A podcast where we typically discuss and celebrate the films of Gene Wilder, one minute at a time. Season one was dedicated to Young Frankenstein. Season two we looked at Blazing Saddles. With Season three, we moved in a new direction, taking on more of a talk-show format with guests.
In this pre-launch episode for Season One, Alan Sanders and Walt Murray discuss how they decided to create a movies by minutes podcast focused on the films of Gene Wilder. They chat about a couple of movies they considered doing before giving the audience the "big reveal" of what will be in Season One. They also chat about some of the pitfalls they already encountered, provide information on the website and social media platforms and said they hoped to have the regular episodes begin dropping by late March 2018. The Wilder Ride website The Wilder Ride on Facebook The Wilder Ride on Twitter The Wilder Ride on Patreon
1/29/18 • 16:50
We begin to look at the film, Young Frankenstein, one minute at a time. As with many films of that era, we have to wade through a few minutes of opening credits. We provide some interesting background on the names of those involved in the making of the movie and some interesting behind-the-scenes stories of how they came to be part of one of the greatest comedies in American cinema.
3/26/18 • 18:15
During the opening credits, we spend some time talking about the passing of John Morris on January 25, 2018. We continue to look at the credits and discuss some of the other names and other projects they have on their resumes.
3/27/18 • 16:10
We discussed the fact that Mel Brooks was able to track down Ken Strickfaden who created the original laboratory equipment for the 1931 Frankenstein movie, starring Boris Karloff. Back then, the Universal monster movie did not give Strickfaden any screen credit. Mel promised Ken if they could borrow the gear, which he had saved and stored in his own garage, Brooks would make sure to give him the credit he so rightly deserved. Mel kept his word! We continued to discuss the other credits contained during minute number three.
3/28/18 • 14:03
While continuing the opening title credits, co-host Alan Sanders asks co-host Walt Murray if the humor in Young Frankenstein is timeless? In other words, would a Millennial find it as funny as we did when we were their age? Because the film was shot to look like a throw-back to the 30's style of monster movies, we both believe there is a timeless quality to the movie and think that many of the jokes should transcend.
3/29/18 • 18:16
We finally get through the remaining credits and push into the sitting room of the Castle of Baron von Frankenstein where a coffin is setup in front of a roaring fireplace. The coffin is ripped open to reveal a corpse holding a box. A set of hands moves into the shot, trying to pull the box away from the fingers of the corpse, only to be denied by a supernatural death grip on the box. What's inside? Why is someone stealing it? And, who keeps a coffin inside their family room??
3/30/18 • 13:40
We finish the corpse tug-o-war before moving into a lecture hall at a medical school where the topics being discussed are the anatomy of the brain and the difference between voluntary and involuntary reactions. The mysterious box is in the hands of someone who takes a seat in the back of the classroom. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is Matt Gray, an investigator with Horizon Background Screenings.
4/2/18 • 17:52
A medical student played by Danny Goldman, who is also known for his voicing of Brainy Smurf, needles his professor about his family history. Doctor Frankenstein has to first start by correcting the pronunciation of his name and then goes on to dismiss the rambling question of the student. He then asks if there is another question, relevant to that day's lecture? The student asks for an explanation of the difference between voluntary and involuntary reactions, which gets Doctor Frankenstein excited about his in-class demonstration. Our returning guest today on The Wilder Ride is Matt Gray with Horizon Background Screening.
4/3/18 • 17:07
The lecture continues with a subject being wheeled into the room to help demonstrate the concepts being described on the board. Doctor Frankenstein addresses the students and demonstrates voluntary and involuntary reactions. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is Dr. Tim Ryan of The Physician's Practice, who is a family practitioner. Dr. Ryan helps us understand that these minutes with the lecture are fairly accurate.
