High Anxiety is truly a hilarious Hitchcock tribute! 👏

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My first time watching High Anxiety (1977). They did it! Mell Brooks created a hilarious movie that pays tribute to the great Alfred Hitchcock while simultaneously creating a (mostly) clever, funny, and engaging comedy thriller. I hope you enjoyed my High Anxiety movie reaction & commentary
Hi, I'm Chris! Welcome to my channel. I react to movies & tv shows hoping to represent what it's really like to experience them for the first time. If you enjoy, you can support me by liking the video, subscribing to the channel, and letting me know your thoughts in the comments.
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Music: Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicso...
Original Movie: High Anxiety (1977)
*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Let me know YOUR thoughts on this one and what is your FAVORITE Hitchcock film of all time? Be sure to subscribe for reactions to upcoming films like: The Muppet Christmas Carol, Contact, Murder on the Orient Express (74), and Apollo 13! *Some films have been delayed lately due one particular movie studio being more strict on manual copyright claims. :)

[@pattiharvey1787]

My favorite Hitchcock movie was a little thing that flew under the radar called Marnie with Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. A psychological thriller about a female pathological thief who Connery finally snares. It's worth a look 👍

[@BigGator5]

I've tried watching this movie a number of times and I keep having to turn it off out of sheer boredom, because I just can't seem to find it funny. I love all other Mel Brooks made movies, I just don't know why this movie isn't funny to me.

[@jenniferyorgan4215]

My top favorites are Rebecca, Suspicion, and Dial M for Murder.

[@jonbolton3376]

My favourite Hitchcock is Rear Window, but closely followed by Frenzy, Psycho, North By Northwest and Rope.

[@TerryNationB7]

I really enjoy one of his less mentioned movies: Stage Fright (1950), mainy due to a particular narrative device. Plus it has Alastair Sim in it.

[@justinplayfair4638]

The man playing the actual Arthur Brisbane is beloved matte painter and effects wizard Albert Whitlock, who also painted all of High Anxiety's matte paintings, including the grand "Honeymoon City" panorama that ends the film. Not only did Whitlock work for Brooks on High Anxiety, History of the World Part II, and Spaceballs, he also famously worked with Hitchcock himself for decades. When you see the aerial view of Bodega Bay being attacked in The Birds, that's Albert Whitlock!

[@derworfnet]

After watching the Film, Hitchcock sent a case with six large bottles of wine to Brooks with an attached note: _"A small token of my pleasure, have no anxiety about this."_

[@richardb6260]

Brooks met with Hitchcock when he had a rough draft of the script. Hitchcock liked what he read and gave Brooks his blessing. While Brooks finished the script, he met with Hitchcock several more times and he would give Brooks suggestions. Hitchcock attended the premiere and sat next to Brooks. He didn't laugh once. He just watched. This depressed Brooks until he received a case of very expensive French wine with a note from Hitchcock that called the film a "splendid entertainment".

[@Nick-ty9us]

At least Hitchcock enjoyed this film The film is even dedicated to him

[@vincentsaia6545]

The crazy bellhop was played by director Barry Levinson, who directed THE NATURAL, DINER, GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, et al. The hitman was played by one of the movie's co-writers.

[@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy]

He also helped write the script (as well as "Silent Movie" just prior to this).

[@vincentsaia6545]

@@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy The bellhop or the hitman?

[@westlod]

The slow build up of the bellhop losing his mind over a newspaper then stabbing him in the shower with it is one of the best spoofs I’ve ever seen and cracks me up every time. The bellhop was played by a young Barry Levinson who went on to direct some pretty good movies. Great reaction sir.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

The ink! The whole thing was played really well.

[@JamesDavis-sh9gh]

Barry Levinson directed Good Morning Vietnam and won an oscar directing Rain Man. Wow! Future Oscar winning director in the form of a crazed bellhop.

