If you can visit any of our greatest icons before they pass away, you should take advantage of them as you never know when or if you will again. Among them is the legendary 97-year-old actor, director, writer, and comedic genius Mel Brooks, who still performs at 85. This past weekend, Brooks presented his 1987 feature Spaceballs at the TCM Classic Feature Festival in Hollywood, and he was everything you could hope for and more. You can watch his interview below courtesy of FieldsOnFilm.
The guy behind Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and The Producers ignored questions from TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz and just began going on amazing tangents after entering to a standing ovation. He talked about how those movies were made. Also, he discussed his formative years on stage. Even the night he had dinner with Alfred Hitchcock to receive his blessing for the parody High Anxiety was remembered (19:30 min mark). Hitchcock ordered the same meal again after finishing a full supper that included steak, shrimp, and other delicacies since he was still hungry. These were memorable, funny moments.
But everyone was there to see Spaceballs and, eventually, the conversation did turn to that. Here’s the plot if you’ve never seen it (for shame): A hired star-pilot named Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his dependable sidekick Barf (John Candy) have to save Planet Druidia from the nefarious Spaceballs led by the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) while also saving Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) and Dot Matrix (voiced by Joan Rivers).
Brooks confirms the story we’ve always heard about his work with George Lucas. Lucas was fine with the parody, as long as Brooks didn’t make any merchandise for the movie, which he never has. But, Brooks wondered, is that still true? Would there ever be a Spaceballs 2? Rumors have been circling for decades. Now, with the film’s original distributor MGM owned by Amazon, those rumors may be bubbling up again, especially with Brooks still floating it as a possibility after all these years. (Was he joking? Almost certainly. But let us dare to dream.)
In addition, Brooks discussed how much he loved the property that served as the basis for his film. “I loved it. I loved the picture,” He remarked (24:00 min mark), “I thought it was unusual. I thought it was incredibly original and it was a combination of all the things that I loved when I was a kid, like Ivanhoe and Robin Hood. It was kind of like a fairy tale with zaps. A lot of zaps. But it was good. It was a good movie and its heart was in the right place.”
After nearly a century, Brooks’ heart is still in the right place because he continues to make people laugh and smile.
Max is now streaming Spaceballs. Disney+ offers the Star Wars film series.
Source: TCM Classic Film Festival 2024
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