Blazing Saddles
Sometimes, in order to break new ground and expand peopleās minds to new ideas, one should be required to use the gift of laughter and comedy in order to do so, as Mel Brooks did here in 1974 with his Grand Masterpiece, one of the funniest and greatest works in the history of American Cinema.Ā Ostensibly seen as a spoof of the Western genre, the film is actually a fearless, riotous take on the civil rights movement of the 1960s, concerning a story of a black man who, through an unusual series of circumstances, is appointed the sheriff of an all-white, Western frontier town, and must overcome hatred and prejudice to prove to the people that heās the best man for the job, all while making this viewer nearly fall on the floor with side-splitting humor (much of it due to the blatant ignorance of the white characters).Ā As Sheriff Bart, Cleavon Little practically takes a place in history as a cinematic civil rights pioneer, dealing with the racism in a cool, smooth as silk style, and being charismatic enough to make the audience root for him every step of the way.Ā And then thereās that phenomenal supporting cast: Gene Wilder as the broken down gunslinger who teams up with him brings a unique, deliberate style to his character, especially when he shoots the guns out of the hands of ten men in about 5 seconds; Slim Pickens as the bigoted railroad boss is arguably the funniest redneck moron in film history, and gets many of the best, over the top lines; Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr ranks right at the top as the best comedy villain ever, even joking in character about how heās risking an Academy Award Nomination; Madeline Kahn (who DID get a nomination) is sexy yet funny as a dance hall siren who tries to seduce Bart yet gets āmoreā than she bargained for; NFL Legend Alex Karras as Mongo is a slobbering animal who joins Bartās side after getting humbled by him; plus the cast also features Brooks himself (in three roles), Burton Gilliam (hilarious in the opening scene), David āThe Big Lebowskiā Huddleston, John āHigginsā Hillerman, George āMr. Foytā Furth, early porno star Robyn Hilton, legendary band leader Count Basie, and even Dom Deluise.Ā Whatās shockingly daring even today is the way the script (co-written by Richard Pryor) uses racial epithets from various characters as outright punchlines, so much so that itās never been attempted since, but smartly shows that in many ways, there will always be racism and ignorance in the world (even in the age of Obama), but yet emphasizes that we all must judge people on the quality of their character and NOT the color of their skin.Ā Now, for those reading this who might think that the film sounds more serious than it does, trust me, itās hilarious, with verbal puns and sight gags that preceded the genius of Airplane! and all its spin-offs, with a little extra sizzle to show that itās breaking across all boundaries, and the ending, with the final fistfight spilling over into the Warner Brothers studio lot and eventually into the streets of (modern) Los Angeles, is comic surrealism at perhaps the greatest itās ever been.Ā Overall, a comedy that will be remembered forever, hundreds of years from now, which nearly forty years after its release, remains the most unique experience ever conceived in the genreā¦
10/10