Blazing Saddles is a 1974 American satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film is written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and is based on Bergman's story and design. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, nominated for three Academy Awards, and was ranked No. 1. 6 in the 100 Years Old 100... 100 Laughs list owned by the American Film Institute.
Brooks appeared in two supporting roles, Governor William J. Le Petomane and a Yiddish-speaking Indian chief; he also drew a line for one of the Lili von Shtupp support groups. The supporting players include Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, and David Huddleston, as well as Brooks remains Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman. Bandleader Count Basie has a cameo as himself.
The film mocks racism obscured by the myths that create a Hollywood account about West America, with heroes becoming black sheriffs in the all-white city. The film is full of deliberate anachronisms, from Count Basie Orchestra playing "April in Paris" in the Wild West, to Slim Pickens referring to the
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Plot
At the American border in 1874, the construction of a new railroad would soon pass through Rock Ridge, a city inhabited exclusively by white people with the surname of Johnson. Hedley Lamarr's compromising Attorney General wanted to force the Rock Ridge residents to leave their city, lowering the land price. After he sent a group of thugs, led by his Taggart, to shoot the sheriff and destroy the city, city residents sued Governor William J. Le Petomane to appoint a new sheriff to protect them. Lamarr persuaded the stupid Le Petomane to appoint Bart, a black train worker who would be executed for starting a fight. A black sheriff, he reasoned, would offend the townspeople, create chaos, and leave the city at his mercy.
With his quick intelligence and Jim's help, an alcoholic snacker known as "Waco Kid", Bart works to cope with the hostile reception of city residents. He conquered Mongo, a very strong, bleak, but philosophical henchman who was sent to kill him, and then defeated the German teaser-to-hire Lili von Shtupp in his own game. Lamarr, furious because his scheme backfired, hatches a larger plan involving recruited thug soldiers, including ordinary criminals, Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, and Methodists.
Three miles east of Rock Ridge, Bart introduced white townspeople to black, Chinese and Irish train workers - who had agreed to help in exchange for acceptance by the public - and explained his plan to defeat the Lamarr army. They worked all night to build a perfect replica of their city, as a diversion; but without anyone in it, Bart realized it would not fool the bad guy. While the townspeople built a replica of themselves, Bart, Jim, and Mongo bought time by building "Governor William J. Le Petomane Thruway," forcing the invaders to return to "a pile of coins" to pay the toll. After passing through the toll gate, the invaders attacked a fake town filled with dolls, crowned with dynamite bombs. After Jim detonated the bomb with his sharp shots, launching bad guys and horses into the sky, Rock Ridgers stormed the criminals.
The commotion that ensued between city dwellers, railroad workers and Lamarr criminals destroyed the fourth wall, spilling over to the set of neighbors where director Buddy Bizarre directed the number of Busby Berkeley-style top-hat-and-tails music; then to the commissary studio for a food battle; and then out of many Warner Bros movies onto the streets of Burbank. Lamarr, realizing he'd been beaten, called a cab and ordered the driver to "throw me this picture". He bowed to Grauman's Chinese Theater, which played the premiere of Blazing Saddles. As he sits in his chair, he sees Bart arriving on a horse outside the theater. Bart blocked Lamarr's escape, and then shot him in the groin. Bart and Jim then go to Grauman's to watch the end of the movie, where Bart announces to the townspeople that he's moved on. Driving out of town, he found Jim, and took him to a "special place". They climbed into the sunset in a stretch limousine driver.
Maps Blazing Saddles
Cast
Give note
- Count Basie has a cameo appearance with his band, playing "April in Paris" in the middle of the desert when Bart climbs to Rock Ridge to take over the sheriff's office. Brooks plunged into three roles on the screen - Governor Le Petomane, the Yiddish-speaking Indian chief, and petitioner for Hedley Lamarr (pilot wearing sunglasses and flying jackets) - and two screens off the screen. role of voice - one of Lili's choir boys in Germany during "I'm Tired", and a grouchy movie goer.
