As always, the excellent edition of Diabolo is profusely illustrated with amazing photographs of each stage of the life of Mel Brooks and his most remembered creations.
"The book is divided into seven chapters -says Jorge-, the first deal with the origin of Mel, a Jewish boy born in Brooklyn who quickly realized that to get out unscathed from the dangers that threatened the neighborhood in the form of street gangs, there was no there was nothing like being funny. His first steps in show business, his participation in World War II, he wanted revenge on Hitler, and the best way he found was to laugh at him."
"Afterwards -he adds- his jump to television, his existential crises, and his first feature film, The Producers (1967), which, although it was not a box office success at first, is now considered a cult film, with one one of the most ingenious scripts - written by Mel himself - in the history of cinema".
"The last chapters -he concludes- recount his career as a producer, cartoon dubber, and creator of successful musicals. The book is completed with two filmographies, that of a director, and that of a producer, with films as far removed from his style as El Elephant Man (1980), Frances (1982) or The Fly (1986)".
"When I grow up I want to be an artist"
The beginnings of Mel Brooks, inspired by the theater, are very curious. "Mel Brooks experienced an epiphany when, at the age of nine, an uncle of his took him to see a Broadway show," Jorge tells us. Jewish spas near New York, he continued in clubs and cabarets of dubious fame, and everything served to cement a way of doing humor that blossomed when another great Jewish comedian, Syd Caesar, hired him as a joke writer for "Your Show of Shows". From that moment on, although with clear ups and downs, he continued with a successful career, in fact, he is still active. At the age of 92, he supervised the adaptation of the script for the Spanish production of the musical El Jovencito Frankenstein".
Another of Mel Brooks' virtues has been knowing how to surround himself with a truly exceptional group of collaborators and actors, including Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman: "He has always surrounded himself - Jorge confirms - with well-known collaborators, technicians, and artists, like the musician John Morris, who wrote the soundtrack for almost all his films, and regarding the actors, he likes to talk about his "Mel Brooks Repertory Company", which brings together such talented actors as Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Clorice Leachman or Harvey Korman".
One of the lesser-known facets of Mel Brooks is that of the producer. His company produced mythical titles such as the aforementioned The Elephant Man (1980), Frances (1982), or The Fly (1986) "Perhaps he set up his production company fed up with making other studios and production companies earn a fortune - Jorge assures -. In the 80s, he did it to differentiate his own films, always comedies, to a greater or lesser degree, from much more "serious" titles, such as those mentioned, or other very interesting science fiction or horror titles, such as The Doctor and the Devils (Freddie Francis, 1985), or melodramas like The Final Letter (David Hugh Jones, 1985), whose film rights he bought to give them to his wife, the unforgettable Anne Bancroft, who starred in the film with Anthony Hopkins".
