And speaking of Mel Brooks, he claims the top spot for casting Gene Hackman as the blind man in his magnum opus Young Frankenstein. Even if you havent seen the original 1931 film, this scene is hysterical from start to finish. Hackman is clearly having a blast as he welcomes Peter Boyles monster into his home and proceeds to scald him with hot soup, break his mug and set him on fire all without realizing it. This is a cameo that results in more laughs than a lot of todays comedies put together.Would these films still work without these cameos? Probably. But they all benefitted greatly from their inclusion.