Blazing Saddles (1974) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.

Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC TCM Remembers 2016: A Look Back at Those We Lost This Year 18 December 2016 2:52 PM, -08:00 | Indiewire a list of 21 titles created 14 Mar 2011 a list of 30 titles created 25 Jan 2012 a list of 48 titles created 29 Sep 2013 a list of 39 titles created 06 Apr 2014 a list of 47 titles created 26 May 2014 Search for " Blazing Saddles " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards » Videos An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Director: Mel Brooks Planet Spaceballs' President Skroob sends Lord Dark Helmet to steal planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr can stop them. Director: Mel Brooks Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes. Director: Mel Brooks Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and 1 more credit » Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen A spoof of Robin Hood in general and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) in particular. Director: Mel Brooks Producers Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom make money by producing a sure-fire flop. Director: Mel Brooks Mel Brooks' parody of Alfred Hitchcock films. Director: Mel Brooks A film director and his strange friends struggle to produce the first major silent feature film in forty years. Director: Mel Brooks At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those trouble-makers have other plans for him.

Director: John Landis An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher. Director: Harold Ramis Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised. Director: John Landis Incompetent police detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II . Director: David Zucker Edit Storyline The Ultimate Western Spoof. A town where everyone seems to be named Johnson is in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar ( Harvey Korman ), a politically connected nasty person, sends in his henchmen to make the town unlivable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor ( Mel Brooks ). Hedley convinces him to send the town the first Black sheriff ( Cleavon Little ) in the west. Bart is a sophisticated urbanite who will have some difficulty winning over the townspeople.

Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net> From the people who gave you "The Jazz Singer" See more » Genres: 7 February 1974 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia The world premiere was at the (now gone) Pickwick Drive-In Theater in Burbank, CA. The guests rode horses into the drive-in for the premiere. The Pickwick was also used for a location in Grease (1978). See more » Goofs Hedy Lamarr 's footprints do not appear in the concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. See more » 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. See more » Crazy Credits The Warner Bros. Pictures logo is on a black screen nd burns on fire, revealing the start of the movie.

See more » Connections (Greenwich, CT United States) – See all my reviews A few years ago, Broadway producers decided to adapt a Mel Brooks comedy and made a bundle. Could it happen again with 'Blazing Saddles?' The movie already has four great songs; a half-dozen more of similar caliber would make for a strong score. 'Blazing Saddles' has a ready-made cast of over-the-top characters, strong audience identification, and some minor problems for a theatrical production (like blowing up the phony Rock Ridge) which are easily overcome. But 'The Producers' was a cult film that never made it to Main Street and needed the second act of a Broadway musical to give it a place in popular culture. 'Blazing Saddles' could never open again as big as it did in 1974. In the summer of Watergate and Patty Hearst, here was one bit of madness people could enjoy. And it wasn't just random kookiness, but a film that broke barriers and courted controversy like no other major-release film of its time. No other movie had characters that were basically likable if stupid throwing around the 'N' word before.

In fact, it hasn't happened since (and I doubt it would on Broadway today.) The whole notion of white people and black people living together was not new, but the approach of 'Blazing Saddles' was certainly new. In order to live together, we have to laugh together first. The only way this film was not a trailblazer was in that it blazed trails untaken by any film that came after. Was Cleavon Little then a civil rights pioneer for the 1970s, in a way Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the decade before? He's very good, bringing a lightness to the role that's equal parts Shaft and Bugs Bunny. Richard Pryor was one of the film's writers and Brooks' first choice for Sheriff Bart, but Pryor wouldn't have played the role in the same smooth way. Little is an amiable actor, one step ahead but never cocky about it. He makes for a sympathetic center, and he is flash in those corduroy threads. Little didn't work much after 'Blazing Saddles,' which makes no sense. It was only the highest-grossing Western of all time, and Little was the lead actor in it.

Maybe institutional racism wasn't the sole cause. After all, he had a distractingly rock-solid cast around him, particularly Harvey Korman as Attorney General Hedley Lamarr. Growing up in the '70s, it was a shock the first time I saw the unedited 'Blazing Saddles' with all the casual vulgarity spewing from the mouth of Tim Conway's slapstick buddy on the ultra G-rated 'Carol Burnett Show.' 'You will be only risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor,' he tells his gang before they ride off to pillage Rock Ridge. If only the Academy didn't penalize comedies so, that might have been true. Madeline Kahn did get nominated for Lili Von Shtupp, and deserved her Laurel and Hardy handshake for sure.

Her Baba Wawa meets Marlene Dietrich performance is a comic masterpiece, and it takes guts to wear that dead-weed lingerie in which she performs 'I'm So Tired.' Slim Pickens (Taggart), Burton Gilliam (Lyle), Dom DeLuise (Buddy), and Brooks himself as 'the Gov' all shine, and the level of comic acting remains high all the way to the smallest roles, like the guy playing Hitler ('They lose me right after the bunker scene') and the cowboy who chews gum in line ('I didn't know there was gonna be so many people!') Gene Wilder is a little young and ironic for the bitter ex-gunslinger known as the Waco Kid, but he grows into the role well enough. Certainly he was in tune with what Brooks was doing more than Gig Young or Dan Dailey would have been (Brooks' earlier choices for the part, with Young making it all the way to the first day's shooting before it was discovered he wasn't just acting the part of a hopeless drunk.) 'Blazing Saddles' doesn't make the IMDb top 250, but it's still one of the most significant video titles because it rewards repeat viewings so well.

The wholeness of the film's comic spectacle is too dense to be absorbed in one viewing, especially when you are laughing too hard. It's a cultural landmark, yes, but it's even funnier now than it was 30 years ago, one of the funniest comedies that exist today. Making it into a musical now would almost be demeaning, but I suspect it will happen anyway. 100 of 114 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Blazing Saddles Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 8:34 AM, PST NEWS 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Why don't you... loosen your bullets? from Belgium 17 September 2015 If there was one year that could be proposed as the year of Mel Brooks, it would be 1974. With two of his films, "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" represented in the Box Office top 10, he was America's funniest man.

Mel Brooks has his own atypical style, but both pictures differ in their ways of being funny and it's almost an impossible task to agree on which one is the best. So in retrospect I watched his "Blazing Saddles", probably the funniest Western ever made. The story line is quite... well, let's call it unstructured. Though we can find a certain plot in this total mess. "Blazing Saddles" tells the tale about some untrustworthy land speculators who are constructing a railroad, with only one problem. The railroad needs to run through a town called Rock Ridge and they need to find a way to drive the townsfolk out. They hope to accomplish this by sending a black sheriff so the townspeople will revolt. Then again the film has so many things happening at the same time it's hard to give a good synopsis. Because in the end this film was created for the purpose of being funny, and damn it is! It feels like as if Mel Brooks can literally get away with anything, and people will let him say or do anything because he has earned this privilege since the distinctively funny debut: "The Producers (1968)".

