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Very funny
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I have said that True Grit‘s French title of 100 Dollars pour le Shérif is the worst ever translation of a Western film name. Actually, I can think of an even worse one: in French movie theaters Blazing Saddles was called Le Shérif est en Prison. I mean, honestly. The IMDb page on the movie, when accessed in France, is hilarious because it automatically translates all film titles into the French ones and therefore recounts how Brooks was taking a shower one morning and the words le shérif est en prison suddenly popped into his head. Doh. Actually, various titles had been considered, such as Tex X (a cowboy reference to Malcolm X) and Black Bart (a TV pilot of this title was made and was quite amusing although it had none of Mel Brooks’s zaniness in it). Blazing Arrows was an alternative title for the Gary Cooper Western Fighting Caravans and maybe subconsciously that was in Mel’s head while in that shower. Anyway, however he thought it up, it’s a great title. And for me, it’s a great film.
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I have also said that I find comedy Westerns as a genre faintly sacrilegious but I don’t know why I say this really because I love so many of them. Especial favorites are Buster Keaton in Go West and Laurel and Hardy Way Out West. A good comedy Western is an affectionate, not mocking, parody.
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In fact, Blazing Saddles is not just a good comedy Western. It is also one of the funniest comedies ever.
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It’s 1874 in 1974. Very many of the jokes, from the Gucci saddlebags to Basie in the desert playing ‘April in Paris’, depend on this trick, as does the wild ending, of course.
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Another reason to love the movie is the fact that it is jam-packed with every Western cliché under the sun, from the drunken ex-gunfighter to “head them off at the pass” yelled by Slim Pickens.
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Of the actors, Mel Brooks himself, in about twenty parts, overacts joyously. Academy award-nominated Madeline Kahn is glorious as the Dietrich figure (with more than a hint of Mae West). 
Harvey Korman is probably the outstanding actor as Hedy Lamarr (HEDLEY!) He is the slimiest ever politician-crook-railroad baron. He should certainly have won best supporting actor, which, in fact, he pitches for in the script. Sense-of-humor-challenged Hedy Lamarr, who obviously didn’t get the joke, sued Warners for using her name. They settled out of court and Mel apologized personally. She should have been flattered. Slim Pickens’s huge talent for comedy was exploited brilliantly. The acting is superb throughout. Even Ben Johnson appears. ‘Claude Ennis Starrett Jr’ (Jack Starrett) does a funny Gabby Hayes impersonisation.
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The opening corny ballad (Oscar-nominated, words by Mel) is sung by Frankie Lane. He did it straight, not understanding that it was a parody, and it is the funnier for that.
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The movie poster is a hugely amusing work of art in itself (Never give a saga an even break).
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But I think I’ll go for the Gene Wilder line when he tells of his gunfighter past: “I must have killed more people than Cecil B De Mille.”
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Not everyone loves Blazing Saddles. Humor is a very personal thing and either this picture touches your funny-bone or it doesn’t. Myself, I think it’s great.
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3 Responses
One of (if not) the funniest movie(s) of all time. And my favorite scene is Alex Karras’ “Mongo not know. Mongo only pawn in game of life.” It kills me every time (as a matter of fact – I’m laughing now just thinking about it)! I believe Mel says in his commentary that Richard Pryor wrote most, if not all, of Mongo’s dialogue.
Jeff have you ever written something about comedy and Western or comedy in westerns ? ! When typing comedy in your index box many films or actors are showing up but not yhe essay I was thinking of. Maybe I dreamt about it…
I don’t recall writing about the comedy Western in general, though of course I have reviewed many. It might make a fun post. I always feel that comedy Westerns skate on the thin ice of being faintly sacrilegious but there are some I adore. The great comedy Westerns show a love of the genre rather than mocking it.