High Anxiety (1977)

A renowned Harvard psychiatrist (Mel Brooks), who has a paralyzing fear of heights, has become the head of a psychiatric institute whose previous head died under mysterious circumstances. Written and directed by Mel Brooks, this comedy homage to the films of Alfred Hitchcock is often quite funny ..... if you're familiar with Hitchcock's films. If you're not attuned or intimate with Hitchcock's filmography, it's quite likely the movie will go over your head so there's a limited audience for this film. When a character says "Mr. MacGuffin called" it may bring a smile to the lips of the film buff but it's meaningless to everybody else. Among the Hitchcock films referenced here are PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, SPELLBOUND, DIAL M FOR MURDER, VERTIGO, SABOTEUR and film geeks will recognize references to Antotioni's BLOW UP and Minnelli's THE COBWEB as well. Actually, two of the film's high points aren't related to Hitchcock at all: Brooks singing the movie's title song a la Sinatra and Brooks and Madeline Kahn impersonating a battling Jewish couple at the airport. With Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Ron Carey, Howard Morris and Dick Van Patten, whose death scene (locked in a car with loud rock music blaring) is more disturbing than amusing.