With many a memorable line and a million belly laughs, Mel Brooks knows how to keep his audience riveted. Legendary Hollywood friends and fans turned out like a pickled posse for an all-star salute at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. The guest list read like a red carpet who’s who, including Billy Crystal, Larry David, Robert De Niro, Jimmy Kimmel, Cloris Leachman, Conan O’Brien, Amy Poehler, Carl Reiner, Martin Scorsese, Martin Short and Sarah Silverman, and that was just the warm up.
Among the 1,000 guests who gathered to pay tribute to the comic titan were not just famed funnymen like Conan O’Brien and Billy Crystal, but famous faces such as Judd Apatow, Jon Avnet, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Sasha Baron Cohen, Isla Fisher, Zach Galifianakis, Teri Garr, Vince Gilligan, Roger Bart, Richard Benjamin, James L. Brooks, Stuart Cornfeld, Bob Daly, Eugenio Derbez, Carey Elwes, Marshall Herskovitz, Ken Howard, David Kroll, David Lynch and Catherine O’Hara, among others. The evening was a head turner to say the least.
With widescreen videos showing everything from “Blazing Saddles” to “The Producers” and “High Anxiety,” the salute explored the humor and scope of Brooks’ career as a director, producer, writer, actor and composer.
Shhh… in the tradition of past AFI tributes, the details of the program, along with its participants and guests, were held as a surprise to the honoree, which makes this event one of the most special in the film community.
Following welcoming remarks from Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, and Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO, producer Stuart Cornfeld received the 2013 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal for his commitment to quality filmmaking. Cornfeld thanked Brooks, his “mentor and tormentor,” for launching his career. Cornfeld worked with Brooks on “The Elephant Man,” “The Fly,” “High Anxiety” and “History of the World Part I.”
The entertainment opened with Martin Short in a musical dance piece celebrating all things Mel. Heartfelt and humorously off-color comments were offered in-person from pals like Larry David, Cloris Leachman, David Lynch, Carl Reiner and, on video tape, Gene Wilder. Master filmmakers Clint Eastwood, George Lucas, Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg all discussed important American genres of film—westerns, science fiction and historical epics—and “what Mel Brooks did to them” in films such as “Blazing Saddles,” “Spaceballs” and “History of the World Part I.”
Past AFI Life Achievement Award recipients Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman reveled at Brooks’ whacky sense of humor and references to them in his films. His age and influence on generations of comedians was hysterically dissected by Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Amy Poehler and Sarah Silverman, as well as Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg and Nathan Lane. The show concluded with AFI alum Martin Scorsese handing the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award to Brooks for his mastery as a filmmaker and director.
Proceeds from the AFI Life Achievement Award gala event directly support the institute’s national education programs and the preservation of American film history.
We look forward to the history of Mel part two. Lili Von Shtupp, Sheriff Bart and Hedley Lamar, Mongo and a cast of thousands would be so proud.