Brooks does everything to keep us laughing at the screen, and overall he succeeds. To truly understand these kind of films you must understand that this is an "audience movie". It is pure entertainment for your jaws and doesn't try to be an over-polished film in any way. And "Blazing Saddles" is pure entertainment from beginning to end, sure there are some slow bits though maybe these are a necessity to rest the jaw muscles for a while. "Blazing Saddles" is the perfect introduction for those who are not yet familiar with Brooks' work. What makes him stand out from your typical satirist is his ability to willingly embrace the redundancy of everything . His humor is more than just vulgarity and something he will always be remembered for. Brooks has no taste, which makes it in some weird way tasteful, and well, if you don't understand that, stick with your "Scary Movie" franchise I'd say. Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Mel Brooks' Uneven Masterpiece from United States 8 June 2015 With PC running amok I doubt if you could get this movie made in this day and age.

BS satirizes virtually everything racism, cowboys & rednecks, blacks, Indians, Germans, Jews, Chinese, Mexicans, Arabs, homosexuals, politicians, sex, musicals, the film industry and most of all, what was, 40 years ago still films most endearing and prolific film genre, the Western. Just caught it again last night on cable channel for at least the 20th time and still laughed myself silly. The only word of caution I would throw out if you've never seen it and stumble across it if it is an edited version, don't bother. Come to think of it, goes for virtually any movie. Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: A western spoof that pokes fun at everything from prejudices to politics, and looks for more. from United States 1 April 2015 "Blazing Saddles", released in 1974, was not a typical western. Yes, it had railroad construction, saloon brawls, hanging parties, some gun play, but those staples were mere parts of the major spoof the film was eager to place on western cinema. And, it succeeded on all counts.

The story opens at the railroad construction site, where two of the crewmen, two Africans, are made to go look for a possible quicksand sighting. They find it, also fall victims to the site, but manage to rescue themselves, then Bart, the hero, slams a shovel against the head of Taggart, the rail boss that had put them in jeopardy, to begin with. From there, the film goes to the political scene, where Hedley Lamarr is attempting to pull a land grab scheme which will enable him to sell land to the railroad and make lots of money for himself. Only problem is that there is a small town, Rock Ridge, on that land, and the townspeople are very reluctant to give up their land to the railroad. Bart is named the new sheriff of Rock Ridge, it is hoped that the people will leave in disgust, but they rally behind Bart and his new deputy, the Waco Kid, played by Gene Wilder. The ultimate showdown between Hedley Lamarr's pack of villains, and Bart's good guys takes place in a hilarious, free-for-all brawl that erupts everywhere.

Besides Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, and Harvey Korman, the cast is ably supported by Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, David Huddleston, Liam Dunn as the town's preacher, and Madelaine Kahn, delivering a spoof of another western classic, Marlena Dietrich in "Destry Rides Again." Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Smart and dumb, but always entertaining from Netherlands 9 December 2014 Blazing Saddles is one step away from being a Saturday morning cartoon. If you have any doubts, the movie at one point plays the Looney Toons theme. If you watch it as a cartoon, the weirdness of the film will thus be received much better. Blazing Saddles is a Western comedy about a black sheriff. It is set in the Wild West but treats its time an place setting very loosely. One of the characters introduced early on is an executioner that is clad in chain mail in a cowl, with a big axe behind him. It tends to break the 4th wall as well...once literally. It is quite funny, and also really not funny.

It has a lot of weird childish and dumb jokes that really miss as well as a lot of nonsensical slapstick, but it also has a lot of cute and sometimes outright brilliant stuff. It throws enough of them and a fast enough pace to let you pick and choose. Overall the movie is witty and enjoyable enough. Also, it is SUCH A WELCOME CHANGE from the modern comedies that use blunt gross extremes or dumb spoofs instead of actual comedy. The comedy is direct and a bit dark, racism and rape jokes included of course. I am glad someone had the guts in 1974. I know I just earlier mentioned that it was different from the modern gross comedies, and I maintain that. This humour works. It has effort put into it and does not go overboard. Frankly, this may not seem a favorable comparison to some, but Blazing Saddles is like a good episode of Family Guy. Unlike Family Guy, this film has a really good story to it. It is competently shot and has a smooth progression in scenes. Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder have really good chemistry as the two main characters. Gene Wilder is Gene Wilder.

This movie does not deserve as much praise for all the stupidity it brings to the table, but it is really cute and has a lot of heart. Its entertainment value greatly exceeds any of its weaknesses. Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Charisma and comedy liberates racism and ignorance in the Wild, Wild West from England 27 July 2014 As expected from a Mel Brooks movie, the story, actors and characters do not take themselves seriously as a young black man (Cleavon Little) is appointed as sheriff of Rock Ridge, a fictional western town where in the late 1800's. As a railroad is planned to pass through the town, the price of land in the town and surrounding area is guaranteed to increase dramatically prompting civil servant villain Hedley (Harvey Korman) attempt driving the townsfolk away to seize the land for himself. Little and Wilder are great as the two law enforcers entrusted to protect the town through whit, charm, charisma and skill as they face numerous hilarious challenges to save and enlighten the local people. Often silly and sometimes ridiculous but very entertaining especially considering the year it was made.

So many movie parodies crammed into one Wild West movie spoof it's untrue! Inconsistencies in plot and poor acting don't really matter to the viewer as such but make this movie score lower in comparison to other, better executed comedies produced since. Only 6/10 but a classic move you will enjoy! Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: "And now, for my next impression...Jesse Owens!" from Canada 9 May 2014 Comedy legend Mel Brooks had a true banner year in 1974, reaching a career high with two undisputed classics, the black & white horror spoof "Young Frankenstein" and this often hysterical send-up of the whole Western genre. It's packed with one-liners, sight gags, numerous anachronisms, delicious performances in virtually every role, and some absolutely brilliant exercises in the breaking of the fourth wall. Gorgeously shot in Panavision by Joseph F.

Biroc and wonderfully scored by John Morris - there's also some catchy ditties with lyrics by Brooks - "Blazing Saddles" is fun from start to finish, and remains a very quotable movie 40 years later. Villainous attorney Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) wants to get rid of the town of Ridge Rock to make way for a railroad line and does his best to ensure that the townspeople are unhappy. One of his methods is hiring a black sheriff named Bart (the engaging Cleavon Little), and of course the "good" people of Ridge Rock don't take kindly to this. But Bart vows to make a go of things, and makes a friend in washed-up gunfighter Jim (ever likable Gene Wilder); eventually he starts gaining supporters as he comes up with ways to combat Lamarr and his goons.

