Review of Blazing Saddles (1974) by Anti R — 26 Mar 2017

Sure, Blazing Saddles is one of Mel Brooks' less politically correct movies, but he does an impressive job in replicating the classic Western aesthetic (no inside-reference-turned-pun intended) for an essential twist: What if our hero were black? That forward thinking quickly trumps accusations of a racist agenda, not to mention that this is a spoof movie. Oddly enough, the film's greatest weaknesses are found in the jokes and the acting. When the movie hits, it's with flying colours. For example, *SPOILERS(?)* when the roughest thugs in the Wild West invade a movie studio of relatively scrawny, effeminate male dancers, an all-out brawl turns into a place of reconciliation. It's endearing, and quite funny. Mel Brooks clearly loves Looney Tunes, even using the closing credits theme after one gag. I might argue that this movie is equally an ode to Looney Tunes as it is to classic Westerns, with the edge of addressing contemporary racism (in a tongue in cheek fashion, to clarify).

However, Looney Tunes had its flaws. Mel Brooks seems to try to replicate those flaws as well. The cabaret number from Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn), about how tired she is, is, ahem, tiresome. Actual cabaret is much funnier. Even more confusing is the scene that follows, when she tries to seduce Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) for the evil plot of Helen Lamar (Harvey Korman, and that's HEDLEY). I have no idea when her intentions changed from seducing evilly to genuinely, but when we next see her, we are to assume she is on the side of Bart. Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, and Harvey Korman are all pretty funny, as their lines were practically written for them. Cleavon Little, however, is unfairly disadvantaged by not being Richard Pryor, incidentally one of the screenwriters for Blazing Saddles. Little does his best, and strikes gold when he can bring the stage to the screen, particularly in cartoonish moments like holding himself hostage so others withdraw guns from his face. Still, certain lines of his feel heavily indebted to the unique delivery of Pryor. Additionally, the sex and fart jokes have not aged very well. Hanging a horse rider AND his horse, on the other hand? Awesome. Segregation of carriage circles, when being raided by Native Americans? Splendid. I would watch Blazing Saddles again, though I am not blameless, if I would ever prefer to watch isolated clips from the movie.