Full disclosure: I wasn't a massive fan of this when I was a kid for a number of reasons: the pace was a lot slower than say Monty Python or Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, the famous 'Putting on the Ritz' number seemed to mock the disabled, the blindman sequence was too painful, it was in black and white. But as time has gone on and I discovered the 30s/40s Universal horrors and came to appreciate the brilliance of its cast, my appreciation has improved.
Gene Wilder is one of the all time great Frankensteins/mad doctors, with a genuine grasp of insanity and flair - as good in his way as Colin Clive or Lionel Atwill, better than say Patrick Knowles; Madeline Khan is incredibly funny as his fiancee (it's a delicate line to depict someone who basically enjoys being raped but she manages to pull it off); Marty Feldman is a perfect Igor (up there with Bela Lugosi); Teri Garr his hilarious and sexy as the blonde bombshell; Cloris Leachman is perfect as the housekeeper (I'm surprised she wasn't given more to do).
I wasn't that wild about Kenneth Mars as the Lionel Atwill character but many of the jokes work well even if they are repeated too often eg pronunciation of the name. The story is solid - a lot more logical than many of the Universal Frankenstein sequels - the sets and photography is divine.
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