This whole cast is a delight, and it reads like a who's who of talent: Slim Pickens, Madeline Kahn (doing a priceless Marlene Dietrich parody), Brooks himself as the governor, Burton Gilliam, Alex Karras, David Huddleston, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Furth, Jack Starrett (hilarious as the incoherent Gabby Johnson), Carol Arthur, Charles McGregor, and Dom DeLuise. It's no surprise that AFI would name this as one of cinemas' best comedies. It has a very high quotient of successful verbal and visual jokes, enough to sustain it for a lively and irresistible hour and a half. That scene where a gang of cowboys enjoy a dinner of baked beans and the obvious result is still quite funny. Best of all is that ingenious finale. Modern movie lovers who tire of the kind of spoofs being cranked out nowadays are advised to see this gem, an example of how to do this kind of thing right. Nine out of 10. from United States 22 December 2013 Director Mel Brooks made a few Excellent Movies. This is one of them. It could be called the First Raunchy Comedy.

It made the N-Word innocuous with some Help from Richard Pryor, it made Farting Funny long before the Family Guy and it Changed the Face of Movie Comedy Forever. Comedy either works or it doesn't. It is a very Subjective Artform. You either Laugh or You don't. This Movie might be a tad Overrated, but it surely is Groundbreaking. Lenny Bruce was just too ahead of His Time to be appreciated, but Mel Brooks arrived just when things had opened up in the Arts and His Rowdy, Sex-Obsessive, Ethnic Satire was Ripe and Everyone was Ready. This is a Classic and most of the Scenes and Gags have become Folklore. Madeline Kahn steals the show as a Marlene Dietrich take off, but the rest of the Cast cannot be Denied. The Movie cannot be Denied its place among one of those that spun things in a New Direction. Was the above review useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: A Gritty Racial Comedy from Outside Hollywood 14 September 2012 With its script full of racial slurs and foul language, 'Blazing Saddles' was a film that John Wayne ultimately turned down, but told Mel Brooks, "I'll be first in line to see it." Set in the old west, the territorial governor (played by Mel Brooks), wanting to expand his political horizons appoints a black man (Cleavon Little) as sheriff of Rock Ridge, a town run by murderers and thieves. Harvey Korman plays Hedley Lamarr (not Heddy), a corrupt politician who manipulates the governor and ultimately is the head of the gang that controls Rock Ridge. It is a post civil war film, and the racial slurs were (and still are) racy in nature. The film was almost pulled by Warner Bros. in 1974 for this very reason. However, final cut of the film lay with director and star Mel Brooks. Ultimately, the film that was released is what you see, a gritty comedy where you laugh at racial inequality and stereotypes. But it's all in fun.

The only part of the film that doesn't fit and make sense is the ending, but don't let me ruin it for you! Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Don't make 'em like these 'no more. from Wales 1 September 2012 This became my favourite film when I first saw it. It's is still my favourite film today. Mel Brooks did an absolutely fantastic job with this masterpiece. This movie delivers comedy through song, speech, stupidity and even flatulence. It's comedic genius. Yes it might be edgy due to the use of the words 'Nigger' and 'chink' but who cares? I think comedies need edginess like this to be able to make anything even close to this. It's such a shame that political correctness ruins things. Cleavon Little (RIP) and Gene Wilder were a fantastic comedy duo. Such a tragedy to lose Cleavon so young. Such a great actor. I think we can all agree that this is a fantastic film and a true piece of comedic gold. Well done Mel Brooks, Well done. -James Age 13. Was the above review useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: As a comedy, it fires on all cylinders. Brilliant film! 7 August 2012 *** This review may contain spoilers *** A terrific cast (led by the utterly likable Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder), a wonderfully crude sense of humor, and the sense that nothing's sacred make "Blazing Saddles" a undeniable classic. The film sets its sights on the small-minded townsfolk of the Old West (not to mention every Western cliché in the book), while keeping its feet firmly in the present, including a Jesse Owens joke and even a climax that spills over from the WB sets onto 1970's Hollywood Blvd. Little and Wilder clearly had a marvelous time working on the movie, but the show is easily stolen by Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman. The script is loaded with priceless one-liners, the sense of humor tends toward the manic, and the film features Mel Brooks' funniest role as the philandering governor (complete with "GOV" painted on his back. It's a great Mel Brooks movie, a great satire, and an all-around fantastic time at the movies.

9/10 Mindhole Blowers: 20 Facts About Blazing Saddles That Might Leave Your Mind Aglow with Whirling, Transient Nodes of Thought Careening Through a Cosmic Vapor of Invention Mindhole Blowers: 20 Facts About Blazing Saddles That Might Leave Your Mind Aglow with Whirling, Transient Nodes of Thought Careening Through a Cosmic Vapor of Invention By Cindy Davis | Seriously Random Lists | March 19, 2012 | Comments ( ) 1. Blazing Saddles, originally titled Tex X, began as a story outline written by Andrew Bergman (Honeymoon in Vegas, The Freshman, Soapdish). After Mel Brooks (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Spaceballs, High Anxiety) became involved, the film script was written by Bergman, Brooks, Norman Steinberg (Johnny Dangerously, My Favorite Year), Alan Uger ("Family Ties, Champs") and Richard Pryor (Bustin' Loose, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling). 2.

Brooks told the story of how he came to be involved with the film: He was "walking the streets of New York, looking in the gutters for change," having just done The Producers and The Twelve Chairs back to back. Neither film made a lot of money, though The Producers ran a long time. As he was walking, Brooks heard a voice say, "Mel;" it was David Begelman, Creative Management Associates (talent agency) founder--and an old friend. Begelman took Brooks to lunch where he had "scrambled eggs, sliced tomatoes and rye toast with butter," then Begelman told Mel that Richard Zanuck and David Brown (Jaws, Planet of the Apes,) owned a property called Tex X, but they didn't know what do do with it. The agent thought it had a "Mel Brooks" feel to it. Brooks read it and liked it, but he told Begelman he didn't normally do things he hadn't written himself; Begelman said Brooks should write the script (it was only an outline at that point).

Brooks let his wife, Anne Bancroft read Tex X and she liked it too, so Brooks let Begelman know he wanted to work with the original writer, Andrew Bergman. Brooks also wanted to get a group of writers together in a room (like he had done when writing with Carl Reiner, Neil Simon and others on "Your Show of Shows"), whoever has an idea puts it out and the group runs with it. Bergman liked the idea. Brooks said they needed to find a black writer and suggested Richard Pryor--Bergman was concerned ("He's a little nuts, isn't he?"). But Mel knew and liked Pryor, who was just starting out as a comedian and he called to ask Pryor to come work with them. Pryor agreed, but told Brooks he would take the train because he didn't like to fly. There was a certain kind of brandy Pryor liked and asked Brooks to have it waiting for him--"I can get more of it into me on the train before I meet you." 3.