[@BigGator5]

"Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup." Fun Fact: Gene Wilder was originally considered for the part of Dr. Richard Thorndyke, but scheduling forced Wilder to turn the role down. Music Enthusiast Fact: One of Mel Brooks' favorite routines was doing a musical impression of Frank Sinatra, and in this film he performs the song "High Anxiety" in an exaggerated version of Sinatra's singing style, right down to dropping the first syllable of the "anxiety" word. Brooks wrote the song and lyrics. Brooks claimed he received singing offers from Las Vegas casinos and clubs following the release of the film. Hitchcock Thoughts Fact: During a special preview screening, Sir Alfred Hitchcock loved the movie and sent a case if wine to Brooks for such an excellent film. The only criticism of the film to Mel Brooks was that in the shower scene, when the shower curtain is torn off the rail, they used 13 shower curtain rings, whereas in Psycho (1960), they used only 10. Hitchcock proposed a scene for the film in which the killer would chase Thorndyke to the harbour, where Thorndyke would try to escape by taking a running jump onto a boat in the water, only to realise the boat was pulling in to the docks. Mel Brooks loved the idea, but was unable to film it due to budget and time constraints.

[@creech54]

I'm sure I've seen that jumping on the boat gag in some other movie, or TV episode, but can't remember what.

[@ericjanssen394]

@@creech54 It's similar to a classic Buster Keaton gag--Trust Hitch to know that one. 😅 Mel often told stories about working with Hitchcock behind the scenes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWbIi6emqL1li9k

[@creech54]

​@@ericjanssen394 It could have been Keaton that I was thinking about.

[@bengilbert7655]

Spellbound is a 1945 Hitchcock film that takes place in a mental hospital with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman.

[@jeffbassin630]

Love your video. Cloris Leachman and Madeline Kahn are two of Mel Brooks' best actors!

[@inkfishpete8695]

Amazing what great acting and unflattering make-up can do. Cloris Leachman is transformed from a Miss America competitor to some really bizarro characters like Nurse Diesel and Frau Blucher (and the grandmother in "Malcolm in the Middle").

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Wow yes, they were so great!

[@jackmessick2869]

Nurse Diesel is a parody of a character in Rebecca. The setting of a mental institution comes from Spellbound. And of course "High Anxiety" is something like Vertigo. The photographed murder comes from NxNW. The view from under the glass table refers to his directorial debut, The Lodger. The camera tracking through a window and a long distance from Psycho and Notorious. I can think of five additional Hitchcock films to see: Frenzy, Notorious, Saboteur, To Catch a Thief, and the second The Man Who Knew Too Much.

[@CoopyKat]

12:15 The man behind the hotel desk is Jack Riley, I met him in an interview for a radio commercial in Detroit. He was also a psychiatric patient in The Bob Newhart Show in the 70's, a very nice guy!

[@kaykutcher2103]

I'm in the midst of my third Bob Newhart Show rewatch since 2015 and Mr. Carlin is quickly becoming my favourite character overall.

[@jonbolton3376]

Thank you for doing this film, it's so rarely done on reactions. A great reaction from you. This is one of my favourite movies, i've loved it since i first saw it in the early 90's when i was 11 or 12. Once Mel completed filming he sent a copy to Hitchcock, Hitchcock loved it so much he sent Mel a case of Champagne.

[@inkfishpete8695]

Picking a favorite Hitchcock film is like picking a favorite child, you just can't. There are those that surpass expectations, some that might dissapoint, but all are good.That said Psycho is the most terrifying, but Vertigo is such a visually beautiful film. The "obscene" phone call scene gets me everytime. Chris, definitely look forward to your reaction to "Murder on the Orient Express"

[@CasualNerdReactions]

I think my favorite at the moment might be the one I released as a patreon exclusive (it'll eventually find its way to youtube). Dial M For Murder. Just had a great time watching it.

