High Anxiety is Mel Brooks comic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. It lampoons many of Hitchcock's standard plot devices and directorial techniques, but not in a mean-spirited way. However, having said that, you don't even need to have seen a Hitchcock movie to find this one funny. I remember seeing this as a kid and not recognizing any of the references except perhaps one or two, and still laughing. Sure, it's one of Brooks lesser comedies from the 1970s, but it beats hands-down any of his later work.
Brooks also stars in the film as Dr. Richard Thorndyke (reportedly after Gene Wilder had to turn the part down because of scheduling difficulties), the newly appointed head of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous. He was hired following the previous head's untimely death. Once at the institute he discovers there are some very suspicious goings-on, although Nurse Diesel (Leachman) and Dr. Montague (Korman) seem determined to keep him from getting to the bottom of matters. The two of them will stop at nothing, even murder, to keep things going their way. Matters are muddled by Dr. Thorndyke's fear of heights, here known as "High Anxiety". And matters are muddled even further still by the arrival of femme fatale, Victoria Brisbane (Kahn), the daughter of one of the patients at the institute.
Many of Hitchcock's most famous movies are sent up here. My personal favorite is the shower scene lifted from Psycho, but here done with Brooks in the shower and the knife being a rolled-up newspaper delivered by the bellboy. Spellbound and Vertigo are the source of the plot's main inspiration, but North by Northwest, The Birds, Dial M for Murder and many others are also referenced.
Hitchcock was also known for his clever cuts and camera angles and much is made of that here. The camera pans in from way outside a room at one point, moving slowly inward only to inadvertently smash through the glass door. Later the camera is positioned under a glass coffee table, looking straight up, but Nurse Diesel and Dr. Montague keep placing cups and plates above the camera so it constantly has to move to keep them in shot.
The tension is also heightened throughout the movie by musical zings, often at quite innocent times. During the opening credits, Thorndyke is arriving at an airport and the music is quite tense as is the filming style, prompting him to proclaim as he exits, "What a dramatic airport!". And while traveling to the institute dramatic music begins, causing the doctor to look for the source only to see a bus carrying a orchestra pass by playing their instruments.
Most of Brooks' usual repertory company appears, apart from Wilder. Madeline Kahn's part is small, but she still manages to steal the scenes she is in. I particularly like her reaction to the heavy-breather on the phone. Leachman and Korman are also quite good as the least sexy couple to participate in a bondage scene in any movie ever filmed.
Sure, not every joke is a winner and a couple are overused, but the jokes that do work, more than make up for those that don't.
If you're a fan of Mel Brooks, you'll like this movie, but if you're a fan of both Brooks and Hitchcock, you'll love it.
