Mel Brooks has made his
most hysterical comedy right now in the smartly funny “Blazing Saddles,” a Mel
Brooks Film for Warner Bros release, produced by Michael Hertzberg.
Right after setting the
amazingly disrespectful tone with a hilarious parody in the title song (music
by John Morris, lyrics by Brooks), sung by Frankie Laine, Brooks then quickly
goes to satirize every Western made, up to and including “Zachariah.” Ron Pennington said in his review, “Unfortunately, he has overindulged himself in
the broad comedy of the final scenes and lessens the effect of the film
somewhat by allowing the climactic fight to spread throughout Burbank Studios,
onto a soundstage where a musical production number is being rehearsed, into
the commissary and ending in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre. It's a funny
slapstick bit but it also distracts from the main portion of the film.”
The story partly centers
a story by a greedy land thief (Harvey Korman) to rid the citizens out of the
town of Rock Ridge by sending them a black sheriff (Cleavon Little). With his stylish
resourcefulness and the help of an alcoholic gunman, played by the late Gene
Wilder, however, he is able to win against the villains and win the respect, if
not really the respect, as said by Pennington, “of the local backward
citizenry.”
The screenplay by
Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Berman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger (from a
story by Bergman) is completely mocking, never missing a moment to point out a cliché
and offending everyone throughout the runtime. The language is meant for
R-rated movies but it never becomes offensive. Pennington said, “In fact, the
incongruous pairing of the language and the characters accounts for a great
deal of the boisterous humor.”
Pennington continued, “Brooks'
fast-paced direction is a masterpiece of comedy detail, filled with delightful
and perfectly timed sight gags. The predominant style is one of the extremely
broad burlesque but the film is also packed with more subtle touches,
especially in Morey Hoffman's clever set decoration and in Peter Wooley's
production design.”
Pennington noted, “The
performances are all comedy gems, with Korman especially delightful as Hedley
Lamarr, scheming and plotting with all the finesse of a precocious brat. Little
plays the sheriff with just the right amount of bemused superiority, with a shy
grin and a sly twinkle in his eyes, and Wilder presents a perfect parody of the
gunslinger, with heavily lidded and steely blue eyes and a lethargic
self-assurance.”
Madeline Kahn continues
to show her amazing comedic flexibility here as a Marlene Dietrich-type dance
hall performer with an accent that is somewhere between German and Looney Tunes.
Her I’m Tired song is all the reason
to see the movie. Brooks also makes two cameo appearances in the film, as the
funny Governor Lepetomane and as an Indian Chief. The other supporting cast is
equally perfect with the right physical looks including Slim Pickens, Alex
Karras, Liam Dunn, Claude E. Starrett Jr., David Huddleston, John Hillerman,
Carol Arthur, Robyn Hildon and Dom DeLuise.
Pennington said, “The
technical credits are all excellent, with Joseph Biroc's Panavision cameras
giving attractive scope and dimension and capturing the visual humor in perfect
setups.” The editing by John C. Howard and Danford Greene keeps the action
going at a great pace.
This is definitely one
of the funniest comedies ever made. Granted, watching today may make it look
like its really offensive, but I guess that was part of the joke. However, I
still think this is one that shouldn’t be skipped because this will make you
laugh from beginning to end. Give it a watch and have yourself an enjoyably fun
time. Also, sorry for posting this late, I completely forgot about my posting
for today.
Look out next week when
we look at one of the funniest parodies ever made in “Parody Month.”
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