Young Frankenstein: The Shadow Library

 

Young Frankenstein, a Novel by Gilbert Pearlman Based on the Screenplay by Gene Wilder & Mel Brooks

Back in the day, the closest you could come to owning a movie were these tie-in adaptations. And of course, in 1974, this was a film considered too 'adult' and 'bawdy' for us kids to be allowed to see. Sometime in the 80's, I think, when I had seen the movie, I bought the book (even VHS was still too expensive) and found it to have the usual flaws of an adaptation. It did not have the timing of the film, which is of course the essence of a comedy. It included things from the script that had been cut from the movie (and you could see why) and parts that you knew were just 'festoons' that Pearlman had put in to try be funny (in his own way). A while back when you could get a cheap DVD copy, I sold the book in a batch of others to Half Price Books for the usual pittance. I see now that even a 'good' copy is going for $30. Go figure.