Production
The idea for the film comes from the outline of the story written by Andrew Bergman that he originally intended to develop and produce himself. "I wrote the first draft called Tex-X " (a play on the name of Malcolm X), he said. "Alan Arkin is employed to drive and James Earl Jones will play the sheriff. It's a mess, as is often the case." Brooks is taken with a story, which he describes as "the 1974 hip - talk and expression - took place in 1874 in Old West", and bought the film rights from Bergman. Although he has not worked with the author team since Shows Your Events , he hired a group of authors (including Bergman) to expand the outline, and put up a big sign: "Please do not write polite manuscripts." Brooks described the writing process as chaotic: " Blazing Saddles is more or less written in the midst of a drunken fight There are five of us all screaming loudly for our ideas to put in a movie. but luckily I also have the right as a director to decide what goes in or out. "Bergman recalls the room as chaotic, saying Creative Screenwriting ," At first, we had five people. a few weeks.Then basically me, Mel, Richie Pryor and Norman Steinberg.Richie went after the first concept and then Norman, Mel and I wrote the next three or four drafts.That was a riot.That was a riot room! "
The original title, Tex X , was rejected, such as Black Bart and Purple Sage . Brooks said he ended up containing Blazing Saddles one morning while he was taking a bath. For the title of the movie song, Brooks advertises on the trade paper for the singer "Frankie Laine-type"; Surprisingly, Laine himself offered his services. "Frankie sang her heart... and we did not have the heart to say it was a joke, she never heard a cracking whip, we put it in. We were very lucky with her serious interpretation of the song."
Foundry problem. Richard Pryor was the original choice of Brooks to play Sheriff Bart, but the studio, claiming a history of drug arrests made it uninsured, refused to agree on financing with Pryor as a star. Cleavon Little was instrumental in that role, and Pryor remained as a writer. Brooks offers another major role, Waco Kid, to John Wayne; he refused, assuming the movie was "too blue" for his family-oriented image, but assured Brooks that "he'll be first in line to see it." Gig Young was thrown, but he collapsed during his first scene of what was later determined to be an alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and Gene Wilder was flown in to replace him. Johnny Carson and Wilder both dismissed the role of Hedley Lamarr before Harvey Korman was elected. Madeline Kahn objected when Brooks asked to see her legs during her audition. "He said, 'So this is a kind of audition? ' " Brooks remembered it. "I explained that I was a happy married man and that I needed someone who could straddle a chair with his feet like Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again. So he lifted up his skirt and said, 'Not touching. ' "
Brooks has a lot of content conflicts with Warner Bros. executives, including frequent use of the word "negro", a Lili Von Shtupp seduction scene, a bloated stomach bustle around a campfire, and Mongo punching a horse. Brooks, whose contract gave him final content control, refused to make substantive changes, with the exception of cutting Bart's last line during Lili's seduction: "I hate to disappoint you, ma'am, but you suck my arm." When asked later about the many "negro" references, Brooks said that he received consistent support from Pryor and Little. He added, "If they do a remake of Blazing Saddles today [2012], they'll leave the N-word, and then, you do not have a movie." Brooks said he received many letters of complaint after the release of the film, "... but of course, most of them are from white people."
The film was barely released. "When we filtered it out for executives, there was some laughter," Brooks said. "The distribution chief said, 'Let's throw it away and take a loss.' But [president of John's studio] Calley insists they open it in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as a test.This became the main moneymaker in the studio that summer. "The world premiere took place on February 7, 1974, at the Pickwick Drive-In Theater at Burbank; 250 invited guests - including Little and Wilder - watched the movie on horseback.
Hedy Lamarr sued Warner Bros., alleging that the parody being played in the movie violated the right to privacy. Brooks said he was flattered; the studio came out of court with a small amount and an apology for "almost using his name." Brooks said that Lamarr "never gets a joke."
Reception
While the film is now considered a classic comedy, critical reactions are mixed when the film is released. Vincent Canby writes:
Blazing Saddles has no dominant personality, and it seems as if it includes every joke that is thought in every story conference. Whether good, bad or light, no one is thrown out. Comedy Woody Allen, despite the very many products of our Age of Analysis, reminds the magic and discipline of the likes of Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. Mr. Landscape Brooks is lower. His stunt is rare, but his use of anachronism and anarchy does not remind him of great comedy in the past, but quite a lot like the Hope-Crosby "Road" picture. With his talent, he has to do much better than that.
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and referred to it as "a bag of crazy movies that does everything to make us laugh except to hit the head with a rubber cock Most of it works This is a photo of the audience, there is not much polish and the structure is really messy. But of course! What's the importance of that while Alex Karras hit a cold horse with a right cross to the jaw? "
The film grossed $ 119.5 million at the box office, becoming only the tenth film up to that time to pass the $ 100 million mark.
In the classification of the film-critic Rotten Tomatoes, the film has 90% positive reviews, saying, "Brave, provocative, and funny laugh-outs, Blazing Saddles is a very happy spoof Westerner who marks high point in Mel Brooks's storied career. "
Accolades
The film received three Academy Award nominations in 1974: Best Actress in Supporting Role (Madeline Kahn), Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Song (title track). The film also received two BAFTA award nominations, for the Best Newcomer (Cleavon Little) and Best Screenplay.