The writing group included a former lawyer who wanted to be a scriptwriter (Norman Steinberg) and his friend the dentist (Alan Ugo), both of whom had to go back to their regular jobs toward the end of the writing process (to earn money). Brooks said he wrote most of the sheriff's part and Pryor wrote most of Mongo. The group would write for three to four hours, then separate to chill out and get away from each other, coming back "when they could take each other again." Brooks said they wrote at 666 Fifth Avenue on the sixth floor; he was afraid (because of The Omen) that they were doomed. Coincidentally, that particular building was visible in 1977's The Exorcist II: The Heretic and a restaurant at the top of the building is featured in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. 4. The writers agreed that Tex X was not a good film title, Brooks thought it sounded like a black exploitation film. He suggested Black Bart (the sheriff's name), but Warner Bros. wouldn't approve that title.

Brooks also suggested The Purple Sage, a reference to Zane Grey's 1912 novel, Riders of the Purple Sage and was told it was too wild and too arcane--no one would get it. They left the title alone and kept writing. 5. Brooks' son Max was born during the time of scriptwriting and poor finances influenced his decision to take on the film. Brooks compared himself to Charles Dickens who, he said, took a job writing a story for a London magazine because the author needed money. Brooks claimed that Dickens told a friend he'd better write "like it's the best thing I've ever written, because it's obvious I'm writing for commercial need." Similarly, Brooks felt that Blazing Saddles had better be the best movie he ever wrote so people "don't think I'm selling out. This film was coming on the heels of The Producers and The Twelve Chairs, "everything was very lofty." 6. "The whole movie cost about $2.6 million--nobody got anything." Brooks said he hardly made much himself, around $50k to write, direct, for everything. The remaining writers (after those that left for financial reasons) held in there and finished writing.

They'd write every day until around midnight, then walk to Chinatown where there was a restaurant they liked--they'd have beef and broccoli and a Pepsi, then walk back. Brooks spoke of working hard to get the script done, it had to be completed by July. 7. Because of a "personal problem," Brooks needed to get his wife and child moved, so he went out to California and managed to find a house he could buy instead of renting. While "living on per diem, eating beans and paying for the house," Brooks went to the Warner Bros. studio every day. He got Steinberg and and Bergman to fly out so they could polish up the script, but the one "scary thing" was the farting scene; "because it wasn't politically correct," they were worried about it turning off the audience. Brooks went to Warner Bros. executive John Calley to ask him about the scene; Calley said, "Mel, if you're gonna go up to the bell, ring it." Brooks said the "crazy, anarchic script had Calley's blessing." 8.

Brooks wanted Richard Pryor to play the sheriff--Calley was okay with it--but because Pryor was unknown, others were not. Brooks called Pryor "the most blessed with talent guy he'd ever seen in his life. So sweet a guy." The director went back to New York and to every studio executive to beg for Pryor, but they wouldn't let him have the part. When he saw Cleavon Little, Brooks knew he was "the guy." "Everyone who had ever worked with him loved him." Brooks said he knew Little "got it" and that Cleavon delivered the lines just the way Bart should (say them). 9. Madeline Kahn had done Paper Moon; Brooks cast her right away, saying he loved her and knew how funny she was from Off-Broadway. When she auditioned, he said "Let me see your legs." She said, "Oh, you're that kind of guy." Kahn was nervous. Mel demanded to see them, explaining that "If you're going to do Dietrich, you've gotta have the legs." Kahn showed them and said, "You're not going to touch them?" He said, "No" and he never did.

Brooks called Kahn good natured and (she was) fun on the set. 10. Director/Actor Claude E. Starrett Jr. (aka Jack) knew Mel Brooks and had once done a George "Gabby" Hayes immitation for Brooks. Mel called him and said, "I want you to do your Gabby Hayes in the movie;" he agreed to play Gabby Johnson. 11. Brooks chose Slim Pickens ("Bonanza, Gunsmoke," The Apple Dumpling Gang) based on seeing him ride the bomb down to earth in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. 12. Liam Dunn (Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie), who played Reverend Johnson, was described by Brooks as "very weird." The actor had emphysema and when he would finish a scene, they'd ask him "Do you want water? Do you want orange juice? Do you want a cigarette?" Dunn would always choose the cigarette; he'd take a few puffs of smoke, then a few puffs of oxygen. 13.

Brooks wanted actor Dan Dailey (It's Always Fair Weather, The Getaway, My Blue Heaven [1950]) for The Waco Kid, calling him the best civilian horse rider around, but Dailey said he couldn't do it, he was blind (wore "Coke bottle glasses"). Brooks later ran into John Wayne in the commissary and asked him to read the script. Wayne told Brooks he would read it that night and that Mel should meet him back at the commissary at noon the next day. When they met again, the actor said it was too dirty; "I can't do it, I'm John Wayne." Wayne did love the script and told Brooks he was up all night screaming, he loved it and would be first in line to see it. 14. Filming started on a Friday. They finally came up with the title Blazing Saddles. Brooks' wife didn't like it, but everyone the director phoned did. Gig Young (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Hindenberg) first played Jim/The Waco Kid. They began shooting the scene with Young in the jail cell, where he first meets Cleavon Little's Bart.

After saying his first lines, "Are we awake? Are we black?" Young started shaking. Brooks thought it was great--he was acting the drunk perfectly, but the shaking never stopped, then green stuff started shooting out of his mouth and nose and he started screaming. An ambulance had to come and take Young away and Brooks said, "That's the last time I'll ever cast a real alcoholic." Production was immediately halted. Gene Wilder had been bugging Mel for the part since before production, but Brooks hadn't thought he was the right choice. After losing Young, he called Wilder and asked if he could take over. Because the two men were personal friends, Brooks had been sending Wilder updated scripts all along. Wilder (whose first question to Brooks was "Why was it green?" --in reference to Young's vomit...Brooks didn't know) told Brooks he'd fly right out and be ready to go. Wilder had no rehearsal, he spent all day Saturday riding and getting used to a horse and Monday morning, filming began again. They didn't even lose half a day of shooting. Brooks said Wilder saved his life. 15.

