Episode 114: If We're Going to Do Homages, Let's Do Psych Ones — High Anxiety (1977) with Ed Hansen
About this episode
Alex and Dr. Ed Hansen discuss the psychological themes in Mel Brooks' film High Anxiety.
Join Alex and friend of the show Dr. Ed Hansen as they discuss the delightfully silly and usefully psychological High Anxiety (1977), Mel Brooks' send-up to the master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars Brooks as Dr. Richard Thorndyke, a world-renowned psychiatrist who begins a new career at the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. Joining him are his normal contributors, including Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, and Madeline Kahn. When Thorndyke is framed for murder, he must use all the Hitchcockian tools at his disposal to clear his name. Of course, no discussion of Hitchcock films can be made without a discussion of Freud, as well as the use of the term "High Anxiety", using humor as a means to cope with anxiety, the role of suspense to build a crescendo of anxiety, and a brief foray into institutionalization and its foibles. After listening to this podcast, you recovery rate might also be "once in a blue moon"! Follow Ed on BlueSky @EdHansen_PhDAD or Threads EdHansen_PhDAD If you like this content, you might like my new Audible audiobook/course, A Psychologist Goes to the Movies, available now! It features six films that have been on this show…
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