Mel Brooks Movie Quotes Trivia Quiz

Answer: High Anxiety

"High Anxiety" (1977) is a homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, with the title a reference to Hitchcock's own 1958 film "Vertigo". According to Brooks, he had several meetings with Hitchcock when working on the script, and the director came up with various ideas for ways to parody specific movies.

The sinister line quoted here is spoken by Nurse Diesel, played by Cloris Leachman, who works at the "Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous" in which much of the film is set.

Answer: The Twelve Chairs

"The Twelve Chairs" (1970) was Mel Brooks's second film as director and remains one of his least-known. Unlike most of his subsequent films, which parody different film genres, it is based on an existing comic novel. This is a Russian work written in 1928 by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, which satirises the politics and institutions of post-revolutionary Soviet Russia.

The plot revolves around a set of valuable jewels which have been hidden in one of the titular chairs by an aristocratic lady to prevent them falling into the hands of the Bolsheviks. The lead characters, Vorobyaninov and Bender, played by Ron Moody and Frank Langella, spend the film attempting to track down the chair in question. The line quoted here is spoken by Madame Bruns (Diana Coupland) to Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise), a Russian Orthodox priest who is also searching for the jewels.

Answer: A History of the World Part 1

"A History of the World Part 1" (1981) parodies various historical epics and is really a series of extended comedy sketches. The historical periods featured include the Stone Age, Moses and the Ten Commandments, Jesus and the Last Supper, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution.

The line "It's good to be the King" is spoken by Mel Brooks himself in the role of King Louis XVI in the French Revolution segment. He says it several times, direct to camera, usually after taking advantage of an attractive young lady of the court.

Answer: Blazing Saddles

"Blazing Saddles" (1974) is a parody of Hollywood Western films, and stars Gene Wilder as the Waco Kid, a washed-up gunslinger, and Cleavon Little as Bart, the black Sheriff of the town of Rock Ridge. The film was one of Brooks's most successful releases and is usually included in any list of Hollywood's greatest comedies.

Mongo, played by one-time American Football player Alex Karras, is the epitome of the "strong but stupid" henchman, capable of knocking down a horse with one punch. Mel Brooks typically undermines this cliché by making Mongo utter this philosophical comment direct to camera.

Answer: The Producers

Mel Brooks's first film as director was "The Producers" (1967). It stars Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as a theatre producer and his accountant, who come up with a scam to make money by staging a play that is guaranteed to fail, enabling them to abscond with the money invested in the show.

Naturally, the scheme fails when their appalling musical play, "Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden", turns out to be a resounding success. Brooks's film had a mixed reception on its release, with some critics considering the mockery of the Nazis to be in rather poor taste, but it has since been recognised as a classic.

The line quoted here is spoken by Mostel's character, Max Bialystock, when he and Leo Bloom (Wilder) are frantically reading scripts, looking for their flop.

Answer: Silent Movie

In "Silent Movie" (1976), Mel Brooks turned his attention to the slapstick silent comedies of such performers as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. As with so many of his films, "Silent Movie" is an affectionate tribute to a particular genre, paying homage to its style while poking fun at its conventions.

The film has practically no spoken dialogue, with any text conveyed by title cards, as in original silent movies. The one exception is the single word "non", which is spoken by the famous French mime artist Marcel Marceau, who was of course famous for not speaking during his performances.

Answer: Young Frankenstein

1974 was a good year for Mel Brooks, seeing the release of both "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein". The idea for the classic monster parody was suggested to Brooks by Gene Wilder while they were filming the Western spoof, and they co-wrote it during gaps in filming. The film stars Wilder as the grandson of the original Victor Frankenstein, who inherits the family castle and decides to follow in his grandfather's footsteps.

As well as being very funny, the film cleverly captures the feel of the 1930's, Universal Studios. "Frankenstein" films, helped by the fact that Brooks used some of the original laboratory equipment props from the 1931 film, which had been kept in his garage by its designer, Kenneth Strickfaden.

The line "There, wolf. There, castle" is spoken by Marty Feldman in the role of Igor, having amusingly misunderstood Frankenstein's "Werewolf!", referring to a howl from in the forest.

Answer: Spaceballs

"Spaceballs" (1987) is a parody of the original "Star Wars" trilogy, with characters based on Han Solo (Lone Starr), Darth Vader (Dark Helmet), Princess Leia (Princess Vespa), Yoda (Yoghurt), among others. It also pokes fun in passing at various other science fiction shows and films along the way, including "Star Trek" and "Alien". Mel Brooks plays the villainous anagram, President Skroob.

According to Brooks, George Lucas was apparently happy for the "Star Wars" movies to be parodied, as long as no tie-in toy figures were produced, in case they were confused with original "Star Wars" merchandising.

The quoted line is spoken by Barf, a Chewbacca-inspired character played by John Candy.

Answer: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

In 1993, Mel Brooks released "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", a parody of "Robin Hood" films in general, and Kevin Costner's 1991 version "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" in particular. Cary Elwes plays Robin, with Amy Yasbeck as Maid Marian and Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham (sic). Mel Brooks himself appears as Rabbi Tuckman, a Jewish version of Friar Tuck.

At one point in the film, the villainous Prince John (Richard Lewis) asks Robin "And why would the people listen to you?" Elwes replies "Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent". This is a direct dig at Costner, who made little attempt to disguise his American accent.

To be fair, the role has also been memorably played by an Australian (Errol Flynn, 1938), a Scot (Sean Connery, 1976), an Irishman (Patrick Bergin, 1991), and a New Zealander (Russell Crowe, 2010). In fact, one of the few British actors to play the role in films was the Yorkshire-born Brian Bedford, who voiced the role in Walt Disney's 1973 animated version.

Answer: Dracula: Dead and Loving it

Mel Brooks's "Dracula" spoof was released in 1995 and was the last of his genre parody films. Clearly intended to ride on the success of Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula", it starred Leslie Nielsen as the eponymous Count, with Brooks playing his nemesis, Professor Van Helsing. Sadly, it was not a success, either with critics or the public, the consensus being that the film was a pale reflection of Brooks's earlier successes.

The quotation is spoken by Dracula, who has just woken up from a dream in which he was able to move about in daylight.