High Anxiety

The HippCinema celebrates Mel Brooks and his centenarian milestone! Comedies, comedies, and more comedies. Get into the spirit of uproarious laughter inspired by our mainstage production You Can't Take It With You. The final film in our festival is High Anxiety. This film takes us full circle to our Hitchcock Festival which opened alongside our mainstage's 53rd season production of The 39 Steps. Just after becoming the director of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) is greeted by a series of mysterious events. When his colleagues -- including the militaristic and mustachioed Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman) -- become leery of his questions, they accuse him of murder. Thorndyke's own mental health comes into question as he struggles to clear his name in the midst of a crippling bout of a condition known as high anxiety. Also, starring Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Dick Van Patten.