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name = Blazing Saddles | image = Blazingsaddlesdvdcover.gif | caption = Blazing Saddles DVD Cover | director = Mel Brooks | producer = Michael Hertzberg | writer = Andrew Bergman (story) Mel Brooks Norman Steinberg Andrew Bergman Richard Pryor Alan Uger (screenplay) | starring = Cleavon Little Gene Wilder Harvey Korman | music = Mel Brooks John Morris | cinematography = Joseph F. Biroc | editing = Danford B. Greene John C. Howard | distributor = Warner Bros. | released = February 7 , 1974 | running time = 93 minutes | language = English Yiddish | budget = $2.6 million USD | imdb_id = 0071230 }} ''Blazing Saddles'' is a Warner Bros. 1974 Comedy directed by Mel Brooks and starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder . The film was written (in what Brooks called '' Your Show Of Shows ''-style) by a team of writers, namely Brooks, Andrew Bergman , Richard Pryor , Norman Steinberg , and Alan Uger ; it was based on Bergman's story and draft. Brooks appears in multiple supporting roles, including Governor Le Petomane and a Yiddish -speaking Indian Chief. Slim Pickens , Alex Karras , David Huddleston , and Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise , Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman are also featured. Musician Count Basie has a cameo. The film is an over-the-top Parody of the Western Film genre, in addition to being an intelligent satire about racism. It is also considered one of the forerunners of Gross-out Film s that proliferated since the success of '' Animal House ''. Plot summary The story is set in the Southwest United States in 1874 (though it is filled with deliberately Anachronistic references to the 1970s ). Construction on a new railroad runs into Quicksand ; the route has to be changed, which will cause it to be built near Rock Ridge, a frontier town where everyone has the last name of "Johnson". State Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (played by Korman) — not to be confused, as he often is in the film, with Hedy Lamarr — wants to buy the land along the new railroad route cheaply, but first has to cause the townspeople to leave. He sends a gang of thugs, led by Pickens's character, to scare them away, prompting the townsfolk to demand that the Governor appoint a new Sheriff . The Attorney General convinces the dim-witted governor (Brooks) to appoint Bart (Little), an African American railroad worker, as the new sheriff. He believes that this will so offend the townspeople they will either abandon the town or lynch the new sheriff. With his quick wits and the assistance of an Alcoholic former Gunslinger Jim (Wilder), "The Waco Kid" ("I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille !"), Bart begins to overcome the hostile reception. He defeats Mongo (Karras), an immensely strong subhuman sent by Pickens, then resists the seductions of wily temptress-for-hire Lili von Shtupp (Kahn), before inspiring the townfolk to lure Lamarr's newly-recruited army of thugs into an ambush. The resulting fight between the townsfolk and the gunfighters is so devastating that it even breaks the Fourth Wall ; the fight spills out from the westerns lot in the Warner Brothers Studios and manages to destroy a musical set before culminating in a cream pie fight in the studio canteen. As with all westerns, however, it cheerfully ends with the good guys defeating the bad guy, rescuing the town, catching the end of the movie, persuading people of all colors and creeds to live in harmony and, finally, riding off into a beautiful sunset (although Bart and Jim quickly swap their horses for a Limousine ) – in that order. Themes and motifs The movie serves as a spoof of the western genre as well as a satire on the way Hollywood, and westerns in particular, have whitewashed American history. The film presents an intentionally stereotypical western story, but reverses several cliches to highlight the inherent falsity of the western genre. For example, the innocent townsfolk in this case are far from innocent when a black man attempts to join them. Though they appeared helpless to resist the white outlaws, when confronted by a black man the entire town is suddenly armed. The villainous railroad tycoons in this movie are actually corrupt members of the American government who exploit ethnic minorites and victimize their own citizens for profit. By injecting the "real story" of the west into a cliched western, the movie highlights the falsity of the mythic Wild West propogated largely through cinema. The movie makes use of many anachronisms and breaks the fourth wall repeatedly to remind the viewer that it is a movie. For example, when Bart triumphantly rides to Rock Ridge, he wears Gucci cowboy gear and passes by a modern band inexplicably playing the soundtrack to the movie in the middle of the desert. By reminding the viewer that the events of the