Mel Brooks Takes Some Credit for Star Wars

Mel Brooks writes in his memoir, All About Me! that 20th Fox executive Alan Ladd’s decision to greenlight Brooks’ 1974 hit Young Frankenstein helped him earn enough clout to be “in a position to greenlight over three hundred films during his illustrious career, including High Anxiety (1977), Star Wars (1977), Alien (1977), Blade Runner (1982), A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and Thelma and Louise (1991).”

Of course, Mel Brooks would later benefit from the creation of Star Wars, as our next slide explains…