I have the beautiful experience of having a Jamaican friend that I went to Junior High School with and one Halloween my mother was really good with costumes he came over and got some help and made himself a klansman costume now this man was very black and it was truly hilarious just to look at him it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life and one of the funniest things I've ever experienced
When Gene Wilder died I went back to rewatch this classic and had a good cry over his last line: "Where ya going, cowboy?" "Nowhere special." "'Nowhere Special.' Always wanted to go there..." RIP Gene. Thanks for all the good memories.
It is very refreshing to see anyone in today’s climate that can see this movie for what it is. SO many people misunderstood the entire basis of Blazing Saddles. Great reaction. FYI, your moms laugh is amazing! 😂
Mel brooks is playing the governor, He also plays a Indian chief later as a spoof that Jewish men were often cast as Indians in westerns. This movie is a brilliant satire on the ignorance of racism.
Cleavon Little was such a brilliant actor. I loved him in this movie. Cleavon put with Gene Wilder was comedic brilliance, and Brooks and Pryor collaborating on the screen play was just awesome. Richard Pryor could absolutely eat a bigot alive with the bigot’s stupidity.
What I love about Mel Brooks was that he showed the stupidity of racism and in many ways hate itself. I know a woman who thinks this movie is racist because of its unrestrained use of the word nibber, but what she doesn't understand is the black sheriff is smart and charismatic, and the movie just makes fun of racism through and through. Greatest anti-racist movie ever made, effective too.
I saw this movie in the theatre and it was CRAZY!!!! The wife and I waited in line with nothing but Blacks and we being the ONLY Whites felt absolutely NO feelings of anything but expectation of this newest Mel Brooks Movie...It was very crowded when we sat down... not a seat empty!!! I never heard so much gasping, and snickerings, howls of laughter...the older lady in front of us spewed her "spiked" 7 up in front of us during the camp fire fart scene...never had a better time and we enjoyed one hell of a night!!! AND guess what NOT A DAM, RIOT, calls for cancelation nothing what so ever!!! Now look at us...the fun has gone, and now there is nothing but hate and fear!!! Such a pity for you young kids to not have known those days!!! Thank you darlin for the reaction of a GOOD classic comedy! AND YEP I subscribed for more of your content!
The white actors actually had a hard time and were really uncomfortable saying the n word. Burton Gilliam, who played Lyle, was even more reluctant because Cleavon Little was his friend. Little had to take him aside and told him to say it because they were actors and Little knew those weren’t his words.
There's a rumor (I've never been able to confirm or deny;) that in the script writing Gene and Richard Pryor got together and Gene wrote all of Cleavon's lines while Pryor wrote Hedley and the majority of minor characters (and that the subtitles when the black guys on the plane talk in "Airplane!" was a joke back at Mel Brooks by their writers.)
Best review of Blazing Saddles of them all. Kudos to you, ladies for bring mature, and realizing this movie is not intended to be racist, but to ridicule the absurdity of racism
Nah Gene Wilder wasn’t playing an inmate. He was just in lockup because he was so drunk, he was in there til he sobered up but then he had nowhere better to go so he just hung around.
The percentage of commenters here who understand that this movie was a satire of racism, rather than an example of it - roughly all of you - actually gives me a lot of hope for the world.
The great thing about Blazing Saddles is the statement it makes on racism. As a comedy, it portrays all of the racist characters as incompetent fools and mocks them endlessly. A lot of people miss the point. Brooks and Pryor are not taking racism lightly for laughs. They are savagely showing that racist people are not clever, are not smart, and are not competent human beings, and that they should shamed as the fools they are.
Mel Brooks is a genius! He’s an equal opportunity offender. He makes fun of everyone and it was funny. Comedy when you could take it and not have such thin skin and get offended Love it. Try Young Frankenstein by Mel. 💓
Story told by Mel Brooks: There was a special showing of Blazing Saddles for the Los Angeles branch of the N.A.A.C.P. and the Urban League, before the movie opened. At the opening scene, it was a "little tense". The came 'I Get No Kick From Champaign'. The roar of laughter was amazing.
I saw this almost 50 years ago when it came out. The theater audience was mixed, everyone had was laughing. After the movie people of all races hung out in the parking lot talking & laughing about it. The movie poked fun at everyone. Man, really miss those days.
