MEMORABLE MOVIE QUOTES: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN   (1974)

By

Michael Arruda

It’s one of the funniest movies of all time, and it’s the subject of today’s MEMORABLE MOVIE QUOTES column, the column where we look at fun quotes from some memorable movies.  The film is YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Mel Brooks’ hilarious spoof of the old Universal Frankenstein movies.  It’s absolutely hilarious and works on every level. Nearly every joke works.

Seriously, there are so many memorable lines from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, there’s not enough space in one column to cover them all.  We will definitely have to re-visit YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN in future MEMORABLE MOVIE QUOTES columns.

Some of the best lines are between Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and Igor (Marty Feldman), and so in this column we’ll focus on the conversations between these two characters.

Here’s a look at some memorable lines from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, screenplay by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder:

 

When Dr. Frankenstein and Igor first meet, they have this discussion regarding their names:

IGOR: Dr. Frankenstein…

DR. FRANKENSTEIN:  Fronkensteen.

IGOR:  You’re putting me on.

DR. FRANKENSTEIN:  No, it’s pronounced “Fronkensteen.”

IGOR:  Do you also say “Froaderick”?

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: No… “Frederick.”

IGOR:  Well, why isn’t it “Froaderick Fronkensteen”?

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: It isn’t. It’s “Frederick Fronkensteen.”

IGOR:  I see.

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: You must be Ee-gor.

IGOR;  No, it’s pronounced “eye-gor.”

DR. FRANKENSTEIN:  But they told me it was “ee-gor.”

IGOR:  Well, they were wrong then, weren’t they?

 

And later, this funny bit in a horse and wagon with Dr. Frankenstein, Igor, and Victor’s female assistant Inga (Teri Garr) on their way to the castle:

 

(A wolf howls)

INGA:  Werewolf!

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: Werewolf?

IGOR:  There.

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: What?

IGOR:  There, wolf. There, castle.

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: Why are you talking that way?

IGOR: I thought you wanted to.

DR. FRANKENSTEIN: No, I don’t want to.

IGOR:  [shrugs] Suit yourself. I’m easy.

 

One of my favorite Igor moments in the film is when he gives this advice to Frederick Frankenstein, who’s sad that his initial experiment to create life has failed.

IGOR: You know, I’ll never forget my old dad. When these things would happen to him… the things he’d say to me.

FRANKENSTEIN: What did he say?

IGOR:  “What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night? Why don’t you get out of there and give someone else a chance?”

Igor then returns to eating silently.

 

A bit later at the dinner table:

IGOR: (referring to the dessert): What is this?

FRANKENSTEIN: Schwartzwalder Kirschtorte.

THE MONSTER (off-camera): Mmmmm!

FRANKENSTEIN:  Oh, do you like it? I’m not partial to desserts myself, but this is excellent.

IGOR:  Who are you talking to?

FRANKENSTEIN: To you. You just made a yummy sound, so I thought you liked the dessert.

IGOR:  I didn’t make a yummy sound. I just asked you what it is.

FRANKENSTEIN:  But you did. I just heard it.

IGOR:  It wasn’t me.

INGA:  It wasn’t me.

FRANKENSTEIN:  Well, now look here. If it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t you…

THE MONSTER (off-camera):  Mmmmmm!

 

Here is one of the most famous exchanges in the film, the classic bit where Dr. Frankenstein finds out just what kind of brain Igor has collected for him:

FRANKENSTEIN:  Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck’s?

IGOR (pauses): No.

FRANKENSTEIN: Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I did put in?

IGOR:  Then you won’t be angry?

FRANKENSTEIN: I will not be angry.

IGOR:  Abby someone.

FRANKENSTEIN: Abby someone. Abby who?

IGOR:  Abby… Normal.

FRANKENSTEIN: Abby Normal?

IGOR:  I’m almost sure that was the name.

FRANKENSTEIN (chuckles): Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven and a half foot long, fifty-four inch wide gorilla?

(Grabs Igor and starts shaking and strangling him.).  Is that what you’re telling me?

 

And to finish, one of my favorite silly bits in the whole movie:

IGOR:  Where are you going?

FRANKENSTEIN:  To wash up. I’ve got to look normal.  (As he says this, his bow tie pops open, making him look ridiculous.) We’ve all of us got to behave normally.

 

And that’s it for now. We’ll re-visit YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN in a future column.

Thanks for joining me today, and I’ll see you next time on another edition of MEMORABLE MOVIE QUOTES.

Thanks for reading!

—Michael