For all of it's great and funny sight and sound gags, I can't help feeling that "Blazing Saddles" was brought down a considerable number of notches with it's deplorably vulgar treatment of serious subjects like rape and murder. I don't get why Mel Brooks would sink so low in an attempt to get a laugh, when subjects like those are hardly a laughing matter. I had a similar reaction to a line in Alfred Hitchcock's 1972 film "Frenzy", when a bar patron suggests rape as a 'silver lining' compared to the murder that follows. Brooks showed that he could direct great comedy without resorting to the 'lowest common denominator' style of making pictures with "Young Frankenstein", which came out the same year. That was funny without being offensive.
With that out of the way, there are some genuinely fine and funny moments in "Blazing Saddles". I particularly get a kick out of those fleeting scenes that suggest a surreal and manic look at the world, like hangman Boris with a noose around a horse's neck, or a business sign heralding Howard Johnson's one flavor of ice cream. Depending on my disposition, the campfire scene even gets an occasional chuckle out of me, juvenile as that might seem.
What probably works best for this picture is it's way of deconstructing the entire issue of political correctness, poking fun at a white red-neck brand of racism and contrasting it with a black pride and sense of dignity for the workers on the railroad. The notion of setting up a black man to fail backfiring was a brilliant concept to explore, so that by the end of the story, the whole 'why can't we all just get along' agenda is put in it's proper perspective.
As Mad Magazine would put it, the usual gang of idiots is here in fine form - Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Dom DeLuise and Madeline Kahn looking better than ever as the Teutonic Titwillow. Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart is at the center of the madness, providing the anchor to keep the story moving to it's inevitable conclusion. The proverbial ride into the sunset is given new meaning here in keeping with the character of the picture and Brooks' own brand of insanity.
With that out of the way, there are some genuinely fine and funny moments in "Blazing Saddles". I particularly get a kick out of those fleeting scenes that suggest a surreal and manic look at the world, like hangman Boris with a noose around a horse's neck, or a business sign heralding Howard Johnson's one flavor of ice cream. Depending on my disposition, the campfire scene even gets an occasional chuckle out of me, juvenile as that might seem.
What probably works best for this picture is it's way of deconstructing the entire issue of political correctness, poking fun at a white red-neck brand of racism and contrasting it with a black pride and sense of dignity for the workers on the railroad. The notion of setting up a black man to fail backfiring was a brilliant concept to explore, so that by the end of the story, the whole 'why can't we all just get along' agenda is put in it's proper perspective.
As Mad Magazine would put it, the usual gang of idiots is here in fine form - Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Dom DeLuise and Madeline Kahn looking better than ever as the Teutonic Titwillow. Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart is at the center of the madness, providing the anchor to keep the story moving to it's inevitable conclusion. The proverbial ride into the sunset is given new meaning here in keeping with the character of the picture and Brooks' own brand of insanity.