When she broke out on Broadway during the late-1960s (first with Kiss Me, Kate), few would have expected Madeline Kahn to go on to have one of the most robust comedic resumes of any actor from the 1970s and 1980s. Yet, thanks to her collaborations with Peter Bogdanovich and Mel Brooks, Kahn ended up building a career out of being hilarious on screen.
IMDb, while not necessarily the industry's definitive barometer of quality, has delivered ten of the most beloved Kahn films among her oeuvre. It serves as a delightful and funny reminder of all the great talent that Kahn put into the world before she died far too young in 1999.
An American Tail: 6.9
In Don Bluth's classic, Disney-subverting 1986 animated film, An American Tail, a young mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz strives to find a new home for himself in the United States while also vying to be reunited with his family.
In the film, Madeline Kahn portrays Gussie Mausheimer, one of the German mice. Kahn isn't even one of the top-billed actors in the film, but any time her talents can be enlisted to inspire an uprising over felines, the producers and casting agents have to take advantage of it.
History Of The World: Part I: 6.9
The first Kahn-Brooks collaboration on the list is History of the World: Part I, from 1981. Famously a film with no sequel, the Brooks epic takes audiences through historical periods like the Stone Age and the Spanish Inquisition.
In a cast with Dom DeLuise, Orson Welles, Sid Caesar, and Brooks himself, it's truly Kahn who stands out the most. She portrays Empress Nympho, who features most prominently in the Roman Empire segment.
Nixon: 7.1
Of course, Kahn was not opposed to busting out a dramatic turn every now and then. In 1995, she took a role in a massive ensemble. Playing Martha Mitchell in Oliver Stone's Nixon, it's a smaller but truly instrumental role in the overall arc of the film.
It's the kind of role that Kahn seemed primed to take on more and more of in the future, but it instead served, sadly, as one of her final on-screen appearances. (On the big screen, the last credit is 1999's Judy Berlin with Nixon appearing two entries before in her filmography.)
A Bug's Life: 7.2
The most recent movie featured on this list, A Bug's Life was Pixar's more tepid foray into filmmaking. Released in 1998, it followed up the smashing success of Toy Story with acclaim, if not nearly as much buzz.
While it was Dave Foley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus leading the vocal talents for A Bug's Life, the film was the type where legends of Hollywood could come in for bit parts and make the whole experience that much more memorable. It happened for Phyllis Diller and Edie McClurg, but also most notably for Kahn, who portrayed a moth named Gypsy.
Clue: 7.3
One of the funniest roles in Kahn's career came from an unlikely source. Clue, a 1985 adaptation of a board game from Jonathan Lynn and John Landis, cast Kahn in the role of Mrs. White. While everyone is excellent in the film (especially Tim Curry), Kahn is an undeniable standout.
After all, Kahn is the one with the "Flames! On the side of my face!" monologue. It's funny on the page, but her performance of the moment is such a testament to how she could elevate material and it remains one of the most quoted scenes from the comedy.
The Muppet Movie: 7.6
It's hard to consider a Muppet movie to be a film specific to any particular actor. No matter which actor comes to play, it always seems to be Kermit's film (don't tell Miss Piggy that though).
But while The Muppet Movie was laden with cameo after cameo, it's Kahn's that is one of the most memorable in the movie. She plays an unnamed customer at El Sleezo, but it's such a funny scene and a memorable moment for a memorable movie star.
What's Up, Doc?: 7.7
The first Bogdanovich collaboration on the list is What's Up, Doc? Also Kahn's first feature film credit, it is a 1970s attempt at a screwball comedy in the same vein as classic Cary Grant vehicles and madcap Looney Tunes cartoons.
The film revolves around four people who arrive at a hotel with identical bags and, of course, hijinks ensue. For Kahn's part, she plays Eunice Burns. Eunice is a pitch-perfect creation of tightly-wound, neurotic energy. Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal may be the stars, but Kahn steals the show.
Blazing Saddles: 7.7
Back to the Brooks side of things, Blazing Saddles is just one of the most famous comedies ever made, Kahn-starring or otherwise. Pushing a traditional Western story through the lens of farce and meta-commentary, the 1974 comedy is one of the defining from Brooks' career.
It also wholly solidified Kahn as a player in the movies. She plays Lili Von Shtupp, a conniving, yet still open-hearted individual who helps instigate many of the film's events. Her role is also one of two in her career that garnered a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
Young Frankenstein: 8.0
While Kahn shines in Blazing Saddles, it's Young Frankenstein that allows for a more robust performance out of her, even if it's still a supporting turn. In the horror-comedy (released in the same year as Blazing Saddles, an achievement more suited for a Brooks list), Kahn brings Elizabeth Benning to life.
Kahn fits the character perfectly. At once a "beauty" archetype in the vein of King Kong and a detractor from the eschewed self-seriousness of classic monster movies of yore, she practically hijacks the third arc of the film and makes it her own.
Paper Moon: 8.1
The other Oscar-nominated performance of Kahn's career came as Trixie Delight in 1973's Paper Moon, her second collaboration with Bogdanovich. The novel-adapted story set in the Great Depression also garnered nominations for Tatum O'Neal, the screenplay, and the sound design.
Blending comedy with drama and centering the heart on a real father-daughter relationship, Paper Moon has become one of the more underseen films of the '70s. But it's worth seeking out, if not only for one of the great Madeline Kahn performances of all time.