In 20 years of moviemaking, Mel Brooks has given us "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein" and the toe-tapping, goose-stepping Nazis of "The Producers."
He's also given us "To Be or Not To Be" and "Spaceballs." And lately he's seen his fertile field of movie parodies taken over by the "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun" crowd.But Mel Brooks is back, with a new movie - "Life Stinks" - and an old mission to make people laugh. By any means necessary.
Q: Where have you been for the past four years?
A: Yeah, it's been too long between movies. I mean, we're not talking about building a children's hospital here. This is a movie, and if you take too much time you're wasting your time. I spent 2 1/2 years on my little tragic comedy, writing it, working on it. I'm not going to do that again. Next time I'm going to make two movies in that kind of time.
Q: It was a risk calling this "Life Stinks," wasn't it?
A: Yes, because then you're tempting the critics. " `Life Stinks' and so does this movie, now playing." But we just got a very good review in New York so I'm walking on air today. And time is on my side. When "Blazing Saddles" came out, the critics said it was vulgar, it was disgusting, that bean scene, forget it. Now it's a classic. I talked to Roger Ebert the other day, and he was raving about "The Twelve Chairs." I said, "You saw that?"
Q: In "The Producers" and "To Be or Not To Be" there are jokes about Nazis. "Life Stinks" is a comedy about the homeless. Isn't there anything that's off-limits?
A: It depends on the comedian. Homelessness is a terrible, terrible problem. It's a national disgrace. The water pump on my car broke, which is tragic enough that I have to get that fixed, but you get off the highway in Southern California and you're in Calcutta. It's horrible.
Now the beggars, I love the beggars. The beggars are with it. They're politically aware, 'cause they just want your money. But the drifters are very sad. Talking to themselves.
The best way you can bring a social ill, like homelessness, to the screen is make a rip-roaring crazy comedy about an arrogant billionaire who thinks he can survive down there. And when he meets the reality we get our laughs. And maybe some of it reaches our consciousness.
You know, when we finished the film we had a special screening for the homeless who helped us make the movie. They weren't active because of the union, but they helped . . . So 5,100 people got hot dogs and orange juice and a piece of apple pie and watched "Life Stinks." And let me tell you, they really did enjoy it. They cheered, they laughed, it was great.
Q: You have a fantasy musical number in "Life Stinks" . . .
A: Yeah, there are two salutes in it. My homages des films, which I can't do without. One is to those great MGM musicals. And the other is to Godzilla and Rodan.
Q: Is there some part of you deep inside who really wishes he were Gene Kelly?
A: Every little Jewish boy that ever grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dreamt that he could grow up to be Gene Kelly. And I loved the scene. It was easy because Lesley Ann Warren is beautiful, she's a beautiful person, she moves beautifully, she has a beautiful long waist and great long legs and she knows how to use them. . . . It's a great number. It blows the dust off your soul. You just forget about everything for three minutes and get lost in the greatest song ever written by Cole Porter, "You'd Be So Easy To Love." . . .
That jump in the dance? Gene Kelly taught me how to do that. I met him at O'Hare Airport in Chicago years ago and I said, "How do you do that jump?" And he took a half-hour out of his life to teach me how to do it. And I learned it! He was amazed at how good I was.
Q: What makes you laugh?
A: I find comedy in life. But I can go to an old Marx Brothers movie and they have to carry me out on a stretcher. Some people think comedy is surprise, and it can be, but I love it when someone brilliantly plans it.
Q: Who do you think is funny?
A: Rick Moranis. Physically, I love John Candy. He's in the great tradition of Gleason, Oliver Hardy - a great physical comedian. When talented people are on their game, like Whoopi Goldberg, it's great stuff, it's thrilling. You can really sit back, relax and watch them go.
Sometimes I'm good. I was on a salute to Carl Reiner, a comedy awards show, and I let my anger take over and I was outrageously funny. I screamed to the producers on the air, "You don't want to give this award to Carl Reiner. He doesn't deserve it. You're giving it to him because he has friends like Mel Brooks and Steve Martin. You want us here. You want celebrities." And people went crazy. . . . And to top it all I said, "I'm sick of being this 2,000-year-old man. I'm fed up with it. He's made me this Jew that I'm not." And I pulled off this fake nose and I said "See, this isn't my nose. My name is Jim Richardson and ah'm from Waco, Texas. And it's good to talk like a Texan once again and not that little Jewboy."
The place was hysterical. You have to seize the moment and tell the truth. Because the truth was Carl was using me, and he knew it. But instead of getting mad at him I used my rage. Did you see me the other night on the Carson show?
Q: No. Sorry.
A: All right. Well, I don't want to brag, but ask anybody who saw it. Say, "Was Mel Brooks any funny or is he just tooting his own horn?" It was a great night. When Carson can't talk and he's spitting and his eyes are red with tears, that's when you've got him. It's a great feeling. I think it has to do with power, making an audience laugh. I mean, for a little funny-looking guy it's the only power you're going to get.
Q: How old is the 2,000-year-old man now?
A: He's about 2021. And he spends most of his days in a hammock listening to the early 2000 records and saying, "That guy's good. That little Jew, he's cute." We may do another record so we can issue a collection in CD.
Q: How do you get along with your star, Mel Brooks? He seems like a very difficult actor to work with.
A: I don't get along with him. We have big fights. I'm very patient as a director. But he's an arrogant, egotistical maniac . . . I was the producer. Because as the producer I sent the star flowers, and that softened him up.
Q: What's a great joke you've just heard?
A: This man's in his late 70s and his wife dies. All the relatives are coming to sit at the wake. And one cousin, Cousin Murray, who was stuck in Seattle, finally makes it to New York. But it's a day late and the sitting is over. So he gets there and he's looking for his cousin, and he can't find him, and finally he goes into the bedroom and there he is, in bed, with the beautiful Puerto Rican maid. And they're at it, you know. And Murray says, "What are you doing? Your wife just died! What are you doing?!" And the man says, "In my grief, do I know what I'm doing?"