[@cyrilmauras4247]

Fun fact: Dr Littleman is played by Howard Morris, who was a player along with Sid Ceasar, Imogine Coca and Carl Reiner in the early 1950s comedy TV show "Your Show of Shows" which Mel Brooks was a writer. The show was a prototype for "Saturday Night Live".

[@keverzoid]

I would add that the piano player in the bar scene is Murph (of Murph and the Magictones) from the excellent movie THE BLUES BROTHERS

[@MrGpschmidt]

Perhaps Brooks' most underrated send-up - and yep that's filmmaker Barry Levinson as the crazed bellhop who would on to win an Oscar for RAIN MAN.

[@pattiharvey1787]

One of Mel Brooks best, lmao, especially Harvey Kormans and Cloris Leachmans roles 😆

[@melenatorr]

The table scene is a tribute to a similar in in "Notorious", which is one of my personal favorite Hitchcock movies. Mel Brooks sings after the style of Frank Sinatra, which I think is very fun. The cocker spaniel is played by late great comedian Charlie Callas, who I got to know via a tv series, "Swtich", where, despite the fact that the two main characters were Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, Callas was the one I loved. You probably already know that Madeline Kahn was in "Young Frankenstein", "Blazing Saddles" and "History of the World, Part I"; that Cloris Leachman was Frau Blucher in "Young Frankenstein" and Harvey Korman was in "Blazing Saddles". Brophy is another very enjoyable comedian who was a recurring character on the tv show "Barney Miller", and of course you saw Dick van Patten in "SpaceBalls", as the king of Druidia, with the very complex combination. I'd say this Brooks movie probably relies most heavily on its source inspiration: if you haven't seen many Hitchcock movies, you probably won't really enjoy this movie, whereas you can probably still have some generalized fun at the silliness of "Space Balls"; and "Young Frankenstein" has a strong enough internal structure, and enough explanation of its source for you to kind of get what's going on.

[@BloodylocksBathory]

One of my favorite things about this movie is that you don't have to have seen every Hitchcock film to find it funny. It really doesn't have to rely on the Family Guy method of references thinly disguised as jokes. Mel Brooks is a comedic genius.

[@timcook6566]

Hitchcock sat next to Mel at the premiere, and didn’t even crack a smile. As soon as it was over he got up and left. A few days later he sent Mel a letter saying that was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, and not laughing was his joke on Mel.

[@TheMarcHicks]

Another fantastic film to watch, in a similar vein, is Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), starring Steve Martin.

[@jimtatro6550]

“What are you wearing.” “Gee, Gee,” “Jeans? You’re wearing jeans? I bet they’re tight.”😂😂😂😂

[@TTM9691]

I don't think anyone has done as much Alfred as you so you are most definitely qualified to react to this! And yes, Hitchcockian is most definitely a word! Your reaction to the camera hitting the glass was priceless. That's actually an homage/parody to a famous shot in "Citizen Kane". (The whole thing with the photos is also an homage/parody to a great non-Hitchcock movie, "Blow Up"). I love the title (and the title song), that makes me laugh: he doesn't have "vertigo" he has "high anxiety" LOL. I think you've nailed what Hitchcock references there were; it's not totally wall-to-wall Hitchcock references.....some of it is just the usual Mel Brooks silliness! Your laughter was infectious on this!

[@CathleenMJennings80]

HIGH ANXIETY!!! *SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* I've waited for FOREVER for someone to finally see one of my favorite movies! When Mel showed this in a private viewing, and he saw the shower scene, Hitch said it was "Brilliant." Also, while "b flat" is a musical key, it's also happens to you if you fall from a high building. That's why Thorndyke was startled by the pianist. lol

[@shainewhite2781]

It was dedicated to Hitchcock as he was the ultimate master of terror and suspense.

[@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy]

I love all the spoofing of his elaborate camera angles in this.

[@Zallerquad]

Arthur Brisbane was played by Albert Whitlock, who did all of the background mat paintings for Hitchcock.

