The first word that comes to mind when thinking of actor/director Mel Brooks is "versatile." After all he's created films about the Elephant Man, the history of the world, silent movies, Frankenstein's monster, westerns and of course Hitler musicals. What a collection! Mel Brooks has given us some of the most humorous and memorable characters to come out of the movies. Who could ever forget hearing for the first time, "Springtime for Hitler" or the heartwarming lullaby to Young Frankenstein.

1. When you were a child you had a job called a "Tummler." What is a Tummler?

    A Tummler is an a Americanization of a Jewish word. It comes from the Latin "Tumulet" which means chaos and excitement. A Tummler wakes up the Jews when they fall asleep around the pool after lunch. He goes by and excites them and tells them jokes and stories. Instead of them drifting off, he keeps them happy and alert and that's his job. I was the pool tummler. One of the things I had to do as the pool tummler, was I used to do an act. I wore a derby and an alpaca coat, and I would carry two rock-laden cardboard suitcases and go to the edge of the diving board and say, "Business is no good!" and jump off (laughs). Of course, my suitcases would take me right to the bottom; my derby would float on the surface. I was looking up at the blond, gentile lifeguard who would have mercy. Dive down and save me (laughs).

2. How close was the movie My Favorite Year (1982) in capturing the atmosphere of the classic 1950s television program, Your Show Of Shows?

    Pretty damn close. My company made it. Brooksfilm and I made sure that we were telling the truth. I was locked in the Waldorf Towers with Errol Flynn and two redheaded Cuban sisters. For three days I was trying to get them out of there, and he was trying to get me drunk and in there. It was the craziest weekend of my life. I was 20 years old and just starting with The Show of Shows. He was a tough guy to corral and get to rehearsals. Max Leibman assigned me to him and said, "Get him into rehearsal! Make him learn his lines! Work with him on the sketch!" Errol Flynn was a raving maniac. All he wanted was (to) booze and fool around. He did learn the sketch. Actually, I whispered into his ear when he was asleep. I'd say all the lines and unconsciously, I knew it would get through to his head. In the film, I was based on the character Benjy. I was the young kid who had to take care of Errol Flynn, but we didn't call him Errol Flynn, we called him Alan Swan, and we got Peter O'Toole to play him.

3. In your first film, The Producers (1968), where did the inspiration for the song "Springtime For Hitler" come from?

    I had written this crazy song called "Springtime For Hitler." I needed a choreographer to help me frame it even while I was writing the script. I knew Alan Johnson, who is a friend of John Morris, and Alan Johnson did the choreography for "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers. Alan said, "You know you really need a great arrangement for this number, or we can't do the number we want." He suggested John Morris. So I met John Morris, and I liked him immediately. He was soft-spoken, gentle, very bright and incredibly gifted. He sat at the piano and played a variation of "Springtime for Hitler." He suggested that the first eight notes (Mel sings the first eight notes of "Springtime For Hitler") be the theme. He showed me what he could with just eight or ten notes, and I got very excited. I said, "Have you ever scored a motion picture before?" He said, "No." "Well, I never have directed one. If I get to direct this, would you be the composer? The only thing I insist on is having the numbers that I write in the movie." He said, "Sure! I think I can do it." I wrote the lyrics first because I knew the guys in The Producers needed a flop. They needed an orgasm of insanity on the stage to ensure that flop. To ensure that flop they needed a number. I figured why not "Springtime for Hitler"? That would be the number that would close the theater forever. Their scheme would succeed. They knew the minute "Springtime for Hitler" was sung, the curtain would come down. The secret of The Producers is that it was a hit and everybody wanted their money. Then I brought out John when I did Blazing Saddles (1974). He wrote the tune, and I wrote the lyrics for the title song "Blazing Saddles," (for) which we were nominated for an Academy Award. That was wonderful. Then John did one of his masterpieces: the score for Young Frankenstein (1974).