4/4/18 • 18:37
Our guest again today on The Wilder Ride was Dr. Tim Ryan, who mentioned that even though everything up to this point was mostly accurate, in this minute, the reality of medicine goes completely off the rails. We discussed the fact that it appears the elderly test subject may be a mental patient, based on how the orderlies act. This sets up an interesting premise that on one side of the screen, we have a mental patient and on the other side of the screen, Doctor Frankenstein who is desperate to show he is totally sane and scientific. However, as noted in the episode, we realize Doctor Frankenstein seems willing to push the boundaries of acceptable medical practice to prove his theories.
4/5/18 • 20:09
We close out the week with the conclusion of the in-class demonstration on Mr. Hilltop, who, for just $1 more, apparently gets to find his family jewels desecrated. There is some discussion over how all of the information we have been given up to this point no longer holds any water whatsoever. Then, just when we think the class is about to be dismissed, it appears Brainy Smurf has yet another smarmy question he has to ask. We are once again joined by Matt Gray on The Wilder Ride.
4/6/18 • 23:41
It's obvious, after the demonstration asked for by the annoying medical student, Brainy Smurf is not yet willing to stop pushing Dr. Frankenstein about his family's history, specifically of his grandfather's work with reanimating dead tissue. Dr. Frankenstein tries to laugh off the question of the vermicelli worm but is pushed repeatedly to the point of frustrated anger. Our guest on The Wilder Ride is personal trainer, Susan Delmonico of SJD Health and Fitness who grew up loving Young Frankenstein and still, to this day, thinks of it as one of her all-time favorite comedies.
4/9/18 • 14:47
In an attempt to make a point to the annoying medical student, whom we have affectionately named, Brainy Smurf, he tries to explain it would easier to bring the scalpel to life rather than repair a dead or severed spinal cord. Without thinking and in his sheer frustration, he accidentally plunges the scalpel into his own thigh before doing all he can to act as though nothing is wrong and dismissing the class. As the students leave, the strange, older fellow who took a seat in the back of the classroom also rises and makes his way toward Dr. Frankenstein. Our returning guest on The Wilder Ride is Susan Delmonico, a personal trainer at SJD Health and Fitness.
4/10/18 • 25:44
After realizing there is no escape from his past, the young Dr. Frankenstein decides to travel to his family's estate in Transylvania to claim his inheritance. We are introduced to a new characters at the train station, Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein's fiance. It becomes clear, Elizabeth if much more worried about not ruffling her appearance than she is in showing Dr. Frankenstein any affection. The scene ends with her asking him if he likes traditional wedding nights? All we hear from his is, "I like...", which left us wondering what he is about to say. Our guest, once again, is Susan Delmonico, who owns her own business, SJD Health and Fitness, where she is a personal trainer and likes to share her thoughts on fitness and recipes on her free site.
4/11/18 • 22:16
Rebuffed at every opportunity, whether it's her makeup, her hair, her dress or her nails, as the conductor is calling for everyone to board the train, it appears all Dr. Frankenstein is going to be granted is a gentle rubbing of elbows. He boards the train and turns to throw a kiss to Elizabeth, who flinches out of the way as though he has thrown something disgusting at her. She recovers and decides to mime a couple of blown kisses his way before being enveloped in a cloud of thick, cloying smoke as the train begins to pull away from the station. Our returning guest on The Wilder Ride is Susan Delmonico, a personal trainer who owns her own business, SJD Health and Fitness.
4/12/18 • 24:08
After a rather funny train ride, where it appears American couples share the exact same argument to ones in Germany -- what is he doing everyday that the wife wants the husband to get him to stop. We have a pretty interesting discussion about what they might be discussing before we pull into the Transylvania Station. We are then introduced to a musical pun where we cannot help by end the episode singing just a little bit of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. In addition, we got a special audio report filed from our German counterpart to The Wilder Ride, Malte Derks, who gave us his thoughts on the Germany couple, the train conductor's terrible German delivery, a misspelled sign and a comment on the decor and costuming. We were once again joined by Susan Delmonico of SJD Health and Fitness where she spends her day as a personal trainer and her night as a movie aficionado.