When Wilder arrived, he brought with him a four page outline he'd written for Young Frankenstein and asked Mel to do it with him. While editing Blazing Saddles the two worked together writing the script--Blazing Saddles was released in February, 1974--Young Frankenstein was released in December, that same year. Madeline Kahn, Liam Dunn, Wilder and Brooks starred in both films. While working on the script, Brooks realized he was smoking too much and quit, cold turkey. When he started working on Young Frankenstein, Brooks met Marty Feldman, who smoked "two cartons a day and wore a lighter around his neck." 16. The finished film was shown to twelve executives. Brooks described the scene: They couldn't help but laugh at a couple of things (the farting scene); the film comes to a "glorious end" and the lights come up..."nothing...just quiet. It was pretty rough." The silence lasted about ten minutes, with only some throat clearing. Finally, Leo Greenfield (distribution executive) said, "New York, Chicago, LA, we can open in those three cities.

It's funny, but I don't know if we should open this." Some people said, "We can bury this. It's only about $2.6 million, it will cost more to deal with the negatives and the advertisers." But John Calley thought there was lots of good stuff and suggested they "sleep on it." Producer Michael Hertzberg (Entrapment, The Producers) decided to set up a viewing at room 12, the biggest Warner Bros. screening room. They went to all the offices and got every secretary, assistant, whoever they could find and filled the theater. Brooks: "Right from the singing and the titles, there was thunder--you never heard laughter like that in your life. People were screaming and yelling and rolling in the aisles. Word got out to the big shots." The next day, Brooks got a call from Calley, who said he was going to put his job on the line and get it out there, spend maybe a million bucks. Brooks thought the poster was brilliant, with the tagline "Never Give a Saga an Even Break" taken from a W. C.

Fields line in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, " Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump" (credited to P.T. Barnum by Brooks). For the opening, horses were brought down Wilshire Boulevard. 17. At the screening, Warner Bros. head Ted Ashley cornered Brooks and said "You have to do the following: take out the word n*****, take out the bean scene, punching a horse, the Lili von Shtupp and the black sheriff--"You're sucking my arm," or something--you've got to take all that out." Brooks (who was writing it down) says, "Great! They're all out!" He walks away, crumples up the paper and throws it away--they guy didn't know Brooks had final cut control in his contract. He never heard from Ashley again. "Imagine if I didn't have final cut?" Brooks lamented over the version that is shown on television, says he can't even watch it--everything is cut out. The film did well upon initial release; even better for its second, summer release (Warner Bros. didn't have a big summer release and people kept clamoring for Blazing Saddles). 18.

Brooks received a lot of letters from animal lovers who thought they really punched the horse (they didn't). There were two horses on set, trained to fall down. "Lots of white people got upset, but never any blacks. They knew it (n*****) was used correctly." Brooks said he doesn't think the word should ever be used unless "absolutely correctly to show racial prejudice. And we dIdn't show it from good people, but from bad people who didn't know any better." 19. Instead of background music, Brooks wanted foreground music--it had never been done. He brought in Count Basie ("the sweetest guy") and his band to play April in Paris out in the desert. A composer himself, Brooks wrote I'm Tired and The French Mistake. Composer John Morris and Mel Brooks were both nominated for the title song which was performed by Singer/Songwriter/Actor Frankie Laine. (They lost to The Towering Inferno's We May Never Love Like This Again.) Brooks said Laine sang with all his heart and tears in his eyes--they didn't tell him the film was a comedy--Mel thought it worked beautifully. 20. Editor John C.

Howard, who worked with Brooks "on everything up to High Anxiety," taught Mel all about editing. Howard came to the set early and told Brooks to "get a close-up in every scene, I don't care what it is...a rat, a smoking cigarette...anything. Just give it to me and I'll edit it together." Director of Photography Joe Biroc (It's a Wonderful Life, Airplane!, The Choirboys)--who Brooks quipped was about 80 when they filmed and must have been 100 when he died (93, actually)--taught Brooks to use two cameras and then cut them together. Brooks always uses two cameras. Bonus tidbit: Actress Hedy Lamar (Samson and Delilah, The Strange Woman sued the production for unauthorized use of her name; the case was settled out of court for "not a lot of money, a few thousand dollars. Brooks apologized for "almost using her name." And...did you know Mel Brooks (along with fellow comedy writer, Buck Henry) created "Get Smart" and is one of only eleven people who have won a Tony, a Grammy, an Emmy and an Academy Award? It's twue, it's twue.

Cindy Davis is riding off into the sunset. Blazing Saddles (1974) He rode a blazing saddle He wore a shining star His job to offer battle To bad men near and far He conquered fear and he conquered hate He turned our night into day He made his blazing saddle A torch to light the way When outlaws rule the West And fear fills the land A cry went up for a man with guts To take the West in hand They needed a man who was brave and true With justice for all as his aim Then out of the sun rode a man with a gun And Bart was his name, yes Bart was his name The film opens in the West of 1874 [100 years before the film was made] with the memorable scene of a black and coolie rail gang laying down track in the heat. They are ordered to sing a Negro spiritual by Lyle (Burton Gilliam), the white chain gang overseer: Now come on boys, where's your spirit? I don't hear no singin'. When you were slaves, you sang like birds. Go on. How 'bout "a good ole nigger work song?

The workers, led by Bart (Cleavon Little), respond with their own original rendition (a capella) of Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You," starting out with the words: "I get no kick from champagne..." To show the black laborers how to really sing a spiritual or campfire song, Lyle sings a portion of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and then all the whites perform their own "minstrel show" version of "Camptown Races." The members of the ethnic chain gang hide and stifle their laughter. The whites are interrupted by Taggart (veteran Western film actor Slim Pickens) who rides up on horseback with his six-shooter blasting: "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin' on here?" He labels the bosses "a bunch of Kansas City faggots." A cowtown named Rock Ridge lies directly in the proposed pathway of the railroad track.

Corrupt Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) - his door is labeled "Assistant to Governor - State Procurer," has hatched a crooked political scheme (a land snatch) and plot to clear the town of people, buy and take over the land (where the lucrative railroad will be built), and resell it to the railroad: Yes, when that railroad goes through Rock Ridge, that land will be worth millions and I want it. I want that land so badly I can taste it. Taggart enthusiastically suggests an Old Testament solution to run everybody out of Rock Ridge: "We'll kill the first born male child in every household." Lamarr doesn't approve: "Too Jewish." Outdoors, the executioner is booked solid with gallows victims, and the noise of one execution sends a frightened Taggart into Lamarr's arms. He is comforted: "That's all right, shhh, it's all right, Taggart.

