Mel Brooks turns 100: His 5 essential movies
Mel Brooks turns 100: His 5 essential movies
Rance CollinsSun, June 28, 2026 at 1:22 PM UTC
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Mel Brooks in 'High Anxiety'Credit: 20th Century Fox Film Corp/Courtesy Everett CollectionKey Points -
Writer, director, and actor Mel Brooks turned 100 on Sunday, June 28.
The veteran filmmaker won an Oscar for writing The Producers.
The American Film Institute elevated Blazing Saddles to the rank of funniest movie of all time in honor of his centennial birthday.
To say Mel Brooks has left an indelible mark on comedy would be a severe understatement. The Oscar-winning writer, director, and actor has taken audiences on laugh-infused journeys through the Old West, space, Sherwood Forest, and Transylvania with his trademark, no-holds-barred irreverence.
Today, June 28, Brooks turns 100, a milestone worth celebrating.
And he's still going! He's set to return to the big screen next April in Josh Greenbaum's Spaceballs: The New One, the sequel to Brooks' 1987 cult classic.
Parsing out the greatest of the great in a body of work that riffs on everything and anything that defines modern culture is a tall task. But for those looking to mark Brooks' centennial with a marathon, here's a list of the five absolutely essential comedies that define the legend.
(Apologies for those who love his takes on Robin Hood, silent movies, and world history. This list only has so much room.)
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01 of 05
The Producers (1967)
Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel and Kenneth Mars in the 1967 Mel Brooks film 'The Producers'Credit: Screen Archives/Getty
When your central musical number is "Springtime for Hitler," you know you're in for an absurd, envelope-pushing good time. Released just before Hollywood's restrictive Production Code fell, The Producers heralded a new era of comedy.
The movie has Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder playing (of course) producers who intentionally try to create a Broadway flop in a money scheme. Like the song, the play is titled Springtime for Hitler. (Well, the full title is actually Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden.) Kenneth Mars, Dick Shawn, Estelle Winwood, and future-The Nannyactress Renée Taylor are along for the ride.
While more critically than commercially successful upon its release, the movie earned Brooks an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and then later served as the basis for the hit Broadway musical (which itself was turned into another movie).
Wilder's performance was also nominated for an Academy Award for the 1967 film, and it has been inducted into the National Film Registry.
The Producers is available to stream for free on Tubi.
02 of 05
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little in Mel Brooks' 1974 film 'Blazing Saddles'Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
Blazing Saddles, which was just re-ranked as the funniest movie ever made by the American Film Institute, certainly bent every norm and broke every rule, and potentially offended just about everybody — and therefore nobody — in the process. It's also the movie where the Brooks formula really, really gelled.
A roster of Brooks favorites is on full display, including Wilder, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman. The story revolves around Cleavon Little as the Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, appointed to his role by a corrupt governor (Brooks) who wants to take down the Western township to make some money on a railroad... You got all that? It doesn't go as planned. And it does go to the most ridiculous places in the process. Even way, way off the Hollywood backlot.
Nominated for three Oscars, including nods for Kahn, the film editing, and the title song, Blazing Saddles was a huge hit upon release, raking in over $100 million at the box office. Its impact has been lasting, too, with not just the AFI honor to its credit, but also induction into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Most importantly, it showcases what Brooks does best: use comedy to shine a light on the ridiculousness of hate, bigotry, racism, and just about every other -ism out there. Through humor, the master is about to expose humanity's ills.
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Blazing Saddles is currently streaming for free on Pluto TV.
03 of 05
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, and Marty Feldman in 1974's 'Young Frankenstein'Credit: 20th Century Fox Film/Courtesy Everett Collection
It's tough to imagine following up Blazing Saddles with something that the public loved just as much, yet Young Frankenstein did exactly that. Adding Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Peter Boyle, and Marty Feldman to his stable of comedians, Brooks stayed mostly behind the scenes in this one with only uncredited cameos.
Wilder is Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced "FRONK-enstein") in a black-and-white sendup of Universal monster flicks. Every joke lands, from the horse whinny every time Leachman's character Frau Blücher is mentioned, to that surprise appearance from Gene Hackman, to the amazing "Puttin' on the Ritz" musical number (which the AFI ranked as the 89th best movie song ever).
Mel Brooks co-wrote with Gene Wilder, and they were Academy Award-nominated for their efforts. Leachman and Kahn also earned Golden Globe nominations. Like Producers and Saddles, Young Frankenstein has been added to the National Film Registry.
Unfortunately, Young Frankenstein is currently unavailable to stream, but Turner Classic Movies is airing the movie on Sunday, June 28, at 10 p.m. ET, and FX Movie Channel will show it on Friday, July 3, at 1:10 p.m.
04 of 05
High Anxiety (1977)
Mel Brooks and Madeline Kahn in his 1977 film 'High Anxiety'Credit: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Brooks' next mark in his illustrious '70s run was with Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock, who had released his swan song feature just one year earlier. No single movie, scene, or character from the Hitchcock canon is safe in this parody, which includes bird-dropping homages to (obviously) The Birds, a ripped-from-the-headlines shower scene ala Psycho, and a Rebecca-coded Mrs. Danvers-esque Nurse Charlotte Diesel (with whom Leachman is also riffing on the non-Hitch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).
The plot, not that it's important, has Brooks as a psychiatrist framed for murder. To prove his innocence, he will be forced to overcome his "high anxiety" (like Vertigo... get it).
While not quite as popular as his previous spoofs, High Anxiety made a healthy profit and kept Brooks' streak of successes going, most importantly earning the appreciation of Hitchcock himself, who sent Brooks a case of wine and a note, which read, "A small token of my pleasure, have no anxiety about this."
High Anxiety is available to rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.
05 of 05
Spaceballs (1987)
George Wyner, Rick Moranis, and Mel Brooks in the 1987 cult classic 'Spaceballs'Credit: MGM/ Courtesy Everett Collection
Spaceballs is a film that really found its audience with the home video market. While only moderately successful in theaters, once it hit the VHS shelves, it became a staple of virtually every '90s American household — at least the ones with taste. Released just four years after Return of the Jedi, Spaceballs takes the space craze that followed Star Wars and turns it into comedic opera.
The story has the dastardly president of the planet Spaceball (Brooks) trying to steal the oxygen from Planet Druidia. Bill Pullman is a Harrison Ford substitute, John Candy is the Brooks-universe version of Chewbacca, Joan Rivers (or at least her voice) is a C-3PO-inspired Dot Matrix, and, of course, Rick Moranis, is the hilarious Lord Dark Helmet (one guess who he's based on).
A cult has amassed around the movie since it was released, elevating it to a true millennial classic. So much so, in fact, that demands for a sequel have been loud and frequent. And those demands have now been heard. With a script penned by Josh Gad, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit and direction by Josh Greenbaum, Spaceballs: The New One will arrive in theaters on April 23 next year. And, yes, Brooks will reprise as both President Skroob and Yogurt.
Spaceballs is available to stream for free on YouTube.
on Entertainment Weekly
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