That's the genius behind this movie. To expose the joke of racism. Now adays people are sensitive and in their feelings a lot. Mel Brooks and Clevon Little came together for this movie to show how ridiculous it is to be overly sensitive. I'm really glad the newer generation is watching this. It really should be a staple in modern culture. I know some would bark racism at it. But just know. It's a comedy. And not in any way shape or form racist. Nevermind some of the wording in the movie. Take it at face value and laugh like these two have. Maybe people can get along better after this
Mel Brooks actually thought all the use of the N word was going too far. Richard Pryor and Clevan Little were able to convince him the film would be acceptable as is, without any changes. The studio execs almost shelved the film due to the extreme racist language until a screening was held for studio workers who were mostly black. It was given the green light due to how hilarious the workers thought the movie was.
Jim wasn't really an inmate in the cell, he was just the town drunk. So when he would get too drunk they let him sleep the night in the jail cell rather than sleeping in the gutter.
The Caucasian actors actually had severe reservations about using the language, and the actor playing the sheriff told them flat out that if he thought these were words they meant there'd be a problem, but that the movie was larger than that and they didn't need to worry about hurting or offending him.
And, that they reference recreating Rock Ridge "right down to the orange roof on Howard Johnson's [outhouse?] - heartening to the orange rooves of Howard Johnson restaurants.
Harvey Korman was Hadley, he did many things, but most famous for his being a regular with Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett Show. Check out their Dentist Skit, and Gone Went The Wind Skit. You'll love them both.
I was at the 3:20 mark... right after the scene... and your response... "No he didn't... he really went there" I thought to myself... "kiddo... you're in for an interesting ride"
I'm a 62 year old white woman, I saw this movie when it 1st came out, thought it was hilarious, Mel brooks made fun of everyone, I'm Irish, and was not the least bit offended when they said "they don't want the Irish"😂😅
I appreciate your reaction, respect and understanding of this movie.........Mel Brooks was not racist, he made everyone the butt of of his jokes including his own Jewish heritage.....it was just humor
I got it the first time I seen it in a theater. I was only 10. But back then, in California we had many independant TV stations on UHF that played old movies. I really miss those channels.
I saw Blazing Saddles in the theater when it came out in 74. That was a time when everyone could laugh together. This movie was really laughing a racism. Somewhere we allowed people to get into power who have tried to drive a wedge between us.
That was Mel Brooks. He's Jewish, and he made fun of everything Jewish. Richard Pryor made fun of every African American stereotype out there at the time, which is what made Blazing Saddles so funny.
This movie was made to make fun of racism. Mel Brooks has said that if he were to try making it today there's no way any studio would want to back him.
Mel Brooks addresses the problems that humanity in the US has. He used humor and was blunt about making fun of the offenders. Mel Brooks was Jewish, he had experience with prejudice and used humor to deflect and show how foolish they look. He's a treasure.
When Mungo punches the horse, was the most talked about thing from the trailers. Years later when the actor showed up on "Webster" as the dad, we were amazed.
Back when a movie could make fun of everyone and people didn’t lose their minds. Hopefully someday everyone can calm down and we could go back to laughing at funny stuff. Lol.
It's refreshing that people still enjoy the humour behind Blazing Saddles. It's classic Mel Brooks at his finest. It tore down so many walls that were built on racism and bigotry. Fun fact: Mel wrote most of Sheriff Bart's lines; and Richard Pryor wrote all of Mongo's lines.
Written by Richard Prior & Mel Brooks, Prior was supposed to star in the film but was considered unreliable, Cleavon Little did an amazing job acting to the point I can’t imagine anyone else in the role, one of my favourite movies, sadly we’ll never see films like this anymore, Tropical Thunder was probably the last movie to dare go there.
I was working in Washington, D.C. a year after the movie came out. I took some visiting friends to see it. They hadn't heard about it, and thought I was taking them to see an old fashioned shoot-em-up ! Hillarious! Saw it again two weeks ago. 48 years later...it really hasn't lost an inch.....
I first saw this movie in Hohenfels, Germany in 1974. My unit had just come out of the field and we were beat,…until we went to see this movie. It was a riot to see all of the troops, black, white, and whatever laughing our heads off for days afterwards.
