Blazing Saddles

In October we will be celebrating the 100th birthday of one of the funniest filmmakers to have ever graced Hollywood: Mel Brooks. The man who tried to make bad taste a metaphor for his work was also instrumental in helping David Lynch prosper in film business thanks to producing his "Elephant Man" that got 8 Oscar nominations and gave Lynch plenty of benefit-of-the-doubt to do his own thing. 

"Blazing Saddles" was Brooks’s big breakout success and a film that became legendary among a whole generation of people who would never look at a plate of beans in the same way again. With immense affection, if not self-discipline, Brooks parodies the clichés of 70 years of westerns while throwing in as many sight gags and one-liners as he can possibly fit into 90 minutes. Eventually, the action spills over into the studio lot itself which allows him to include some Nazis and a self-referential happy ending. Some critics dislike this finale but I just couldn’t do without the scenes with choreographer Buddy Bizarre rehearsing a dance number called ‘The French Mistake’.

In the midst of such craziness, Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder deserve medals for playing it straight as the black sheriff and his gunfighter pal and they add a touch of sincerity which makes their friendship genuinely touching. Meanwhile, a genuine western star, Slim Pickens, joins in the fun by sending himself up something rotten.