Honoring Mel Brooks (1)

December 6, 2009
he Kennedy Center Honors which included tributes to Robert DeNiro, Dave Brubeck, Mel Brooks, Grace Bumbry, and Bruce Springsteen. The tribute to Mel Brooks combined singing, dancing, and wonderfully over-the-top humor.
Carl Reiner perhaps captured the essence of Mel Brooks when he said that Mel was gifted with a genius brain and brilliantly uncensorable tongue. 
The tributes to Mel Brooks continued with clips from his old movies including History of the World, Part I and Young Frankenstein. (Nice to see clips of Bea Arthur and Cloris Leachman too!).
Musical tributes included a medley of Mel Brooks' hits. Frank Langella invited Obama to "hope for the best, expect the worst" (The Twelve Chairs). Martin Short sang about Blazing Saddles. Jack Black sang about Men In Tights. Harry Connick Jr. then sang about High Anxiety (could someone get me down from here please?) Richard Kind sang and danced about the Inquisition.
The Mel Brooks tributes culminated in satirically irreverent performances from The Producers. Glee's Matthew Morrison kicked off with a lyrical rendition of Springtime for Hitler, showing that he can tap dance as well as he can sing.
Gary Beach reprised his role as the hilariously flamy Hitler. Matthew Broderick reprised his role as Leo Bloom, ending with a choral rendition of Til Him.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• mel
• brooks

[UlrichTheOmega]

Leave it to Jewish guy to show us how funny Hitler could be. God bless Mel Brooks!

[cscentrlTV]

Love it when Mel whipped out that comb! ^__^

[Nerdfighterian]

He had four and a half minutes, and he only took two of them.

[HoneyAndSulfur1991]

@taiyo888 The part where Moses is parting the red sea is even funnier!

[izzyfromWCS]

HIEL BROOKS!

[wildsmiley]

so according to this, Mel Brooks did nothing of note between 1981's History of the World Pt 1 and 2001's The Producers Broadway musical. PFFT! Still, lovely tribute.

[izzyfromWCS]

@cscentrlTV hiel brooks!

[ITHEREONETHATHASNT]

Blazing Saddles was amazing my dad showed it too me when I was 13 and i have quoted it ever since. " Land land, see land snatch" My favorite quote other then "men we have to protect our phoney baloney jobs"

[sweeneytoddlover13]

OHMYGOD YOU ARE THE ETERNAL MAN, MEL BROOKS. YOU SHALL LIVE FOREVER.

[dk5388]

MEL BROOKS IS MY HERO!!!!!!

[jsr381012]

STUPENDOUS, Oh gosh how I miss good comedies... Nothing compares with MEL BROOKS, HE IS REALLY SOMETHING ELSE, SUPERB...