Just a man and a horse being hung out there." The all-white, racist western town of Rock Ridge is a peaceful town "where people lived in harmony, they never had no kind of trouble, there was no hint of misery." One of main street's storefronts is Howard Johnson's (John Hillerman) Ice Cream Parlor - advertising only 1 Flavor [presumably vanilla]. And the fact that the townsfolk are all named Johnson further emphasizes Rock Ridge's homogeneity. Bucolic cattle roam through the town's saloon. Taggart carries through on his second plan to scare the townsfolk into leaving town by riding through with a group of men (with six-shooters blazing). The townspeople are in the local church singing from their hymnals: "Now it's a time of great decision. Are we to stay or up and quit?

There's no avoiding this conclusion, our town is turning into shit." [The anachronism of the pure white townsfolk using a four-letter word in their church hymn song is typical of Brooks' humor.] The racist, pious minister Reverend Johnson (Liam Dunn) laments the troubles of the town - "sheriff murdered, crops burned, stores looted, people stampeded, and cattle raped." He plans to desert the town, but is persuaded to stay by "frontier gibberish" from an old bearded prospector type named Gabby Johnson (Claude Ennis Starrett, Jr.): "Hell, I was born here and I was raised here, and dad-gummit, I'm gonna die here..." The worshippers are exhorted to remain and courageously fight it out by Olson Johnson (David Huddleston): What are we made of? Our fathers came across the prairie, fought Indians, fought drought, fought locusts, fought Dix - remember when Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over this town? Well, we didn't give up then, and by gum, we're not gonna give up now.

Most of the townsfolk in the stereotypical cowpoke town, all with the last name of Johnson, vow to stay, but they decide they must first wire and petition the governor to send the town a sheriff - because every sheriff appointed by the townspeople has been murdered. The minister prepares to read from the book "of Matthew, Mark, Luke...and DUCK!" when a bundle of dynamite is thrown through the church window and explodes. In the office of the governor is near-sighted and sex-obsessed Governor William J. LePetomane (director Mel Brooks himself), with a large GOV in white letters on his back. [The governor is named after the stage name of a French performer (Joseph Pujol) known as the 'fart expert.'] The ineffectual governor is persuaded by sneaky Lamarr to sign a bill to "snatch 200,000 acres of Indian territory which we have deemed unsafe for their use at this time. They're such children." The Indians would be given paddle-toys in exchange for the land.

As Le Petomane signs the bill, he turns to his red bikini-clad buxom secretary Miss Stein (Robyn Hilton), and speaks directly into the cleavage between her two bulging breasts: Hello boys. Have a good night's rest? I missed you. The governor is also instructed to sign a second bill to "convert the state hospital for the insane into the William J. Le Petomane Memorial Gambling Casino for the Insane." Le Petomane must be corrected for the pronunciation of Lamarr's name: Lamarr: It's not Hedy, it's Hedley. Hedley Lamarr. Le Petomane: What the hell are ya worried about? This is 1874. You'll be able to sue her. An urgent telegram, which arrived from the town of Rock Ridge the previous Friday, is read by the governor's secretary: "Sheriff murdered, church meeting bombed. Reign of terror must cease. Send new sheriff immediately." Le Petomane is incensed: "We've gotta protect our phoney-baloney jobs, gentlemen, we must do something about this immediately!" Lamarr assures everyone that a suitable sheriff will be found to restore the peace in Rock Ridge.

The Attorney General ponders turning the idea of a law-and-order sheriff into his own advantage, to panic the citizens so that they will cheaply sell out their land to him. Or he figures that the sheriff will be lynched by the townspeople: Maybe I could turn this thing into my advantage if I could find a sheriff who so offends the citizens of Rock Ridge that his very appearance would drive them out of town. (To the audience) But where would I find such a man? (gesturing) Why am I asking you? Hip black convict Black Bart, who is about to be hanged for being a troublemaker and for assaulting Taggart with a shovel, is considered as sheriff of Rock Ridge and enlisted by Lamarr as part of his plan to seize the valuable land. After the governor is persuaded that appointing the first black sheriff would increase his Presidential prospects, he approves the appointment for the first black sheriff in Rock Ridge's history.

After taking care of affairs of state, the governor unzips his pants and resumes his lustful tete-a-tete with his half-naked, dance-hall secretary behind the curtain: "Affairs of state must take precedent over, uh, the affairs of state." Brassy band music introduces the new sheriff - as the camera pans upward over the chest of a man with a sheriff's badge pinned on it, Bart is revealed wearing chic suede and leather. Mounted magnificently on his palomino, he is carrying Gucci saddlebags, ready to take the job of sheriff. As he rides on his horse and approaches Rock Ridge, the music swells - he passes by the Count Basie band on the dusty plains (Count Basie has an uncredited cameo as he plays "April in Paris" on a white piano with his jazz band). In the welcoming scene for the new sheriff, Howard Johnson - as chairman of the welcoming committee - practices his speech (with an awful pun) before looking up and seeing the arrival of the sheriff: It is my privilege to extend the laurel and hearty handshake to our new... (pause as he looks up) nigger.

The black sheriff startles the people of Rock Ridge with a sexual double-entendre as he takes out his speech to accept his position: Excuse me while I whip this out. When the townspeople soon realize that he's a "ni-," they threaten to shoot him. To divert the mob, hold them at bay and escape, Bart holds a gun to his own neck, shouting: Hold it. The next man makes a move, the nigger gets it...Drop it! For I swear, I'll blow this nigger's head all over this town. Oh Lordy-lord, he's desperate. Do what he say. Do what he say. When he successfully holds the lynch mob at bay and is allowed safe passage out of harm's way, he marvels at his accomplishment and congratulates himself for bluffing them: "Oh baby, you are so talented, and they are so dumb." The Rock Ridge Town Council meets (composed of thirty individuals with the last name of Johnson), and listens to the schoolmarm Harriett Van Johnson (Carol Arthur) as she reads a telegram she composed to the governor to express the town's 'extreme displeasure' about the new sheriff.

We, the white, god-fearing citizens of Rock Ridge wish to express our extreme displeasure with your choice of sheriff. Please remove him immediately. The fact that you have sent him here just goes to prove that you are the leading asshole in the state. In the sheriff's office adjoining a jailhouse, the "drunk in number two" awakens - Jim, the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder): "Well, my name is Jim, but most people call me - Jim." The former gunslinger, the only prisoner in the jail who is being held until he sobers up, is "very puzzled" that there is a black sheriff in town. He likes to "play chess, screw," and at one time, he was a notorious fast-draw expert, but now has become a washed-up alcoholic cowboy: Bart: (disbelieving) The Waco Kid. He had the fastest hand in the West. The Waco Kid: In the world. Bart: Well, if you're the Kid, then show me something. The Waco Kid: Well, maybe a couple of years ago, I could have shown you something, but today, look at that.

