Talk about range! He went all the way emotionally from A to Z. I loved sitting in a theater, watching that scene, as the audience exploded into gales of laughter all around me.
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The “walk this way” scene in Young Frankenstein was a salute to the vaudeville shtick in which one comic says to the other “walk this way” meaning “follow me!” But instead of just following him the second banana imitates his comical walk.
So when Marty says to Gene, “Walk this way!” Gene starts to just follow him, but Marty stops him and says, “No, walk this way.” And Gene catches on and does Marty’s crazy vaudeville stooped walk. Thank god once again for white handkerchiefs in the mouth!
（“Walk this way” started on Young Frankenstein, but for some reason I stuck that iconic bit into many of my later movies.）
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One of my favorite moments in Young Frankenstein was where Freddie, Inga, and Igor discover that the strange music emanating from the bowels of the castle that led them to the laboratory was being played on the violin by none other than Frau Blücher.
Frederick: Then it was you all the time!
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: You played that music in the middle of the night!
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: …to get us into the laboratory!
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: That was your cigar smoldering in the ashtray!
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: And it was you who left my grandfather’s book out for me to find!
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: So that I would…
Frau Blücher: Yes!
Frederick: Then you and Victor were…
Frau Blücher: YES! YES! SAY IT!…HE VAS MY BOYFRIEND!
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It wasn’t just that I was blessed with an amazingly talented group of actors on Young Frankenstein—that alone never guarantees success. As clichéd as it sounds, there was an indefinable chemistry on the set, a magic in the way the ensemble of gifted misfits worked together.
It all started with Gene, who was Dr. Frankenstein. He completely understood his character. He was that guy. Gene intuited all my directions. Sometimes all I needed from Gene was either for him to be softer when he was screaming or louder when he whispered, but I never had to give him emotional directions because he knew them already. I think he was truly Promethean in that role. There was madness in his eyes and fire in his performance.
Gene and I got along swimmingly during filming, aside from one big fight. It was about the scene where he and the monster sing and dance to “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” It was Gene’s idea, and I told him I thought it was a great idea and very funny, but it was too far out. I was afraid it might have made the screenplay border on being unbelievable. I insisted that it was too silly and would tear the continuity of the movie to pieces.
Cloris Leachman as the unforgettable Frau Blücher. （Horses whinny!）
Staging Madeline Kahn’s surprise entrance on the set of Young Frankenstein.
Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein and Peter Boyle as the monster doing their unforgettable showstopper, “Puttin’ on the Riiiiiitz.”
Gene disagreed. He said, “It’s amazing! It’s proof of how incredible Frankenstein’s creation is.”
We fought and we fought. Our tempers rose and we almost got into a fistfight over it. Then Gene calmed me down and he said, “Okay. Do me a favor. Film it and we’ll take a look at it. If it doesn’t work, I promise we’ll throw it out.”
I said, “Okay, I’ll film it. We’ll test screen it, and if enough people agree with me that it’s too silly, then we’ll take it out.”
I filmed it, and after the reaction at our first test screening I turned to Gene and said, “Gene, you were absolutely right. Not only does it work, but it may be one of the best things in the whole movie.”
I have never been so wrong in my life. I think I ate more humble pie on that day than ever before. Gene was right because it took the movie to another level. We left satire and made it our own. It was new, different, crazy, and had the audience laughing out of control.
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On the final day of shooting, after we shot the last scene and everybody had left, Gene sat down on the edge of the bed we used in the scene with him and Teri.
He said, “I’ve got some more ideas for some other scenes for the movie.”
I said, “Gene, it’s over. We shot it out. It’s got a beginning, middle, and end. Perfect!”