Blazing Saddles (1974)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks (screenplay) &
Norman Steinberg (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 February 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

Never give a saga an even break!

Plot:

To ruin a western town, a corrupt political boss appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Spoof | Railroad | Governor | Western Spoof

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 9	8:00 PM	AMC
Fri. July 10	12:00 AM	AMC
Fri. July 10	6:00 PM	AMC

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Cleavon Little	...	Bart
Gene Wilder	...	Jim
Slim Pickens	...	Taggart
Harvey Korman	...	Hedley Lamarr
Madeline Kahn	...	Lili Von Shtupp
Mel Brooks	...	Governor William J. Lepetomane / Indian Chief
Burton Gilliam	...	Lyle
Alex Karras	...	Mongo
David Huddleston	...	Olson Johnson
Liam Dunn	...	Rev. Johnson
John Hillerman	...	Howard Johnson
George Furth	...	Van Johnson
Jack Starrett	...	Gabby Johnson (as Claude Ennis Starrett Jr.)
Carol Arthur	...	Harriett Johnson
Richard Collier	...	Dr. Sam Johnson

Also Known As:

Black Bart (USA) (working title)
Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles or Never Give a Saga an Even Break (USA) (poster title)
Tex X (USA) (original script title)
The Purple Sage (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Yiddish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2004) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:12A (re-rating: 2008) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Crossbow Productions

Trivia:

The voices for the drunk that Lili Von Shtupp kicks off the stage and the German Soldier that joins her later in the show are both provided by Mel Brooks.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Taggart is talking to the black railroad workers in the quicksand, an aircraft contrail is visible in the corner, in the sky.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lyle: Come on, boys! The way you're lollygaggin' around here with them picks and them shovels, you'd think it was a hundert an' twenty degree. Can't be more than a hundert an' fourteen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tripping the Rift: 2001 Space Idiocies (#1.7)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

The French Mistake

Hey! The sheriff is a ni... BONG!!!!

Remember the days when humanity could laugh at itself? Blazing Saddles is a film that takes us all back to a more innocent era. An era where PC was just a couple of letters stuck together. I'll get this out of the way first: To all of you pc commies out there... the racism in this film is there to MAKE THE WHITE PEOPLE THE BUTT OF THE JOKES!!!! There is not a single person of color in this film who plays a negative character. The rednecks are what this film is really making fun of. I think most people realize this (hence the 7.7), but there are still a few who don't.

This is such a funny film. From the opening scene along the railroad tracks to the shot of Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little riding off into the sunset in a limo, the film provides an endless stream of laughs. Every time a person views this film, they can notice something truly hilarious that they may have missed the last time. Mel Brooks doesn't always hit the mark with his comedy, but this film was by far his best effort.

Cleavon Little and Harvey Korman give the best performances in my opinion. I think Cleavon Little stole every scene in every film I saw him in. He died way too young, and I wish he could have acted in more films. Korman's Hedley Lamar character is a real hoot. By the end of my most stressful days at work, I often find myself talking to everyone in his voice. So evil, and so calculating! He and Slim Pickens played off each other flawlessly.

Good luck catching an un-edited version of this classic anywhere but on the DVD. Forget about any kind of an effective remake, either. Not in this day and age.

Don't miss this film! 10 of 10 stars.

So sayeth the Hound.