[@daveautzen9089]

Such a great film, and a great memory for me. My mom and I watched this film together and had a great time. Harvey Korman was one of her favorite comic actors.

[@krosewall]

Spellbound is probably the Hitchcock that this most references. It was one of the few Hitchcocks that was nominated for Best Picture, but seems somewhat forgotten today.

[@StinkFingerr]

Also "Vertigo".

[@psychoween]

My introduction to Mel Brooks, when I was a kid, was his film "Silent Movie." It's an actual silent movie about a director trying to save a movie studio by making a silent movie. There is only one spoken line in the entire film, and in Brooks' fashion, it's spoken by a mime! It stars Mel Brooks, Dom Delois, Marty Feldman and many cameos by the '70s biggest stars! Check it out!

[@custardflan]

Cloris Leachman is absoliutely fantastic in this movie.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

She really was!

[@totomomo18]

Wow bravo not many reactors do reactions to this great movie.The psycho paper shower scene is so funny "That boy gets no tip " :). Other great spoof movies you should are Top Secret and Silence Of The Hams

[@StinkFingerr]

Yes, he was very accomplished. Btw, did you hear that they finally gave a Posthumous award to the Guy who invented Door Knockers? That's RIGHT, they gave him the No-Bell Prize!

[@XanArt21]

2:55 that's the 'church' where Madeline & Helen fall to pieces at the end of Death Becomes Her.

[@user-ow2ed5rs9b]

The bellboy is Barry Levinson the director of Rain man

[@ericjanssen394]

The one bit of pre-Spaceballs (yes, PRE-Spaceballs, from the 70's! 🙄 ) Brooks that never used to get recommended to other reactors, due to the high level of Hitchcock in-jokes. And even then, while we've seen Psycho, The Birds and North By Northwest reactions, the Reactor-verse still hasn't seen the "psychiatric asylum" plot from Spellbound.

[@richardzinns5676]

I see I'm not the first viewer to point this out, but the Hitchcock movie that most influenced this one is Spellbound, which I've always regarded as an exceptional work; I think it would be worth your while to watch that one, both for the light it sheds on High Anxiety and for its own sake.

[@gallendugall8913]

I remember watching this as a kid and getting none of it. Really need to rewatch.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

haha I can only imagine.

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

I was living in San Francisco when they were shooting this. I love it.

[@epsteinisms1483]

For several years I lived up in Mill Valley, and one of my favorite places to hang out in the city was the Hyatt. I loved those indoor elevators! Also the food served there in the atrium was great!

[@Jsspres]

For more of Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn , watch Blazing Saddles and History of the World part 1.

[@Pixelologist]

Some of the references were just slipped in almost surreptitiously - "...the north by northwest corner of the park." 😄

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Sneaky.

[@canamus1768]

great reaction to one of mel brooks' best parodies. the overarching narrative involving the psychiatric institute and psychiatry in general is based on "spellbound" (1945), also the source for professor little-old-man (("liloman! liloman! no one ever gets it right!"), one of my favorite mel brooks characters.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Yes! I found that out right after I watched and I was so bummed I hadn't seen that one. Somehow it flew completely under my radar. Oh well! One day.

[@channelthree9424]

I love this movie. Very few have reacted it.

[@MusicHandsAbrupt]

My friend and I have said “woo woo” everyday for thirty years. 😂😂

[@calvinsweet3400]

Chloris Leachman rocks this one

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Yes, she does!

[@shallendor]

High Anxiety is my favorite Mel Brooks film!

[@alexcitron5159]

Great ideas, fun movie. I think also a fair amount of influence from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", film which was released two years before High Anxiety

[@user-ow2ed5rs9b]

The subway is Barry Levinson the director of rain man

[@elbruces]

Wow, I've never seen anybody react to this one before!

[@CasualNerdReactions]

I think there’s 3 or so others! I may not be first, but definitely the most recent.

