants
	with stripes and cutaway
	coat, perfect
	fits.........................
                        MONSTER
	Poo -- tmmm anngh ma Ritz!
                        FREDDY
	Dressed up like a
	million dollar
	trouper
	Trying hard to
	look like Gary
	Cooper.
                        MONSTER
	Soo -- pah doo -- per.
The Audience's faces are absolutely blank.  Inga and
Igor are thrilled.
                        FREDDY
	Come let's mix where Rock-
	e -- fellers walk
	with sticks or 'um-ber-
	el-las' in their
	mitts.........................
                        MONSTER
        Poo -- tmmm anngh ma Ritz!
The Monster gets a tomato right in the face.  He stops cold.                        
                        FREDDY
        Dressed up like a
	million dollar
	trouper
	Trying hard to
	look like Gary
	Coo -- per.
An EMBARRASSING PAUSE.
                        FREDDY
		(to the Monster)
	That's your cue.  Go on!
                        MONSTER
	MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmm.
                        FREDDY
		(trying to cover)
	...Su-per du-per.
	Come let's mix where Rock-
	e-fellers walk
	with sticks or 'um-ber-
	el-las' in their
	mitts.........................
The Monster knows it's his cue:  he just looks at Freddy.
                        MONSTER
	MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm!
                        FREDDY
	For  God's sake -- go on!  Are you
	trying to make me look like a fool.
	Sing, you amateur!  Sing!!
The Monster gets a raw egg in his face.
                        AUDIENCE
	Booooo!
	Get him off!
	Fake!
	What else can your toy do?
                        FREDDY
	Fake??  You stupid idiots...you call
	my creation a fake???  What do you
	know about truth?  You're the fakes!
	All of you!  I wouldn't come to you
	with a hang-nail.
The monster gets another tomato in his face.
                        MONSTER
	MMMMMMMMMM!
	MMMMMMMMMMMM!
                        FREDDY
		(running to him)
	Wait!  Stop!  Don't give them the
	satisfaction.  I know it's tough,
	but look at how far we've come!
	Are you going to throw it all
	away now??
The Monster thinks, as the tomato drips down his face.
He is touched by Freddy's reasoning, but still burning
with resentment.
                        MONSTER
	MMMmmmmmm.
                        FREDDY
	Don't you think I know that?  But
	what are you judging by?  Bucharest???
	This was always a hick town.  They
	can't get a 'Bus and Truck' company
	to come in here.  Are you going to
	let these idiots get the best of you?
	...Or are you going to stand up like
	a man and show them that you've got
	more dignity in your little finger
	than they've got in all their beer-
	bloated bodies put together?
The Monster considers this plea for a moment.  Then gives
Freddy a colossal W H A C K and jumps into the Audience.
THE AUDIENCE
screams and scatters for the exits.
PANDEMONIUM.
                        FREDDY
		(as he picks himself up
		off the stage floor)
	I chose the wrong song.

Here is the scene from the movie:

From IMDb:

The original cut of the movie was almost twice as long as the final cut, and it was considered by all involved to be an abysmal failure. It was only after a marathon cutting session that they produced the final cut of the film, which both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks considered to be far superior to the original product. At one point they noted that for every joke that worked, there were three that fell flat. So they went in and trimmed all the jokes that didn’t work.

Fortunately “Puttin’ on the Ritz” stuck. Easy to see why, such a brilliant comedic moment.

Any fans of Young Frankenstein? See you in comments.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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