Blazing Saddles was released February 7th, 1974. It is directed by Mel Brooks and stars Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Slim Pickens. In order to scare the inhabitants of Rock Ridges into abandoning their town, Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (Korman), appoints a black man named Bart (Little) as sheriff, hoping that this will offend the townspeople who will reject him. Leaving the town defenseless. Bart must win over the townsfolk and foil Lamarr's plans with the help of a washed up gunslinger named Jim (Wilder).
Blazing Saddles is a parody of western movies. It contains a lot of allusions to earlier, classic westerns. In one scene, evoking
High Noon (1952), the citizens of Rock Ridges gather together in the town church to decide what to do about the marauding bandits lead by Taggart. There is a similar scene in
High Noon where Sheriff Will Kane goes to the church in Hadleyville to ask the people for help and they have a conference to decide whether or not to aid him. It also has similarities to
Rio Bravo (1959), a film that was, in part, a response to
High Noon. Jim, aka The Waco Kid bears is very similar to Dean Martin's character in
Rio Bravo. Similarly Madeline Kahn's Lili Von Shtupp bears a striking resemblance to Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich) from
Destry Rides Again (1939).
This movie is uproariously funny. Cleavon Little is clearly having a great time playing this hip, black sheriff who seems to have a bit of self awareness. Gene Wilder contrasts this with his unique sense of comedic timing and straight faced sarcasm. He and Harvey Korman get many of the best lines: "What's your name?" "Well, my name is Jim, but most people call me... Jim."; "We'll kill the first born male child in every household." "Too Jewish." The movie pokes fun at western movie cliches and Hollywood cinema in general. There is a lot of fourth wall breaking, leading up to the climax where a fight between the townsfolk and the bandits literally breaks through the wall into another movie set and then spills out into the Warner Bros. film lot. This ends with Bart and Jim going to a theater to watch the end of their own movie!
The main conflict in the film is Bart's struggle, being a that he's a black man, to win the approval of the racist white residents of Rock Ridges. This is meant as a commentary on the absence of African Americans in western movies, despite their contributions to the settlement of the west. It was also, perhaps, an indictment of the silence (largely) of Hollywood in regards to the history of racism within the United States. I appreciate this, as it adds a sense of maturity to the film.
At the same time Mel Brooks sense of humor is a little too raunchy and juvenile for my tastes. There is a lot of crude sexual humor, particularly in the scene where Lili tries to seduce Bart. There's also a scene where a bunch of cowboys eating beans around a campfire fart cacophonously. As I said this is mainly a taste issue. There are also a few scenes that dragged for me, particularly Lili Von Shtupp's musical number.
A critic (I believe it was Roger Ebert) once said that the best parodies are made by people who love the material they are satirizing (or something along those lines).
Blazing Saddles feels like that. Though it savagely makes fun of many genre tropes it also seems to show affection for them. When Bart and the Waco kid ride out into the sunset at the end of the film in a limousine, it might be silly, but its also strangely heartfelt. So is the film itself.
Score: 9/10
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