[@calme-dx2dp]

You really should watch *Marni* Hitchcock, and *Suddenly Last Summer* Tennessee Williams... and just to feel good, *Marty*

[@GeorgeVanderveen-gk6hh]

Quite simply Mel Brooks is a genius!

[@foljs5858]

Noticed the DA from Blazzing Saddles, Frau Buchler from Young Frankenstain, and, well, Madeline Kahn?

[@erinesque1889]

Madeline Kahn was in this film?! 🤪

[@lmohican2953]

One of my favorite scenes😂

[@TheMarcHicks]

Hang on, isn't that Hedley (Hedy) Lamarr? 😉

[@lauragreen5622]

I love this movie!

[@lauragreen5622]

I remember when LAX looked like that.

[@robertnelson3018]

I flew into LAX the same year this was filmed. It's looked EXACTLY like the movie. Talk about deja-vu!

[@jamesvinton5678]

Great movie. but I am a little surprised by the single largest Hitch reference in the movie that everyone seems to miss. Like Hitchcock, the movie's Director appears on screen. Mel being on screen is in itself a Hitchcock gag.

[@rickhobson3211]

Everyone seems to miss the "North by Northwest" innuendo ending... but that's ok. XD

[@billyboyblue1539]

And back up to this era--nothing today even comes close

[@HuntingViolets]

Yeah, you'd think he'd have had the bellhop close the drapes when they came in.

[@CathleenMJennings80]

PS if you haven't seen North by Northwest, you MUST! There were a lot of references of it in this movie - plus it stars Cary Grant, so... you MUST! ;)

[@CasualNerdReactions]

100% kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqC1kIGobJtmaZY

[@ollietsb1704]

"Dr. Lillolman" is ANDY GRIFFITH TV show's Ernest T. Bass, by the way. Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman... never better.

[@BB-eb8fj]

You need to see Spellbound to really get the parody here, but the absurdity is fun nonetheless

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Yes! I definitely need to see it.

[@glennthompson1173]

They reference Dial M for Murder in the telephone booth. BTW it's another great Hitchcock film. Hint hint.

[@CasualNerdReactions]

I actually did that one as a full length patreon exclusive a few months ago and I LOVED IT. Some day, maybe mid 2023, I'll make an edit for KZbin.

[@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy]

Nurse Diesel is more hilarious than Frau Blücher. I'm gonna die on that hill.

[@Psergiorivera]

The woowoo 😂

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

Another GREAT comedy set largely in a mental hospital is the Burt Reynolds classic The End.

[@leighkamp9457]

Alfred Hitchcock's reaction to High Anxiety: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3qne4xjZ72Knqs

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Thanks for sharing! Enjoyed the clip. Wonderful to hear the story directly from Mel.

[@cwdkidman2266]

I know KZbin promotes both Hitchcock and Mel, but there's the KZbin Cinematic Universe and there's the real world of Cinema, where Woody Allen stomped all over Mel Brooks in the early 70s (Bananas, Take The Money And Run, Love and Death, Play It Again Sam, Annie Hall, and that's just up to 1976/77) and has Oscar after Oscar without pulling Brooks' habit of hinting that if you don't like his movies you're anti-Semitic. Of course he's great at dick jokes and fart jokes and putting down women. Cloris Leachman was a beautiful woman but you'd never know it from a Mel Brooks movie. In Young Frankenstein he even managed to include a rape scene that actually got people to laugh at the victim. Mostly due to Madeline Kahn. And if anyone doesn't think it's a rape scene, show it to a rape survivor. Or recast it with an African American actress and keep everything else the same. That's always a good way to find out if a movie or comment is hurtful to a woman: bring race into it and see how quickly things change. After all, white women and white gays probably won't kick your butt but someone from the African American community might. That makes things real real, real quick. Which is why the internet has cyber bullies who can hide if need be. Just sub/add race into a,comment or scene to see if it's hurtful. And Hitchcock sure did manage to get his neuroses and fetishes shoehorned into his movies, which he never wrote or script doctored (like Howard Hawks, who practically rewrote scripts he got, with his pal William Faulkner, Nobel prize winner). Which is okay. Most non-writing directors don't. But Hitchcock promoted himself shamelessly and constantly with his name on a tv show and on a monthly mystery magazine. He made damned sure HE was the best known director in the world until Roman Polanski came along with Repulsion, Cul De Sac, Knife In The Water, Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. And from Europe he continued: The Pianist (Oscar for Best Director), Ghost Writer, The Tenant, Death And The Maiden, Bitter Moon, etc. And Hitchcock sure never got within spitting distance of the ultimate mystery/suspense movie: Blow-up 1966, by Antonioni. After Blow-up why bother? Apres moi Le state. So I guess High Anxiety makes sense...the 2 big KZbin directors, one movie, etc. Doesn't mean I can't bitch about wasted opportunities or Movie Mediocrity On Parade. Or "for God's sake avoid Young Frankenstein". Which I always will. By the way this is PRIDE MONTH. So...? Brokeback Mountain? Boys In The Band?

