WhoFish - Local Events and Activities

Title:	Mel Brooks underappreciated Hitchcock parody HIGH ANXIETY (1977)
Date:	5/10/2025 (Saturday)
Address:	5228 Gravois Ave, St Louis, MO 63116-2310, United States, St. Louis, MO
Location:	Jefferson City, MO
Hours:	Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 7:30PM CDT
Cost/Cover:	See Details
Contact Info:	See Details

Details:

HIGH ANXIETY is playing as a double feature with the Hitchcock classic SPELLBOUND, from which it draws heavily for its psych-hospital plot. Tickets are $9 each or $15 for the double feature. Make your selection at checkout.

Like Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks underappreciated HIGH ANXIETY is not only a hilarious gag-filled spoof but a loving homage to its source material, in this case the classic thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. Drawing heavily on the plot from Spellbound (which, not coincidentally, is playing just before HIGH ANXIETY), Brooks himself stars as Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Richard Thorndyke who takes over the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. After discovering his predecessor died under suspicious circumstances, the events take a murderous turn as Thorndyke is accused of the crime and left with a full blown case of High Anxiety. Featuring many of the comedy greats from Brooks stable, including Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, HIGH ANXIETY parodies practically every classic from the Master of Suspense: Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, North by Northwest and many, many more (not to mention the odd jab at Vincente Minnellis The Cobweb, playing later this month at Arkadin!). Hitchcock himself was so impressed by Brooks parody, he sent Brooks a gift-wrapped case of six very expensive bottles of Chteau Haut-Brion with a note thanking him for this splendid entertainment.