I’m not much of a Mel Brooks fan, but these French posters showcase two of his better attempts at spoofing beloved genres.

Personally, I didn’t find Young Frankenstein particularly funny, but I must admit it is a wonderful pastiche of the original Universal monster movies. Its black and white photography, in particular, really captures the style of the old classics it is spoofing. It also has a number of memorable moments, not least Marty Feldman’s bizarre performance as the hunchbacked assistant. and a climactic dance duet of “Putting on the ritz” performed by Frankenstein and his creation.

High Anxiety is less-well known but is a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock suspense movies, most obviously Vertigo. I have only seen it once and don’t remember it well at all.  Apparently, Hitchcock himself loved the movie, and sent Brooks a case of champagne upon its release!  This French ‘grande’ poster (where it went by the title “Le Grand Frisson” – or “The Big Thrill”) is available to buy here.

These movies were done at a point in Brooks’ career when he still made genre spoofs with love and care (as seen also in Blazing Saddles and Silent Movie). His later efforts to spoof Star Wars, Dracula and Robin Hood movies managed to be both terminally unfunny and borderline unwatchable.