Blazing Saddles (1974)

4/5/06

The 1970's where by far the strongest decade for the work of Mel Brooks, and while I had seen most of his films of that era, until tonight my major oversight was Blazing Saddles. A 'spot-on' spoofing of films about the American west from John Ford to Sergio Leoni there are a few good belly laughs in this picture. The most delightfully subversive aspect of the film though is its look at the stereotyping and casual racism that mark both the real old west and much of the historic western genre. The plot deals with a black man (Cleavon Little) appointed by a an inept politician (Mel Brooks) at the behest of a corrupt swindler (Harvy Korman) as the sheriff of a small western town. The villain hopes that the presence of a black sheriff will alienate the towns folk and make it easyer for him to run the locals off of their own property so he can make money in a railroad scam. Of course the plot itself isn't that important, as with all Brooks films its the comic performances and the gags that count. Madline Kahn is great as a Marlene Dietrich-style saloon girl, right down to the low German accent and promanite use of her legs. Young Frankenstein is still probably the best Brooks film, though this movies 'western brawl in the Warner Brother studio' sequence is arguably the funniest thing he's ever done. Finally notice must go to Slim Pickins for so masterfully making fun of his own persona.