4/13/18 • 29:27
Now that Dr. Frankenstein has debarked the train, he is all alone on a fog-filled platform in the dark of night. He hears a strange sound of something approaching. That something turns out to be a strange, hump-backed man with bulging eyes who has been sent to meet him at the station. However, before they can leave, a rather funny conversation ensues over how to pronounce Dr. Frankenstein's name. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is one of the hosts of the Minute: Impossible podcasts, Jonathan Howell, who has admitted to us (in confidence) he has always been a fan of Gene Wilder and of Young Frankenstein.
4/16/18 • 28:48
After Dr. Frankenstein gives his guest some dubious discussion over how to pronounce his name, Igor decides to change how his name is pronounced. They have an additional conversation over the going rate for henchmen and then they go to leave the station. There is an awkward moment as Dr. Frankenstein goes to pat Igor on the back and he realizes, he's tapped the strange looking fellow on his hump. However, when he offers to perform a surgical procedure on said hump, Igor, in all sincerity asks, "What hump?" After a long pause and a long silence, Igor moves to help with Dr. Frankenstein's bags, attempting to first pickup the larger bag, but opts instead for the smaller one. The scene ends with the start of one of the most well-known gags from this film, the "Walk this way," bit. Our returning guest is Jonathan Howell, co-host of the Minute: Impossible podcast where they look at the Tom Cruise franchise, one minute at a time.
4/17/18 • 24:00
We complete the well-known, "walk this way," bit before Dr. Frankenstein and Igor make their way to a hay wagon (not cart), which is their transportation from the Transylvania Station to the castle of Baron von Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein tosses his suitcase into the back of the wagon and is surprised to hear an, "Oomph!" He climbs up and looks down to meet Inga, the lab assistant hired to help him. The playful Inga invites the good Doctor to 'Roll, roll, roll in ze hay' before Igor snaps the reins and Dr. Frankenstein falls into the back. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is one of the hosts of Minute: Impossible, Jonathan Howell.
4/18/18 • 28:23
Dr. Frankenstein helps reassure a startled Inga that lightning is merely atmospheric discharge. She admits she is easily frightened by lightning as their hay wagon (not cart) makes it's way through a dark and scary wood. Suddenly, we here a long and almost human-like howl (which is actually the voice of Mel Brooks) and after a moment, Inga says incredulously, "Werewolf." Dr. Frankenstein questions, "Werewolf?" After a very long pause, Igor weighs-in and points, "There. There wolf. There Castle." A confused Doctor asks Igor why he is talking the way he is, to which Igor replies he thought that's how they wanted to talk. Joining us on The Wilder Ride as our guest is Jonathan Howell, one of the hosts of the Movies by Minutes podcast, Impossible: Minute.
4/19/18 • 28:22
The hay cart comes to a stop in front of the doors to the castle of Baron von Frankenstein. Just as Dr. Frankenstein is about to lower Inga out of the cart, Igor uses one of the immense door knockers to bang on the door. Looking over his shoulder, Dr. Frankenstein remarks, "What knockers!" Inga, blushing, thanks the good Doctor for his compliment. The group approaches the door just as it opens with a slow and deliberate pull before the mistress of the house takes a step forward introducing herself as Frau Blucher. At the mention of her last name, the horses go crazy, rearing up and letting out a loud whinny. Wrapping up the week with us on The Wilder Ride, is Jonathan Howell, who can normally be found co-hosting his own Movies by Minutes podcast, Minute: Impossible.
4/20/18 • 25:22
We explore minute 21 of Young Frankenstein, where there is something up between Frau Blucher and the horses. When our characters finally make their way inside, we are treated to Igor testing his theory that the horses will always react at the name of "Blucher!" Before the minute ends, we get a gorgeous glimpse of the immense castle interior set built for the film, Young Frankenstein. We spend some time with actor Adam Boyer to begin this week's minute on The Wilder Ride. He's been a working actor for over 20 years and has a host of credits to his name to include working with Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks on the film, Sully, as a Mississippi redneck in Ozark on Netflix and as the butcher of Terminus in The Walking Dead.
