Turning the Worms

I once saw an interview with Gene Wilder in which he spoke about the creation of, “Young Frankenstein”. The idea was Wilder’s, but he knew that in order to get it produced he was going to need help. Ultimately, that help came from Mel Brooks.

The two men collaborated – and fought – to create a classic, enjoyed by millions in the original release to theatres, and again in VHS and DVD release. We have a copy of it, and Son will periodically choose that as the evening movie instead of more recent productions aimed more closely to his age. I think some of the double-entendres go past him right now (which is fine with me), but as regards sight gags and such he’s right there laughing with me.

But it is the “fighting” aspect of the collaboration which I wish to address. According to Wilder, they would have some horrible fights in which (he in particular) would consider just chucking the whole thing. Had one not been submissive to the other, that may very well have occurred. But Wilder admits to being intimidated by Brooks’ age, experience, and knowledge of the crafts of comedy and filmmaking. That’s not to say Wilder never won an argument. But his victories only came after great effort.

He relates an incident in which Brooks announces that a certain gag routine is now out of the picture. Wilder was horrified. “Why? It’s a great gag.” “No,” says Brooks. “It’s not funny at all. It’s out.” What ensued was a half-heated debate (Wilder was at the edge of tears while Brooks was impassive) which nearly broke Wilder. Then, out of the blue, Brooks changed his mind. “All right. It’s in,” says Brooks.

When Wilder calmed down enough he asked Brooks what had just happened. Brooks responded by saying he wasn’t sure about the gag. He wanted to know how Wilder felt about it. If he was willing to truly fight for it, then it must be funny. It was, by the way.

It's funny about dominance, though. With certain people I am dominant (not many), and with others I am submissive (most). With family and friends dominance is often determined by what is going on. I think this is called respecting each other's strengths.

Even so, collaboration isn’t easy.

Which is why I seldom do it. I tend toward the submissive side, which means my ideas are the ones which must be fought for. About twenty years ago I was involved in a collaboration effort with three others. I was the Scriber. I would write what had been agreed upon and present it the following day, or week. This allowed me the freedom to add new ideas which occurred to me in the writing. (Haven't you had had experience in your own writing? You have a scene all planned out, but as you write you discover a better way?) Many times these ad hoc ideas were accepted without complaint. But sometimes there would be an outcry, and if I wanted to keep what I had created, I was going to have to fight for it. Sometimes I did. Sometimes I got to keep it. Didn't much care for the fighting, though. Got no elation from either victory or defeat. We wrote some good stuff, though.