Young Frankenstein: 12 Behind the Scenes Stories of How Mel Brooks’ Monster Hit Came Alive

The Zipper Joke Was to Get Around Potential Legal Issues

The 1931 Frankenstein had bolts in his neck, but Mel Brooks didn’t want to use them to avoid “copyright issues” with the original Frankenstein.

So makeup mastermind William Tuttle, a veteran of films including The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao — for which he won a special Oscar, before there was even a makeup category at the Oscars — came up what Brooks calls “a stroke of genius — a zipper!”

Boyle spent four hours a day in the makeup chair, Brooks wrote — and “stopped complaining the minute he saw the incredible results at the dailies.”

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