4/23/18 • 26:44
We begin with an explanation of continuity and continuity errors since the candles on the table are lit as Frau Blucher picks them up, but are unlit as she turns to escort Dr. Frankenstein, Inga and Igor to their rooms upstairs. The script always called for the candles to be unlit, so someone dropped the ball in the extreme wide shot. Once upstairs, we see that the young Dr. Frankenstein is a remarkable resemblance for his grandfather, Victor Frankenstein. It's as though, no matter how hard he tries, the Doctor cannot seem to escape the parallels with his past. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is Adam Boyer, an actor who has a unique Hollywood perspective of the craft of acting, what it's like to be on-set and what happens behind the camera of a major motion picture.
4/24/18 • 29:03
Today we spent time discussing Frau Blucher's lack of honesty regarding Victor Frankenstein's private library, why Dr. Frederick Frankenstein would even be interested in it, and why Ovaltine? We were joined once again on The Wilder Ride by Adam Boyer, who lent us his insights as a 20+ year veteran actor throughout the Southeast.
4/25/18 • 22:55
Frau Blucher finally bids the Doctor a goodnight, but before leaving, Young Dr. Frankenstein catches her caressing and kissing the painting of Victor Frankenstein. As we pass into the later hours, it appears the Doctor is in the midst of a strange dream. Our guest today is actor Adam Boyer, joining us on The Wilder Ride to discuss Young Frankenstein, while entertaining us with his tales of amorous adventures with C-stands.
4/26/18 • 22:39
We spend some time analyzing the peculiar shouts of Dr. Frankenstein during his nightmare and the entrance of Inga who is worried about him. When he calms down from his nightmare, he realizes there is music playing from somewhere in the castle. And why are we suddenly channeling a one-hit-wonder by Toni Basil? We close out the week on The Wilder Ride with actor Adam Boyer who ranks Young Frankenstein as one of his top 10 favorite comedies of all-time and in his top 20 of favorite movies of all-time.
4/27/18 • 28:11
Now that both Dr. Frankenstein and Inga are focused, they move to the bookshelves to find the source of the music. They eventually stumble across the mechanism to open a secret passage, but not without trapping the good doctor on the other side. Our guest today on The Wilder Ride is podcaster Sean German whose current podcast is Groundhog Minute.
4/30/18 • 27:36
Having been trapped on the other side of the bookcase, we now begin a series of tests to figure out how to get Dr. Frankenstein back into his own bedroom. Realizing the physics of whatever mechanism controls the movement of the bookcase follows no set pattern, he decides he will use his body to stop it from spinning all the way around. When that fails, it's up to Inga to turn into a linebacker and shove the bookcase around only to find herself trapped on the other side. Our guest on The Wilder Ride is Sean German, who has co-hosted the Spinal Tap Minute and Groundhog Day Minute and is the creator of 5-Minutes of Mime.
5/1/18 • 25:30
Having figured out how to keep the bookcase open, Dr. Frankenstein and Inga begin to explore into a deep and secret part of the castle interior where it looks like no one has been in a long time. Being the gentleman that he is, the good Doctor suggests Inga needs to tie her robe before continuing. Wait, what? Joining us once again on The Wilder Ride is Sean German who is host on the Spinal Tap Minute, Groundhog Minute and Five Minutes of Mime and has been a guest on the Indiana Jones Minute and several other movies by minutes podcasts.
5/2/18 • 24:03
Dr. Frankenstein and Inga make their way to the bottom of the stairs and come upon a door with a fragile handle. Once inside they see bottles and then a row of dead skulls at various stages of decay. It is our pleasure to once again be joined by our guest, Sean German, host on the Spinal Tap Minute, Groundhog Minute and Five Minutes of Mime and has been a guest on the Indiana Jones Minute and several other movies by minutes podcasts.
5/3/18 • 33:55
