the Chaplain alongside the show’s
star, Bancroft, who was dating Brooks
at the time. Though Brecht had writ-
ten the play in response to Germany’s
invasion of Poland in 1939—about
as serious a theme as you can imag-
ine—Wilder’s performance kept get-
ting laughs. “Why are they laughing
at me?” he asked Brooks, who was vis-
iting Bancroft backstage.
“Look in the mirror!” Brooks
responded. “The chaplain is just blessed
by God. He’s funny. Don’t fight it. Just
be sincere. And always be amazed byYoung Tom Edison. It might also have
been inspired by Young Winston, a 1972
film starring Anne Bancroft, the wife
of Mel Brooks, the director and come-
dian who had been Wilder’s friend and
collaborator for nearly a decade. That
night, Wilder called Brooks and told
him his idea. The director was hardly
encouraging. “Cute,” he said.
The two men had first met back-
stage at Broadway’s Martin Beck
Theatre during a production of
Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and
Her Children in 1963. Wilder playedWILDER AND BOYLE IN THE
famous creation scene (above).
“Nobody can go from A to Z
in one scene like Gene does,”
Brooks later said of the actor,
who was characteristically
sweet and unhinged by turns.
Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor,
was played by Marty Feldman
(above, right).
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