4. Did you and John Morris watch any classic horror movies for inspiration?

    We looked at every horror thing, and John said they weren't rich enough; they were "tinny scary." He went way back into Transylvania folk music and came up with this incredible gypsy song. (Mel begins to sing the theme from Young Frankenstein.) One of the greatest themes ever written for the movies, I think. He wasn't nominated for that one. It was only the best score written. They don't really know shit from Shinola about what good music is. Good often conflicts with popular, and popular always wins in its day and always loses to time. Good is like the turtle that beats the hare in the long race given the time. So he did the best score ever done..."ever" equal to any score in any movie, unnoticed in its day. Later, of course, I'm sure John has gotten a lot of compliments, and I have received many compliments on the movie and particularly on his score. I don't think the movie would have been that great without that score. There was a guy called Jerry Vinci who was the lead violinist, and he played a brilliant, thrilling obligato against the main melody. That was written by John Morris. It wasn't created by the violinist, but by John Morris. It was amazing.

5. Was it your idea to have the monster dance to "Putting on the Ritz"?

    No, that was Gene Wilder's idea. I fought him desperately, and I said, "It's going to cheapen the film, and it's going to be silly; it's going to tear it..." He said, "No it's good; it's crazy and funny. It's a demonstration of the monster's agility, doing a buck and wing tapping." I said, "All right! What the hell." Everybody gives me credit for that bizarre insanity, but it was basically Gene's idea, and it was my directing that helped make it work.

6. Do you recall John Morris's reaction when you asked him to score Silent Movie (1976)?

    Well, he didn't have any reaction. He couldn't because his tongue fell out of his mouth. He said, "Do you realize that this would be an hour and a half of wall-to-wall notes!? All you'll hear is music!" It was incredible. Wall-to-wall music for 90 minutes. He tried to come up with (a) different kind of theme for each beat. First, we talked about should there be themes for each of the guest stars, for Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft, Jimmy Caan, Burt Reynolds. He didn't think that was a good idea. He said, "Maybe Burt Reynolds. I'll create a movie star theme for that. But, I want the innocent joy. Let me create a march that these three guys would have...their march through Hollywood to get the money to save the studio. I see it as a march." I said, "That's brilliant."

7. In High Anxiety (1977), you parody the classic Hitchcock films, but you left out the famous screeching violins in the shower scene.

    It was on purpose. It was too obvious. Any second-rate satirist would have used that. Everybody had already used that. It was already a cliché. We didn't want to take away from all the visual jokes. We didn't want to steal Barry Levinson's great line. "Here's your paper, here's your paper! Happy now? Happy?"

8. Were you really singing in Polish with Anne Bancroft in the opening song in To Be Or Not to Be (1983)?

    Absolutely! That was real Polish. Now we didn't mimic all the words to "Sweet Georgia Brown." We got the sense of the song. Their words don't rhyme as well as they do in the Polish version. There was a teacher at USC, Tad Danielezsky, he created the lyrics in Polish for "Sweet Georgia Brown."

9. What's next for Mel Brooks?

    I don't know. I have a company, and I'm developing a film right now for Brooksfilm. I'm waiting to be inspired for the next film for Mel Brooks to be in or to direct. They've been asking me to do a Mel Brooks Comedy Theater, which is not a bad idea.

10. Nobody seems to want to make cutting-edge comedies anymore. Is there less freedom of expression today for filmmakers?

    Yes! There is a swirl about each picture and more criticism about it being correct. I think there are too many restrictions, too many rules and filmmakers should not be aware of them. I think they should offend everybody. There is an atmosphere of...you're going to injure one race, one group or another if you say...therefore you have to put the truth on hold and comedy doesn't ring as loud and true as it should. There are too may restrictions on comedy. There are no restrictions now on killing in action and adventure. Kill 'em any way you want, but say one word about Jews or a blacks and you're persona non grata. Comedy is tougher.

Note: Since we've spoken to Mel, The Movie Guys have learned that he's about to begin production on a comedy called Screw Loose that will film in Monte Carlo and Milan. It's about a rich Italian guy who decides to leave half of his successful company to an American who saved his live in World War II. The man's son finds the American (Mel Brooks) in a mental hospital and kidnaps him, and, as you can guess, things go to hell as the attempts to bring Brooks back to his home.

The Movie Guys are Jeffrey K. Howard and David Neil.