Blazing Saddles (1974)

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Blazing Saddles (1974)

7/10

Starring

Cleavon Little

Gene Wilder

Harvey Korman

Slim Pickens

Madeline Kahn

Mel Brooks

Dom DeLuise

Directed by Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks’ 1974 satirical western comedy is one for the record books, for the way the master comedian put together a spoof above spoofs and making every other spoof writer wish they could just write like him.

The movie runs the opposite direction of the regular Hollywood movies, as the hero in the movie is a black man in an all-white town. Not only that, only Mel can place German World War II soldiers in a western.

Brooks use of anachronism is one to respect, the movie also lacks any form of dominant character. Everyone is just up and about on some business. Something you will hate if it was another movie, but here it will fly past you, until you are done and you cannot put your finger on who was up to what and what was their name. All you can remember was that you laughed and wondered what silly thing they will do next.

What is Blazing Saddles about?

Forget the title it doesn’t do justice to what happened in the movie, there was no hard riding or master jockey. It was just a man’s selfish ambition to construct a railroad through a town named Rock Ridge.

Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) the man in charge of the railroad construction decides to buy the land of Rock Ridge for a cheap amount by sending gangs and hoodlums to raid it, so he can construct the railroad across it.

The people then send a message to the Mayor for help and Hedley the Mayor’s right hand man, who makes every of the Mayor’s decision sent them a black man as their Sheriff a man who was previously set to be hanged, with the aim that he will not be able to save the town. Hedley’s ingenious idea turned around to bite him as the new Sheriff with the aid of his deputy a drunkard named Jim, the “Waco Kid” were up to the task.

The movie was a whooping financial success. This $2.6 million budget of a film brought in over $119 million from the box office. The movie screenplay has had the likes of Richard Pryor as one of its credits.

My favorite quote in the movie for me was when Harvey Korman said, "You men are only risking your lives, while I am risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!"

The movie did get Academy Award nominations, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Madeline Kahn, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Song not winning any and it is number 6 in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs.

If you have not been privileged to have seen this movie by now, I guess you need to. You can’t leave this earth without having seen this movie.