Blazing Saddles (1974)

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

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers:

Mel Brooks (screenplay), Norman Steinberg (screenplay)

Stars:

Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

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.

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Plot Keywords:

railroad | year 1874 | reference to douglas fairbanks | reference to jesse owens | reference to randolph scott | 

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Taglines:

Never give a saga an even break!

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish German

Release Date:

7 February 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Bart

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,600,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$119,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crossbow Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mel Brooks had repeated conflicts over content with Warner Bros. executives; they objected to the constant use of the word "nigger", the scene of Lili Von Shtupp seducing Bart in the dark, the flatulent campfire scene, and Mongo punching out a horse, among other issues. Brooks, whose contract gave him final content control, declined to make any substantial changes. He did remove the final line in Bart and Lili's seduction scene: "I hate to disappoint you, ma'am, but you're sucking my arm." When asked later about his frequent use of "nigger" in the script, Brooks said he received consistent support for its use from Richard Pryor and Cleavon Little. He added that if the film were to be remade today, the controversial word would have to be omitted, ". . . and then, you've got no movie". After the film's release, he said, he received many letters of complaint about the frequent "nigger" references; ". . . but of course, most of them were from white people."

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Goofs

During the Chess game, the Waco Kid's right hand is steady as a rock, but he says he shoots with his fluttering left hand. But later in the movie when he detonates the dynamite, he shoots with his right hand. His attitude during the discussion during the Chess game suggests he's telling a tall tale.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros. Pictures logo is on a black screen nd burns on fire, revealing the start of the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Emeril: The Sidekick (2001)

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Soundtracks

Springtime for Hitler
(uncredited)
Written by Mel Brooks

User Reviews

"That's Hedly, not Hedy..."

Mel Brooks found a way in 1974 to direct two of the greatest comedies of all time. And in that one year, he found a way to cram as many movie parodies, and not have any overlap, as any director can in Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. What Young Frankenstein was to the 1930s horror movies Blazing Saddles was to the Westerns of the 1960s. And add in there the oppression of blacks during the same time, and you have a biting satire on the role of blacks in society, if not in 1974, at least the way it was in 1874. Cleavon Little (by the way, he's black) plays Bart, a slave laborer for Hedley Lamarr's (Harvey Korman in a GREAT performance as a scheming government employee) railroad who needs to cut through the town of Rock Ridge for completion. The townspeople won't sell their land, so Lamarr has the sheriff killed and replaced with Bart. He's not really welcomed into the town, but with help from Jim, the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder) he is able to earn's the town's trust. Standard plot, and a plot that does not really matter. The humor is so scatological, from so many periods of time, that we know it's a movie, and the characters in the movie know they are in a movie. Take Slim Pickens when he cries out "What in the wide world of sports is going on here?" And the final 10 minutes of the movie is just odd in any other movie, but somehow works in Blazing Saddles. So much humor is cut out of the TV versions, so don't waste your time with it. It has to be seen with the language and "sexually suggestive" scenes to be fully appreciated.