Nobody has ever made me laugh as much as Mel Brooks. The "Springtime for Hitler" number in THE PRODUCERS may be the funniest single scene I have ever seen. As far as belly laughs throughout a film, nothing can top BLAZING SADDLES. There may not be a moment in this film that’s not funny. It’s a satire on Westerns, but no target is safe. The anarchy of it all is right up there with the Marx Brother’s greatest moments.
Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Slim Pickens, and Brooks himself are all at the top of their game. (And the title song is awesome!)Kahn especially steals every scene she’s in as a German saloon singer who sounds like Elmer Fudd. Of course, there’s also the famous farting scene. I personally love all the jokes dealing with everyone in the town being named Johnson.
BLAZING SADDLES is clearly meant to be appreciated as a comedy, but there’s another level here. Mel Brooks has made a statement about the role of race in America with an honesty that has only been equaled by ALL IN THE FAMILY and Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING. The N word is used liberally in this story of the first black sheriff in a backwards western town. The ugliness of racism is not compromised as we see in an early scene where black workers are considered less valuable than a horse.
Its to Brooks' credit that the humor does not pause for the social commentary, but is integrated into it. Watch the scene where the Sheriff rides into town to meet the “welcoming” committee to see what I’m talking about. Rightly, the humor is always at the expense of the bigots. Co-writer Richard Pryor’s black perspective, combined with Brooks' Jewish sensibilities make this the ultimate minority perspective take on the all American Western. It’s no accident that the one Indian we see in the film speaks Yiddish.
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