Dwie lewe nogi, ale oh, tak zgrabny ma Sweet Georgia Brown

Alongside a cornucopia of "names" including John Inman, Richard Rodgers, Peter Paul Rubens, Gilda Radner, King Henry VIII, Kathy Bates, John Wesley, A. A. Gill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Sir Harold Evans, Willy Whitelaw and - erm - Elon Musk...

...it's the one-hundredth birthday today of the peerless Mel Brooks!

Always one of my favourite film-makers way back to when I was a child, his Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie and History of the World: Part I remain among my most cherished films, and I particularly adored his classic entourage of regular actors (Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLouise, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman among them).

He also has an unerring eye for camp - I suppose being married to Anne Bancroft for all those years must have helped!

Speaking of camp...

Madeline Kahn as "Empress Nympho" [History of the World: Part I]

[and again:]

Mel Brooks in "Inquisition - the musical" [History of the World: Part I]

"The French Mistake" [Blazing Saddles]

Men in Tights

"Puttin' on the Ritz" [Young Frankenstein]

Madeline Kahn as "Lili Von Shtupp" - I'm Tired [Blazing Saddles (1974)]

Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft - Sweet Georgia Brown IN POLISH

All hail, Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky, 28th June 1926)!

Say what? C'est magnifique!

Hils, Crog, Madam Arcati and I are trolling off to the venerable environs of the Science Museum today for their new blockbuster exhibition Versailles: Science and Splendour, which promises - among myriad other exhibits - a rare view of such items as the world’s most famous watch, made for Marie Antoinette, Louis XV’s rhinoceros, and a royal portrait of a pineapple!

Just as well we're doing something indoors, for after all that glorious sunshine we have had for several weeks we had our first rain showers in ages overnight, and the prospect is for a spell of more "normal" weather for April [i.e. mizzle]...

To mark the occasion of viewing all that opulence, this!

Mel Brooks - Its Good To Be The King

Mais oui!

It's good to be the King

Yesterday, that genius comic movie maestro and all-round funny man Mel Brooks celebrated his 85th birthday!

Always one of my favourite producers way back to when I was a child, his Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie and History of the World: Part I remain among my most cherished films, and I particularly adored his classic entourage of regular actors (Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLouise, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman among them).

He also has an unerring eye for camp - I suppose being married to Anne Bancroft for all those years must have helped!

So in recognition of his survival (apart from Miss Leachman and Mr Wilder, all the others are dead), and also befitting the Gay Pride theme of this week, here are a few of the more homosexualist sketches from his vast repertoire...

The "selecting escorts" scene from History of the World Part 1, with Madeline Kahn:

Madeline Kahn as "Empress Nympho"

From the same movie, The Spanish Inquisition musical extravaganza:

Mel Brooks in "Inquisition - the musical"

And finally, Blazing Saddles and "The French Mistake" routine:

"The French Mistake"

Mel Brooks on IMDB