Mel Brooks' high heights

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Movie
German title Mel Brooks' high heights
Original title High anxiety
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1977
length 94 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mel Brooks
script Mel Brooks , Ron Clark , Rudy De Luca , Barry Levinson
production Mel Brooks
music John Morris
camera Paul Lohmann
cut John C. Howard
occupation

Mel Brooks 'Höhenkoller is a comedy from 1977 directed by Mel Brooks, who specializes in parody films. In this film, suspense legend Alfred Hitchcock is the target of Brooks' humor.

action

The psychiatrist Richard Thorndyke, who suffers from vertigo, will be the new head of the "Institute for the Very Very Nervous" as the successor to Dr. Ashley who died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The institute is under the regiment of Dr. Montague, who had speculated on the chief position, and the resolute head nurse Diesel. Thorndyke's old mentor Dr. Little old man who quickly notices his former protégé's fear of heights and wants to heal it. Dr. Thorndyke gets the impression that his chauffeur Brophy and his new colleague Dr. Wentworth seem to know more than they dare to say. He also made the acquaintance of the industrialist Arthur Brisbane, who is a patient of the institute because he thinks he is a cocker spaniel. Thorndyke's suspicions are confirmed when Dr. Wentworth dies in a car accident under mysterious circumstances.

Dr. Thorndyke represents his institute at the Psychiatric Convention at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco . There he made the acquaintance of Viktoria Brisbane, the industrialist's daughter. She is afraid for her father, who wanted to relax in the institute and is now being held prisoner there. However, by chance Thorndyke finds out that Viktoria's father is not the one he met at the institute. This prompts Montague and sister Diesel to hire a killer who disguises himself as Thorndyke and shoots a congress participant in the hotel lobby. The newspapers report on the murder, Thorndyke is believed to be the perpetrator. However, Brophy photographed the course of events; and one can see on a magnification that Thorndyke was still in the elevator at the time of the murder. Montague and Sister Diesel put Brophy in the north wing of the institute (allegedly because of a "mental breakdown") and set the killer on Thorndyke. When Thorndyke tries to call from a phone booth in Victoria, the killer tries to strangle him, but Thorndyke overpowers him. At the institute, the two of them are able to free Brophy, who immediately reports that Viktoria's father is being thrown from the institute's lighthouse so that it looks like a suicide. While Thorndyke climbs the lighthouse, Kleinaltmann is able to cure Thorndyke's high-altitude frustration when he resolves it as a conflict from Thorndyke's childhood. Brisbane can be saved, Sister Diesel falls from the tower as a witch, Thorndyke and Viktoria become a couple.

criticism

“Not always tasteful, but mostly funny parody of well-known films by the old thriller master Alfred Hitchcock. The plot never remains more than a red thread, individual scenes gain independence and develop into parodic cabinet pieces that are well worth seeing. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

1978 was high anxiety for the Golden Globe as "Best Film" and for "Best Actor" ( Mel Brooks nominated).

background

After Alfred Hitchcock had seen the film, he sent Mel Brooks a crate of expensive wine as a token of his appreciation, stating that he should “not be afraid” of it.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mel Brooks' high heights. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ James Robert Parish: It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks . John Wiley & Sons , 2008, ISBN 9780470225264 , p. 221.