Mastering Mel Brooks

As part of PBS’ series of documentaries on legends of the American silver screen, aptly titled American Masters, out photographer and documentary filmmaker Robert Trachtenberg set his lens on comedy icon Mel Brooks. And Brooks is certainly deserving of such a doc—he’s really in a category of his own: his career spans some 60 years, he’s one of only 14 people to ever EGOT (win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award) and has a laundry list of classic films to his name. Yet, Brooks has never participated in a documentary on his extraordinary career. Until now that is.

Trachtenberg sat down with Brooks once a month for four months and filmed for as long as Brooks, who’s a spry 86 years old, could handle. The documentary that arose out of those interviews, Mel Brooks: Make a Noise, is set to air nationwide on PBS this Monday, May 20 at 9pm. As a preview to the doc’s release, we sat down with Trachtenberg and did a little questioning of our own.

“I was the last person to photograph Gene Kelly. I ended up shooting him several times, we got to be friendly and when he passed away I thought someone should do a documentary on him. That’s how it started. I was asked by American Masters to take this project on. Susan Lacy, who is the executive producer of the series, thought that my humor and Mel’s would pair up nicely.”

“When I really began to look at his career, I was surprised that no one had ever pointed out how many great roles he wrote for women. He really let actors like Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman shine at a time when women were mostly arm candy in American film comedies.”

“We took this very seriously. [After each session] we shook hands, he went home, and we saw each other a month later. Comedy is serious business. Seriously.”

Mel Brooks: Make a Sound on PBS, May 20 at 9pm. Visit pbs.org for more info.