Madeleine Kahn (1942-1999), baby. She was gorgeous and she was deeply, DEEPLY funny. Note that I am literally sitting on my hands in order to not include any of her fabulous work with The Muppets.
Paper Moon (1973)
A con man is stuck with a precocious young girl who may or may not be his daughter, on a road trip through the Depression-era midwest. Kahn plays Miss Trixie, an exotic dancer at a carnival, who connects with the two.
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Mel Brooks’s Old West-set satire against racism. Kahn plays Lili von Shtupp, a German seductress-for-hire.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
I never think of this movie as period — it just seems to 1970s in its costumes! But I know y’all will kill me if I leave it out. Kahn plays socialite Elizabeth, fiance of Dr. FrankenSTEEN.
At Long Last Love (1975)
A musical comedy also starring Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd.
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975)
Gene Wilder as Sherlock Holmes — I definitely want to see this! Kahn plays Jenny, a music-hall performer.
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1975)
1930s-era spoof on Hollywood dog Rin Tin Tin.
The Cheap Detective (1978)
A satire on 1940s detective movies.
Wholly Moses! (1980)
A Biblical spoof starring Dudley Moore.
History of the World: Part I (1981)
Mel Brooks’ comic genius, which I enjoyed but didn’t think the costumes were really worthy of review! Kahn’s role is THE BEST PART: Empress Nympho chooses from a line-up of penises, singing “no” or “yes” depending on whether they’re worthy of a shag.
Yellowbeard (1983)
Comedy spoof on pirate films, also starring David Bowie!
City Heat (1984)
Taking a total turn away from comedy, this is a 1930s-era crime film with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds.
Clue (1985)
A cult classic based on the board game, Kahn plays Mrs. White, who has the one and only funny line in (as much of) the entire film (that I could get through. A more detailed review is forthcoming).
Avonlea (1991)
Playing an actress in one episode of this Anne of Green Gables series. Huh.
Lucky Luke (1992)
A comedic TV series based in the Old West. Kahn plays “Esmerelda,” and the head necklaces are strong with this one.
Nixon (1995)
Oliver Stone’s biopic of former President Richard Nixon. Kahn plays Martha Beall Mitchell, wife of the attorney general. Really?
What’s your favorite of Madeline Kahn’s historical roles?
Don’t wait another minute to see “Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” — it’s a very silly movie, but Wilder and Kahn have amazing sexy-funny chemistry in it. I was also lucky enough to see Kahn in “On the Twentieth Century” on Broadway, where she played a 1920’s stage diva playing a 19th century chanteuse in a terrible musical. She was perfect, and so much missed.
Oliver Stone’s biopic of former President Richard Nixon. Kahn plays Martha Beall Mitchell, wife of the attorney general. Really?
Yes, really. Kahn was rather funny as Mitchell’s eccentric wife.
Ok that explains things a bit more!
Madeleine Kahn will always have a special place in my heart. History of the World was my FAVORITE movie as a kid (Mel Brooks being one of my first crushes. I was a weird kid) and it was so special to see someone so beautiful be so funny.
I have a crush on Mel Brooks because funny can be very sexy.
Oh absolutely! Have you watched “make a noise” on Netflix?
I hated Clue, too. Thank you, I finally feel like I belong!
Clue is my desert island movie, but the Madeline Kahn love is so strong with me I’ll forgive you (it’s a weird film, I know).
I love Clue. Its a deeply, deeply weird movie, but its also really funny. It and Oscar, another weird period piece that came out around the same time is also really funny.
The movie a trove of snappy patter, lethal bon mots and screwball comedy, but the true jewel of the entire collection is Madeleine’s “flames… flames, on the side on my face!”
I find myself using that in real life, to utter bafflement of those around me.
Why oh why is she gone? So unfair. She was so very, very funny.
I kept thinking, “She looks familiar somehow…” and then I got to the Avonlea pictures and went: AHA. I loved that show as a kid, and I remember most of her dramatics from that episode.
How can you not love Clue? Ah well. Favorite Kahn movie has to be Young Frankenstein.
Oh Madeleine, she left us much too soon. I love Clue (Tim Curry, rawr), and I love her in it, but Young Frankenstein is probably my favorite role of hers.
And the (maybe) apocryphal lines in “Blazing Saddles” with Lili von Shtupp and the black sheriff when she says, “Is it twue what they say about your people? Oh! It’s twue! It’s twue!” And he replies “Pardon me, ma’am, but you’re sucking on my elbow.” Even if they never said that, they should have.
according to Mel, that scene was deleted. even HE thought it was to much and had no way of getting past the censors.
Yay!!!! I want Madeleine Kahn to be my spirit animal! I haven’t seen all of these but have loved her in everything I have. I think Lilli Von Schtupp is probably my favourite but History of the World and Young Frankenstein (Frahnkensteen) are right up there! And I just love that I have the same birthday as her!
I loved Madeleine Kahn! When I learned that she died, I felt like I had lost a member of the family. What a great broad!
I loved Avonlea as a kid, it was my favorite show, and it definitely formed the backbone of my fashion choices age 7-9 (ankle boots and all).
Interestingly, while the show is loosely based on stories by LM Montgomery, and set in the village of Avonlea, it has next to nothing to do with Anne. Rachel Lynde and, later, Muriel Stacey were recurring characters, Marilla showed up once or twice, and when Colleen Dewhurst died they wrote it into the script and had Gilbert come back to settle her affairs, but it was very much it’s own show with its own characters; very little reference to Anne in the first place, with none at all after the second season. It’s a sweet show, a bit too episodic for me as I’ve gotten older, but still lovely, and with some amazing guest stars over the years. I’ll probably never stop wanting to marry Gus Pyke and live in his lighthouse.
Ah yes – “At Long Last Love”, one of the most infamous film bombs ever, and I’m talking hydrogen-bomb level of bomb. It was such a titanic flop, having been rushed into release with inadequate previews and not having been properly edited, that it was rumored for years that there was only one copy remaining in existence, in Bogdanovich’s possession, and that he would only allow it to be shown once a year. In fact, there was one home-video release in 1981, as well as various bootleg versions, floating around, until in 2011 Netflix finally put out a 121-minute version that had been put together by film editor Jim Blakely, which turned out to be very close to the movie that Bogdanovich had intended to release in the first place. Bogdanovich liked the edit so much that, after a bit more tweaking, a Blu-ray version with a 123-minute length mainly based on Blakely’s edit finally came out in 2013…and it got better reviews than the 1975 theatrical version!