Saddles

When it comes to satire, there is no one quite as skilled as the legendary Mel Brooks. The comedian-turned-director has lampooned some of Hollywood’s favorite franchises and genres over the years, from Star Wars to Westerns. Unafraid to challenge the norm, Brooks used his wit – and that of his very funny friends – to create some of the most memorable comedy movies of the last few decades. Blazing Saddles might not be politically correct, but the postmodern film expertly navigates the absurd and has even been entered into…

Though it rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as The Wild Bunch, McCabe and Mrs Miller and the wave of revisionist westerns that came out of Hollywood in the late 60s and early 70s, Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles doesn’t need any artfully hazy Vilmos Zsigmond cinematography to upend Old West mythology. True, it is a comedy where a horse gets cold-cocked, a Native American chief (one of three characters played by Brooks) speaks Yiddish and Count Basie’s orchestra makes an appearance on the plains. Yet from the opening…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeIt was “too dirty” for John Wayne to accept a part. Too “disgusting and vulgar” for Ted Ashley, the chairman of Warner Brothers, who threatened to “bury” the film. But director Mel Brooks stuck to his guns, refusing to make edits, and was vindicated. Blazing Saddles, 50 this February, was a massive hit, one Brooks declared “the funniest motion picture ever”.The story of the creation,…

The 21st century has seen a slew of Black cowboys as movie heroes, but long before Idris Elba and David Oyelowo were breathing life into dreamy historical gunslingers, there wasn’t much representation out there. The Blacksplotation films of the 1970s were on the rise, stomping out the few gains that groundbreaking Black actors like Sydney Poiter had worked so hard for. The best comedy is often born out of frustration, and legendary comedian Richard Pryor has been lauded as one of the best comedians of all time for his…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeMel Brooks has revealed that he was seriously considering giving up on the film industry before Blazing Saddles ended up being a hit.The comedian, 96, would go on to be one of the most successful directors of the Seventies, but began his career with a number of low-performing projects.Appearing on the River Cafe podcast Ruthie’s Table 4, Brooks opened up about this tough period of his…

Many consider Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles one of the greatest satirical comedies of all time. Though the movie was a box office hit upon release, a lot has changed since 1974, and many have pointed out that the biting and nontraditional western couldn’t be made today due to its subject matter. According to the writer and director of the movie (Brooks), Blazing Saddles likely couldn’t be released today-- not because of racism, but due to the political climate. While many critics have levied accusations of racism towards…