(He holds up his right hand - and it is steady without shaking) Bart: Steady as a rock. The Waco Kid: Yeah, but I shoot with this hand. (His left hand shakes wildly) In an underplayed interlude, the Waco Kid reminisces about his 'ancient history' and how he turned to drinking: "Oh, well, it got so that every pissin' prairie punk who thought he could shoot a gun would ride into town to try out the Waco Kid. I must have killed more men than Cecil B. De Mille. It got pretty gritty. I started to hear the word 'draw' in my sleep. Then one day, I was just walkin' down the street, and I heard a voice behind me say, 'Reach for it, mister!' I spun around and there I was face to face with a six year-old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. The little bastard shot me in the ass so I limped to the nearest saloon, crawled inside a whiskey bottle, and I've been there ever since." The Waco Kid: What's a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?

Bart: If you really must pry.. The Waco Kid: Oh, I must, I must. Bart: Well, back in '56, my folks and I were part of this long wagon train movin' West. Well, not exactly part of it. You might say we was bringin' up the rear when suddenly, from out of the West came the entire Sioux nation. And let me tell you baby, they was open for business. (The white wagon train groups together in a circle.) Naturally, the white folks didn't let us travel in their circle, so we made our own. (Sight-gag: the sole black wagon rides around in circles) The Sioux Indian chief, a Yiddish-speaking warrior (Mel Brooks), confronts the scared black family on their wagon, but then lets them pass unharmed, rationalizing: "They darker than us." Bart returns to his tale in the sheriff's office: "And the rest is history." But he has put his audience of one drunken cowboy to sleep.

The camera tracks right across a barbed wire fence, resting on a sign which reads: "Administrative Personnel Only, Knock on Barbed Wire Before Entering." In the film's most notorious, vulgar and well-remembered scene, gassed-up, wind-breaking cowboys from Taggart's crew sit around the night's campfire eating beans - burping and farting incessantly - bathroom humor at its finest. When Taggart is asked: "How about some more beans, Mr. Taggart?", he replies with exasperation: "I'd say you've had enough!" Taggart is pleased that the dreaded Mongo (ex-football player Alex Karras) [the character was based on Hoss, actor Dan Blocker's character from the popular TV western series Bonanza] - his simple-minded brutish henchman, is proposed as the one to kill the new black sheriff.

As Lamarr's henchman, he gleefully asks the hairless Downs syndrome-afflicted idiot: "How'd you like to mutilate that new sheriff?" In the meantime, the Waco Kid has become the sheriff's sole ally after sobering up, and is now known as "Deputy Spade." The Kid suggests that the townspeople cannot be won over: "I don't want you goin' out there this mornin'. You can't win these people over no matter what you do. They're just not gonna accept you." Out on the street, Black Bart is greeted by an old townswoman: "Up yours, nigger." The Waco Kid comforts and reassures the racially-slurred sheriff after his efforts to be accepted have failed: What did you expect? 'Welcome, sonny?' 'Make yourself at home.' 'Marry my daughter.' You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the New West. You know - morons.

A loud rumbling noise announces the unleashing of the dreaded Mongo in the town, riding a white, sharp-horned, brahma bull or ox (with a red YES on his left flank, and a red NO on his right flank). [Note: This obscure reference is to the "LOVE" and "HATE" tattoos on the fingers on the left and right hand of the Preacher (Robert Mitchum) in The Night of the Hunter (1955) .] A man in a serape sees Mongo entering the town and exclaims: Mongo...Santa Maria. [An in joke: Mongo Santa Maria is one of the greatest Cuban bongo players that ever lived.] The townspeople clear a path for the brute. Mongo is scolded, by a man on horseback, for illegally 'parking' his animal on the wrong hitching post. Mongo knocks out the man's horse with a single, bare-fisted punch and then storms into the saloon - breaking off the two swinging doors with his entry. The entire town needs to be saved from Mongo's wrath, and with a quick about-face, a representative from the town asks for the black sheriff's assistance.

Rather than shoot the beast, the Waco Kid warns Bart to not pack a gun: "No, no, don't do that. Don't do that. If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad." Bart dresses up as a Western Union delivery man with a candygram, presents the package to the gargantuan monster, and leaves the scene (to the tune of a Looney Tunes cartoon playing 'That's All Folks'). When Mongo opens up the box and crudely blurts out: "Mongo like candy," the box turns out to be a bomb, and he is subdued with the blast. Blazing Saddles | Film from RadioTimes Our Score by John Ferguson This all-singing, all-belching western spoof remains one of Mel Brooks's finest creations. Cleavon Little stars as the smart-as-a-whip railway worker who is appointed the first black sheriff to a hell-raising western town; Gene Wilder plays the Waco Kid, the drunken gunman who helps him out.

The two stars are great together, but there are even better performances from Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Shtupp (sending up Marlene Dietrich in an Oscar-nominated performance), Alex Karras as dumb strongman Mongo and the crazed Harvey Korman as slimy villain Hedley (not Hedy!) Lamarr. Brooks also turns up as the easily swayed Governor Lepetomane. There's not a lot of subtlety here, but loads of slapstick and more jokes about bodily functions than you'll find in the average Farrelly brothers movie. Mongo say enjoy. Summary A crooked railway tycoon whose men are terrorising a frontier town arranges for a black sheriff to be appointed, hoping the racist residents will reject him. The lawman proves more cunning than expected, and with the help of a drunken gunslinger, runs rings around the businessman. Mel Brooks' Western spoof, in which he co-stars alongside Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder and Madeline Kahn.

Cast & Crew Jim, the Waco Kid Gene Wilder Taggart Slim Pickens Lili Von Shtupp Madeline Kahn Governor Le Petomane / Indian chief Mel Brooks Olson Johnson David Huddleston Blazing Saddles Blazing Saddles Friday February, 3 2017 at 10:30 PM Films in BOLD will Air on TCM * | VIEW TCMDb ENTRY Blazing Saddles (1974) is quintessential Mel Brooks -- a Western spoof loaded with inside jokes, anachronisms, toilet humor and the director's favorite actors performing his favorite form of broad burlesque comedy. Cleavon Little is Bart, a black sheriff hired by the nefarious Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) to get the residents of Rock Ridge, who live in the way of his railroad, to sell out. But the plan backfires and the new sheriff and his deputy, the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder), a reformed gun-and-bottle-slinger, stand up against Lamarr and his thugs. Blazing Saddles was a huge box-office hit and remains the highest-grossing Western of all time, though critical reviews were mixed when it first opened theatrically.