movie are a work of fiction, the movie highlights the inherent fiction of the traditional western movie. The movie also portrays a shared heritage of American immigrants and minorities. Chinese as well as black railroad workers are portrayed as equally oppressed. In the scene in which the Indian Chief speaks with Bart's family in Yiddish, three abused cultures are meshed together in harmony despite their obvious differences. When David Huddleston 's character declares, "All right, we'll give some land to the Nigger s and the Chink s, ''but we don't want the Irish ''!" the other workers hold out until everyone is included. All together, these incidents portray a common bond and spirit of cooperation between immigrant and minority Americans, even those with white skin. The film is also notable for pushing the boundaries of decency in cinema. The movie features racial epithets, vulgarity, and frank portrayals of sexuality and other bodily functions. One of the film's most famous scenes involves a group of cowboys sitting around a fire eating plates of beans; for the entire scene the soundtrack plays loud evidence of the most Notorious Side Effect of beans. Featured cast Awards The film was nominated for three Academy Awards , including one for Kahn for a Dietrich -like portrayal of the "Teutonic Titwillow" and one for the film's title song, co-written by Brooks and performed with complete sincerity by Frankie Laine . (There was no nomination for Harvey Korman) In 2000 , the American Film Institute listed ''Blazing Saddles'' as #6 on its list of the All-time Funniest American Films . Also in 2000 , readers of '' Total Film '' magazine voted it the 9th greatest comedy film of all time. 1975 Academy Awards (Oscars)
1975 BAFTA Film Awards
1975 Writers Guild Of America Award s
Trivia
Quotes
:Jim (Waco Kid): We're not sure... are we ''black?'' :Sheriff Bart: Yes, we are. :Jim (Waco Kid): Then we're awake... but we're very puzzled.
:Old Woman: Up yours, nigger! :Jim (Waco Kid): (consoling Bart after the above exchange) What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny"? "Make yourself at home"? "Marry my daughter"? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers... these are people of the land... the common clay of the New West. You know – morons.
:''(La Petomane leans over to his busty secretary and talks into her exposed cleavage.)'' :Hello, boys! Have a good night's rest? I missed you!
:Jim (Waco Kid): (to Bart) Aww, Better watch out, big fella! I think Mongo's taken a little fancy to you! :Mongo: (laughing and giving both a bashful look) Nawww! Mongo '' Straight ''!
:''(Portion deleted from script)'' :Bart: Begging your pardon, Ms, Shtupp... but you're sucking on my elbow. :Bart: (hours later) Baby, please! I am ''not'' from Havana !
:Thug: Rape, murder, arson, and rape. :Lamarr: You said "rape" twice. :Thug: I like rape!
:Thug: I didn't know there was gonna be so many... :''(Lamarr promptly shoots him dead.)'' :Jim (Waco Kid): Boy, is he ''strict!''
:Bart: Hey, where the white women at?
:Bart (disguised as Klansman): Stampeding cattle. :Lamarr: That's not much of a crime. :Thug: Through the Vatican ? :Lamarr: Kinky! Sign here.
:Lamarr: I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one. :Taggart: Well, that's where we go a-ridin' inta town, a-whompin' an' a-whumpin' every living thing that moves within an inch of its life – 'cept the womenfolks, o' course. :Lamarr: You spare the women? :Taggart: Naw, we rape the ''shit'' outta them at the Number Six Dance later on!
:Buddy: Not in the face!!! :''(Taggart punches Buddy in the stomach.)'' :Buddy: Thank you. :Actor: They've hit Buddy! Let's get em' girls!
:Le Petomane: Wow! (whistles and gestures to Lamarr) I've got to talk to you, c'mere... :(walks away, taking Bart instead) :Le Petomane: Have you gone berserk?!? Can't you see that that man is a ni... :(Le Petomane realizes he's talking to Bart) :Le Petomane: Sorry. Wrong person. :(Le Petomane walks Bart back, and grabs Hedley) :Le Petomane: Have you gone berserk?!? Can't you see that that man is a ni?
:Townspeople: No! :Sheriff Bart: You'd do it for Randolph Scott. :Townspeople: Randolph Scott! ''''' as a chorus ''''' RAAAAANDOLLLPH SCOOOOOOOOOTT!!! :Howard Johnson: All right Sheriff. 24 hours. Yiddish-speaking Indian Speaking to young Bart and his parents, who were in "the back of the wagon train" during the attack of "the entire Sioux nation" – transcription and translation: :Shvartzers! (Blacks!) :(To Indian raising tomahawk): No, no, zayt nisht meshuge! (Don't be crazy!) :(Raising arms to the heavens in stereotypical Indian pose): Loz im geyn! (Let him go!) :Cop a walk, it's alright. Abi gezunt! (As long as you're healthy!) Take off! :(To other Indians): Hast du gezehen in dayne lebn? (Have you ever seen such a thing?) They ''darker than us!'' Woof! See also External links
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