[@MrGadfly772]

As enjoyable as this film might be it is more a spoof of psychotherapy than it is Hitchcock. The skits are quite broad and so it's not really one of Brook's best. That being said I can tell that Cloris Leachman is having so much fun with her Nurse Deisel role that the film could have shown more. Overall, it's just kind of meh.

[@randysmith7045]

i saw it in the theater, it is hysterical, but the gay joke in the airport is offensive.

[@michaelpalmer7954]

We are all going to die. If you look from Genesis to Revelation God' s plan is to save people from the demonic influences of the Devil. Genesis 3:1-15 reveals what occurred in the Garden of Eden to bring about the Spiritual Battle. "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The first prophecy of which there are hundreds in the Old and New Testament, is here in verse 15... thy seed and her seed;." A woman does not have a seed. That comes from the man. This is a prophecy fulfilled in the virgin birth of The Son of God, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:34-36. There are still dozens of prophecies to be fulfilled. Time is running out. God is positioning the Nations for the last great Battle of Armageddon. But it will be 7 years of Hell for Billions of the ungodly, and those who reject the free gift of Eternal Life that Jesus Christ offered with His death on the cross. The Resurrection shows that the Son of God and Second Adam, came from Heaven to regain what the first Adam lost in the Garden of Eden. Believe on Jesus Christ and what He did . He takes the sentence of the lawbreakers penalty because of His love for each and every one of us. John 3:16-17...

[@richardzinns5676]

And the relevance to this movie is...?

[@michaelpalmer7954]

@@richardzinns5676 HIGH ANXIETY!

[@ocasio3024]

Such an amazing movie! Love that movie so much. A lot of the Hitchcock refs and names come so quickly it’s hard to keep up. But great movie n great review. Thanks

[@jamesandthefatcat9464]

ty for this vid,Awesome reaction. that movie..wow so wild :)

[@FrancisXLord]

Yes Hitchcockian is a word. Here's it from the Oxford dictionary: Hitchcockian/ˌhɪtʃˈkɒkɪən/ adjective: Hitchcockian resembling or characteristic of the style of the English film director Sir Alfred Hitchcock, especially through the use of tension and suspense. "a Hitchcockian crime thriller"

[@CasualNerdReactions]

Yes! It deserves its place in the dictionary.

[@aatragon]

Mel Brooks' movies are great, but if you get to his version of 𝑻𝒐 𝑩𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒐 𝑩𝒆, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the original version with Jack Benny from 1942 instead, and realize that that original version was made DURING the Second World War. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Be_or_Not_to_Be_(1942_film)

[@bengilbert7655]

Yes, I prefer the 1942 version with Jack Benny though Brooks version is good too. Also it has Brooks and his wife Anne Bancroft singing 'Sweet Georgia Brown' in Polish.