The film won the Writers Guild of America Award for "Best Written Comedy for the Screen" for writers Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger.
In 2006, Blazing Saddles was considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" by the Library of Congress and elected for preservation at the National Film Registry.
The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:
- 2000: AFI 100 Years... 100 Laughs - # 6
Legacy
Pilot TV
The television series titled Black Bart is produced for CBS based on the original Bergman story. It featured Louis Gossett, Jr. as Bart and Steve Landesberg as a drunken sidekick, a former Confederate officer named "Reb Jordan". Other cast members include Millie Slavin and Noble Willingham. Bergman is listed as the sole creator.
CBS aired a pilot once on April 4, 1975. The first episode featured guest appearances by Gerrit Graham and Brooke Adams and was written by Michael Elias and Rich Eustis. Elias and Eutis were then created and the executive produced a sitcom ABC Head Class (1986-1991).
Interviewed in 1996, Steve Landesberg said "Black Bart" was like a joke... We did a test run, and CBS threw it off at the end of the 1975 season in April or May on Friday We thought it was done, then CBS tells us to go back and film six more episodes, and then six episodes Six episodes each season, when the order is usually for 24 or 26. I'm at Barney Miller at the time, and we'll be filming for the holidays winter when all the other TV shows are on hiatus, and they never show any of them It's like a sick joke If I'm not under contract I'll walk, but they pay me so I can not complain. "
In 1989, Louis Gossett, Jr. told CB Entertainment and Warner Bros. made the deal... The agreement is that CBS will air Blazing Saddles, and any sequel from the movie, in exchange for joint production When Warners want to make Blazing Saddles into a series of comedy movies, which just come out every year or so They want to use the UK-owned model for the movies Carry On . But [Mel] Brooks has a clause in his contract that says that Warner should continue producing Blazing Saddles, in movies or TV, or they will lose the right to make a sequel. TV shows are a way to keep the rights. They do not need to broadcast it, keep producing. So for four years I spent my winter on a paid sound stage to be on an event that would never see the light of day, just so Warner can keep the sequel rights for Blazing Saddles. In 1979 they finally knew the market had changed and they were not going to do quels, so we canceled, if events that never got aired could be canceled. "
Mel Brooks discusses the existence of the Black Bart series in 2005: "My lawyer, bless their soul, came to me and said, 'Warner Bros will try and take your control of the movie" Let's in a crazy condition that said that they can not do a sequel unless they do it immediately or create a TV show within six months. "The brilliant, they can not make a sequel within six months, and the film is too vulgar to be a TV show. it's still a problem So the lawyers put it in, never thought they'd make a TV show.... In 1977, three years later, Warner Bros came to me and said they wanted to make another Blazing Saddles , and I say, 'No. You do not' "Do not have the right to do that." They say, 'Yes, we've made a TV series and still control the rights.' What's the TV series? I've never seen a TV show, they took me to the lot, to the projection booth, and showed three episodes.Our lawyer never thought to enter the language that said they had to broadcast it, just that they had to make it.Oy gevalt! , management is changing and they have never done Blazing Saddles 2, and as far as I know they are still making such stupid shows to this day. "
The premiere episode of Black Bart is then included as a bonus feature on the 30th Anniversary DVD Blazing Saddles and Blu-ray discs.
Soundtrack
The first studio music release from the full music soundtrack for Blazing Saddles was at La-La Land Records on August 26, 2008. Remanufactured from the original dome studio elements, the limited edition CD (run of 3000) features songs from the film as well as composer John Morris score. The instrumental version of all the songs is the bonus track on the disk. This disc has an exclusive liner note featuring comments from Mel Brooks and John Morris.
In popular culture
The 2017 animated film Blazing Samurai, starring Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Yeoh, and Ricky Gervais, has been characterized by its creators as being "inspired by and a tribute to < i> Blazing Saddles . "Brooks served as executive producer for production, and voiced one of the characters.
Home media
The film was first released on DVD in 1997. In 2006, the film was released on Blu-ray. A 40th Anniversary Blu-Ray set was released in 2014.
Possible production stage
In September 2017, Mel Brooks indicated his desire to perform a future version of Blazing Saddles' stage game.
See also
- List of American films of 1974
References
External links
- Blazing Saddles on IMDb
- Blazing Saddles in the TCM Film Database
- Blazing Saddles at AllMovie
- Blazing Saddles in the American Film Movie Catalog
- Blazing Saddles in Box Office Mojo
- Blazing Saddles at Rotten Tomatoes
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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