Posted on 02/08/2019 1:02:17 PM PST by Rummyfan
The Hollywood Reporter celebrated the occasion by republishing its original review of Blazing Saddles. Here is an excerpt:
The screenplay by Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger (from a story by Bergman) is totally irreverent, never passing up a chance to point up a cliche and sparing nothing or no one along the way. The language is definitely R-rated but it never becomes offensive. In fact, the incongruous pairing of the language and the characters accounts for a great deal of the boisterous humor.
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.
The line about "sparing nothing or no one along the way" is key. Blazing Saddles seems to send up almost everything. And it does it brilliantly. The humor employed is filled with what today would be known as triggers for the emotionally weak, politically correct, Social Justice Warrior crowd.
Olsen Johnson is right about Howard Johnson being right!
“I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and daggum it, I’m gonna die here, an no sidewindin’ bushwackin’, hornswagglin’ cracker croaker is gonna rouin me pissin’ color.”
Now who can argue with that? I think we’re all in debt to Gabby Johnson for stating what needed to be said. I am particularly glad that these lovely children are here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed the courage little seen in this day and age. “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40mhFhaGV_E
Clips from the movie (and Dr Strangelove)are in this Naked Raygun song, “Slim”
This live tv segment could not have been shown 10 years before *or* 10 years after it was done. For different reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OKwRsnWO84
There is a great documentary on YouTube about “Blazing Saddle’s, how it got made Etc.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PdukDKUcE0
Now the Waco Kid was originally supposed to be played by actor Gig Young, he was bad alcoholic and on the first day of shooting it was evident he would have to be replaced and that is where Gene Wilder came in at the last minute to play him
Now at one point Brooks tried to get John Wayne to play the Waco Kid and he read the script but declined because of his image, but did tell Brooks it was the funniest script he had ever read and would be the first to see it.
My opinion is that the perfect person to have played the Waco Kid was Dean Martin and I bet if he had been asked he would have. That role was tailor made for Dean and with this comic timing it would have been hilarious.
>>Theres a lot of stuff that even Richard Pryor couldnt get away with today.
...or Eddie Murphy.<<
..... or George Carlin.
There is NO comic college circuit any more. They gave up. The little snowflakes are so easily triggered that even hard core lefties can’t make a joke not in the narrow “PC zone” without the babies going into tantrums.
That is why all late night “comedy” consists of one line told in different ways: “Orange man bad.”
Walmart has the Blu-ray for $10
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blazing-Saddles-Blu-ray/5184352
“What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is going on here”
And The Benny Hill Show seems to have gone down the memory hole.
That was probably the day she taught the difference between 'principle' and 'principal'. You missed it because you were in the office, didn't you?
Alex Karras was always one of my favorite guests on Johnny Carson’s show. A very dry wit...
LOL. I’m more embarrassed by that than you know because in fact, the principal had a sign on her desk explaining the difference between principal, and principle. She even had the “pal” underlined, because she was our pal. I have known the difference since the 3rd grade but still screwed it up!
Darn near lost a four hunnerd dollar hand car!
Mel was ahead of his time with the Toll Roads scam, now look at the country!
Quite True.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and DUCK!
We love that movie. Mel Brooks was a genius in comedy and people back then could actually go and enjoy irreverent comedy. Richard Pryor was one of the writers, fcol! Great cast too. Brooks had a great company of actors that made his movies what they were.
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