It was a great movie, but you had to watch it more than once to catch everything. There’s a lot of comedy in the background, like in the art on the walls. And to catch all the lines, too. Each was a gem. Â Hedley Lamarr: “My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought, cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.”
Taggart: “God darn it, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a 20-dollar whore.”
It’s hard to believe it was 50 years ago. It was a better time for real comedy when people could laugh and not be offended by everything. It’s too bad people can’t watch the original version today without difficulty and enjoy it. The comedy people find offensive was satiric. The movie was also a parody of Westerns.
Gene Wilder summed it up. Wilder played Jim in the movie. In an interview, he said, “They’ve smashed racism in the face, but they’re doing it while you laugh.” It did, but no one seems to be laughing today. Today, Blazing Saddles is highly edited, so that message is lost. Some found the anti-racism message racist. Ironic, isn’t it? In fact, in a search for quotes, “racist quotes” come up now, the opposite of the intention. Are we evolving or devolving?
The movie had a great cast of characters: Lili, Jim (Waco Kid), Taggart, Sheriff Bart, Hedley, Lepetomame, and his more-than-voluptuous secretary, Jill Stein, Howard Johnson (one flavor of ice cream), Mongo, and the guy who played Van Johnson (I had a chance to meet and talk to him once) to name a few.
The movie takes place in 1874, 100 years before its release. There were many stars. Most guys, getting down to “bwass tacks,” would pick Madeline Kahn. She was no “ordinawy” woman either. Kahn received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role.
Here’s something some may not know. Some of the actors were together for another movie by Mel Brooks released the same year,