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High Anxiety

Actor(s): Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Ron Carey
Director(s): Mel Brooks
13

Details

MPAA Rating: PG
Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Slapstick Violence
Movie Release: 1977
DVD Release: 09/05/2006
Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned
Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 1 hrs 34 mins
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Members Wishing: 15
Genres: Comedy, Slapstick, Parody/Spoof, Absurd Comedy

Synopsis

This is Mel Brooks' spoof of over ten Alfred Hitchcock classics, including Psycho, Vertigo, and The Birds (Brooks actually used the bird trainer from that classic suspense movie in making his film). Brooks plays Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, a renowned Harvard psychiatrist with a concealed fear of heights, or High Anxiety. Thorndyke takes over as the newest director of the PsychoNeurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous after the last director dies under suspicious circumstances. He soon finds himself to be in the company of some very strange colleagues, including longtime Brooks collaborators Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman, with Madeline Kahn as Victoria Brisbane, the eccentric daughter of a patient at the institute and Thorndyke's love interest. Korman takes on the role of Dr. Charles Montague, a psychiatrist with a closeted habit of his own. Leachman plays Charlotte Diesel, a charge nurse with a dark sneer and tendency towards domination. As Thorndyke heads to a psychiatry conference, he is faced with saving the Institute, his reputation, and his own sanity. Although the film was not well-received by critics, it picked up a 1978 Golden Globe nomination for best picture (musical or comedy) and landed Brooks a nomination for best actor. The movie has a number of cameos, from a young Barry Levinson's spot as an unstable bellboy to a small part by Hitchcock's right-hand special effects man, Albert J. Whitlock, who plays Kahn's father. ~ Rachel Koetje, All Movie Guide

Cast

Mel Brooks - Richard H. Thorndyke
Madeline Kahn - Victoria Brisbane
Cloris Leachman - Nurse Charlotte Diesel
Harvey Korman - Dr. Charles Montague
Ron Carey - Brophy