Newsweek proclaimed the picture an "insane take-off on the classic Western. . . .triggering laughs that measure a full ten on the Richter scale." Variety wasn't so sure, however, finding the R-rated language "incessant" and that "if comedies are measured solely by the number of yocks they generate from audiences, then Mel Brooks' 'Blazing Saddles' must be counted a success. . . .Few viewers will have time between laughs to complain that pic is essentially a raunchy, protracted version of a television comedy skit." The film's opening theme song, "Blazing Saddles," is a "Mule Train" send up. It's sung by Frankie Laine (the western singer who made "Mule Train" a hit) and sets the stage for a tongue-in-cheek parody of the genre. Reportedly, Brooks put out the call for a Frankie Laine-like singer, never imagining he'd get the real McCoy when the singer showed up in his office saying he'd like to do it himself. Gene Wilder plays the Waco Kid, Sheriff Bart's one ally.

Gig Young was originally cast in the role (John Wayne had already turned the part down as being too silly), but on the day of the scene in which the Kid, drunk in his cell, first meets Bart, Young, a certified drinker himself, was doing some serious method acting and was carried away with the tremors. Wilder, who had reportedly begged Brooks for the part early on, was on a plane a day later to take over. The role of Bart was originally supposed to go to Richard Pryor, one of the film's writers, but the actor/comedian was considered too controversial at the time, and Brooks couldn't secure financing with Pryor in the film, so the role went to the less problematic Little. Blazing Saddles is rife with cameos. Naturally, Brooks is everywhere (he also wrote three songs for the soundtrack) - as Governor LePetomane (the stage name of a French stage performer famous for punctuating his stories with flatulence) and as a Jewish Indian Chief who speaks Yiddish and a WWI aviator. Gilda Radner (later to become Gene Wilder's wife) has a cameo in the church, and Count Basie is the bandleader Bart passes in the desert.

Brooks enjoyed working with a repertoire of actors during this period. Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr) is a long-time Brooks fixture, appearing in High Anxiety (1978), History of the World, Part 1 (1981) and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). Reportedly, actress Hedy Lamarr sued Brooks over the use of the name Hedley Lamarr and settled out of court. Madeline Kahn and Wilder would also star in Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1974) and Wilder, of course, had his first major screen role in Brooks' debut feature, The Producers, in 1968. For sheer offensive-jokes-per-minute Blazing Saddles may still hold the world record though the recent Scary Movie (2000) probably comes close. Still, many hail Blazing Saddles as an unflinching satire of racism, while others dismiss the film as an excuse to revel in fart jokes.

And let's not forget that the film was nominated for three Oscars - Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn, doing a hilarious takeoff on Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again, 1939), Best Editing and Best Song. But whatever the opinion, Blazing Saddles has staked its claim in film history as a one-of-a-kind take on the American West. by Emily Soares Mel Brooks: 10 things you never knew about ‘Blazing Saddles’ | New York Post Mel Brooks: 10 things you never knew about ‘Blazing Saddles’ Comment(required) May 3, 2014 | 8:36pm Mel Brooks’ outrageous western send-up “Blazing Saddles’’ was truly groundbreaking — and wind-breaking, during the famous campfire bean-eating scene — when it hit theaters 40 years ago. Though it almost didn’t. Here are some secrets that Brooks has revealed in a new interview included in a 40th anniversary Blu-ray edition out Tuesday, May 6, as well as at recent appearances at the Turner Classic Film Festival: Mel Brooks spills the secrets you never knew about his classic comedy “Blazing Saddles.”WireImage 1.

James Earl Jones was originally going to play the sheriff, Black Bart (the role that went to Cleavon Little), in a version to be directed by actor Alan Arkin. “When that project fell apart, Warner Bros. asked me to look at Andrew Bergman’s script. I thought it was a good opportunity to spoof all the Westerns I saw as a kid in Williamsburg and to comment about racism.” 2. Brooks quit when Warner Bros. refused to cast his first choice for Black Bart, co-writer and gonzo comedian Richard Pryor. “The studio said he couldn’t be insured after a drug arrest. Richard [inset] urged me to return and audition other actors. He thought Cleavon Little was a better choice than him — ‘He’s a stage-trained actor, charming, handsome and strong, plus this guy is coal-black, way darker than me. He’s going to scare the s–t out of that town.’ ” 3. When shooting began, character actor Gig Young (below) was playing the Waco Kid. “He was great in ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,’ and he was a recovering alcoholic.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t really recovering and he vomited something green all over the jailhouse set the first day. So I had to send for Gene Wilder to replace him.” 4. Madeline Kahn balked at showing Brooks her legs before playing chanteuse Lili Von Shtupp. “She said, ‘So it’s THAT kind of an audition?’ I explained that I was a happily married man and that I needed someone who could straddle a chair with her legs like Marlene Dietrich in ‘Destry Rides Again.’ So she lifted her skirt and said, ‘No touching.’ ” 5. Pryor urged Brooks not to hold back on using the N-word. “When I thought it was getting to be too much, Richard said, ‘No, we are writing a story of racial prejudice. That’s the word, the only word. It’s profound, it’s real, and the more we use it from the rednecks, the more the victory of the black sheriff will resonate.’ ” 6. After a sneak preview, Warner Bros. chairman Ted Ashley dictated a memo to Brooks ordering him to eliminate all uses of the N-word and those flatulence sound effects, among many other things.

“When he left, I crumpled up all of my notes and threw the wad into a wastebasket . . . I didn’t cut a sentence or a word or even an expression on anybody’s face.” 7. Brooks assumed people would get the film’s many cultural references. “I always thought the audience was as smart as the filmmakers. When Black Bart is trying to rally the townspeople, he’s basically doing the Agincourt speech from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ with an interpolated lyric from Cole Porter’s ‘You Do Something to Me.’ ” Madeline Kahn in “Blazing Saddles.”Everett Collection 8. Frankie Laine, who sings the Brooks-written title song, didn’t realize “Blazing Saddles’’ was a comedy. “He had performed title songs for many 1950s Westerns [and] sent me a letter saying this was a better tribute to the West than any of them. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was all a spoof.” 9. Warner Bros. almost didn’t release the film at all. “When we screened it for executives, there were few laughs. The head of distribution . . .

[they] said, ‘It’s simply too vulgar for the American people. Let’s dump it and take a loss.’ But [studio president John] Calley insisted they open it in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as a test. It became the studio’s top moneymaker that summer.” 10. Brooks thinks “Blazing Saddles’’ is funnier than “Some Like It Hot.’’ “Billy Wilder’s film is extremely funny, but scene for scene, there are more laughs in my movie. It’s not right for me to say so, but I really think this could be the funniest motion picture ever made.” Share this:

Question: Who played the Waco Kid in the spoof Western "Blazing Saddles"?
Answer: Gene Wilder