Gene Wilder

Hello, and welcome to Entertainment, I'm William Kremer. Today, I'm veryexcited, because we're going to be hearing from one of my very favouritecomedians – Gene Wilder. If you're a fan of the crazy comedies of Mel Brooks,you'll know Gene Wilder by his great mop of curly hair. Gene Wilder workedwith Mel Brooks on films including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein andThe Producers.
　　Recently, Mel Brooks made The Producers into a stage musical, and it was ahuge success in New York and London. It was, we would say, a 'hit' a 'hitmusical'.
　　Now Mel Brooks is working on a stage version of Young Frankenstein. We'regoing to hear a clip from an interview with Gene Wilder, who wrote thescreenplay for this film and who starred in it. In this clip, he describes whathappened when Mel Brooks told him about his plans to turn YoungFrankenstein into a musical. See if you can work out what Gene Wilderthought about the idea…Gene Wilder: I thought, 'Over my dead body.' And I thought 'Don't do anything to desecratein any way the film of Young Frankenstein', which is my favourite … favouritefilm that I've done.
　　William:  Well, the answer is that he really didn't want Mel Brooks to go ahead with theproduction. At the start of the clip, you might have heard quite a commonphrase which we use when we really don't want something to happen…Gene Wilder: I thought, 'Over my dead body.'
　　William:  'Over my dead body'. This means, if you want to do that, you will have to killme first. When people say it, they aren't really ready to die! But they usuallyare very angry about something.
　　Gene Wilder: I thought, 'Over my dead body.'
　　William:   Gene Wilder was worried that if Mel Brooks made his musical, he would spoilthe original film of Young Frankenstein.
　　STINGWilliam:  These two old friends, Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, started to argue aboutYoung Frankenstein. As you listen to the next clip, see if you can hear what themeaning of Borscht Belt is….
　　Gene Wilder: And he got on the phone, he started hollering, yelling, 'Well you can't…‘ andtelling me all the things why, and I told him why, 'You're a Borscht Belt comicand a genius, but this is not, I didn't write Borscht Belt - ' Borscht Belt means,in the Catskills, there… all the comics used to go there to try out their materialand, a lot of Jewish comics, and they all drank Borscht, so it's called 'TheBorscht Belt'. But I said, 'That's not my kind of humour…'
　　William:  The Borscht Belt is a place in the United States, in the Catskill Mountains. Butwhere does the name come from?
　　Gene Wilder: Borscht Belt means, in the Catskills, there… all the comics used to go there totry out their material and, a lot of Jewish comics, and they all drank Borscht, soit's called 'The Borscht Belt'. But I said, 'That's not my kind of humour…'
　　William:  Jewish comics used to go to the Catskills to 'try out their material'. In thiscontext, 'material' means their routines, their jokes. These comics would tryout their material in the Catskills, and they would all drink Borscht, a soupwhich is usually made from beetroot. So, the Catskills are sometimes called'The Borscht Belt'.
　　OK, I know this isn't very useful English, but it's interesting isn't it?
　　Borscht Belt comics have their own kind of very fast, clever, humour. GeneWilder told Mel Brooks that Mel was a great Borscht Belt comic, but, he said,that wasn't his kind of humour.
　　Before we hear the next clip, do you remember what the word for a verysuccessful production, or a very successful movie or song was? A 'hit'. Nowlet me tell you what the opposite of a hit is – a 'flop'. A production which is aflop doesn't make enough money. There's also a verb form – we can say, 'theproduction flopped'. OK - now see if you can work out what Gene Wilderdecided to do:
　　Gene Wilder: And I thought: 'What am I saying? I want him to be happy and he needs towork. If he really wants to do this, I have nothing to lose, because if it flops,they're not going to blame me, but if it's a big hit, Mel said “So you'll make afew bucks”'
　　William:   Gene Wilder decided to let Mel Brooks turn Young Frankenstein into a musical.
　　He said he wanted Mel to be happy. He also said he realised he had nothing tolose – if the stage version of Young Frankenstein flopped, no one would blamehim, but if it was a hit, he'd make some money, or as Mel Brooks said, he'dmake 'a few bucks', a few dollars….