Gene Wilder
đ€ SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
I said, no, I want to work on it a little bit.
And that night I wrote two more pages.
The Transylvania station scene, almost verbatim the way it is in the film.
And then I sent it off to him.
And he said, I think I can sell this and maybe we can get Mel to direct it.
And I said, I don't think he's going to direct something he didn't conceive of.
And Mel, you have to understand this important point.
He had done The Producers for $50,000 over two years, and he didn't make a penny from it.
Then he did The Twelve Chairs, $50,000 for two more years, and didn't make a penny from it.
That's four years of work.
And then they offered him quite a bit of money to direct Young Frankenstein.
He said, what are you getting me into?
I said, nothing you don't want to get into.
He said, I don't know.
The next day, I got a call saying Mel's going to do it.
There's quite a few really classic jokes in Young Frankenstein.