This movie is a satire on racism which is why it specifically includes the N word. They're poking fun at racism and showing how stupid it really is. One of the really funny parts is when Mel Brooks plays the Indian chief and the Indians are all speaking Yiddish. I missed that the first few times I watched it. It's so incredibly funny but still keeps it's message. Love your reactions!
The genius behind what Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks did was that they dragged racism and intolerance out of the back, threw it into the dirt, and stomped it to death with laughter. In fact most of the white actors objected to saying the word n****r until Richard and Cleavon assured them that it was okay. Hilarious movie that probably couldn't be filmed today because too many people are too narrow minded to see the truth behind what the writers were doing. Glad you ladies watched and enjoyed it.
Mel Brooks understood the best way to deal with racism; ridicule it. Laugh at it. Or as MLK Jr would say, like a cancer, expose it to the light. Sad a movie like this would never get produced today.
I have to TOTALLY echo what Eric said entirely, and greatly appreciate your ability to laugh with this movie! Mel Brooks, a Jewish writer, director and producer, did exactly that by mocking racism and making you laugh at it! And yes, sadly such a great farce wouldn't be made today. Another great farce of Mel's is "The Producers" which Mel created a whole movie around what had originally been short film called "Sprintime for Hitler" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1zY1orxW8Aw.html
I'm so glad some people can still find the humor in a movie like this, instead of seeking to be offended. It should never be politically incorrect to make fun of racism.
Fun Fact: Mel Brooks wrote the lyrics to the title song and advertised for a “Frankie Laine” type singer to sing it. Frankie Laine was a famous singer at the time who sang a bunch of songs for westerns like the theme for Rawhide. Well Frankie Laine himself answered the call for a singer and sang the title song. But Mel Brooks didn’t have the heart to tell him Blazing Saddles was a comedy spoof of a western. So Frankie Laine sang his ass off trying to get it perfect thinking it was a legit western movie. Didn’t find out until afterwards it was a spoof!! This is one of my all time fav movies. I have carried a DVD of it all over as one of my “feel good on a bad day” movies. It’s been to both Bosnia Herzegovina and Iraq with me when I was in the Army and stays as a digital file on my phone 24/7 now just in case I am stuck in a line somewhere getting pissed off and need to relax and laugh 😂
You guys' reactions are priceless! Mother dying with (barely) contained laughter while Daughter struck by complete disbelief and total awe. This is the first of your videos I've ever seen. can't wait to see the others.
Mel Brooks, the writer, director, producer, also played the Governor, and the Native Chief with the Yiddish accent who stopped to question the only Black family traveling in a covered wagon in their own wagon train forming their own circle of wagon. "Oy! They darker than us!!"
They pack the jokes so close together that sometimes you miss a joke because you were laughing so hard at the last one. In the sheriff entry scene, the Laurel and Hardy handshake is a reference to the great comedy duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. There are tons of in jokes and historical references in the movie.
Point of reference; the director Mel Brooks was born in 1926 in Brooklyn NY. For sure his younger years were full of racist bigotry what with him being a “New York Jew”. The movie was made too show the stupidity of racism specifically and bigotry in general. Mel filled this movie with actors, male and female going back 30 years in the industry. Hedy Lamar was a mid 20th century actress of whom Charlie Chaplin said was the most beautiful woman on earth. She is also said to be the one that first thought of the technology that made radio controlled torpedoes. Which is also the same technology that makes cell phones possible.
I remember seeing "Blazing Saddles" both on the big screen and tv. And yes, it was heavily censored. The bean scene had the sound effects silenced. The town fight was padded to make up for cutting out a lot of the more offensive scenes. And yes, I'm old.
No Kidding. I have been watching this movie for over 40 years and saw something that I had never seen before while watching a reaction vid to this movie. It was during the food fight and "Hitler" was in the background giving a Sieg Heils to everyone.
I watched this film when it was first released, and it took me the better part of a decade before I realized the running joke throughout this movie. The sheriff's name is Bart. What's the name associated with the color black in old westerns? Bart. So the sheriff was (literally) Black Bart. It was a face-palm moment.
He was only in the jail for public drunkenness so in the morning he was no longer an inmate. Lol there are many jokes you pass by, you have to be older to get them. Like the laurel & hardy handshake joke. Laurell & Hardey were 2 very famous comedians. And a older but popular song reference with "...do that vodo, that you do so well" in the lyrics. Truly brilliant! The plays on words are so thick through this it's really amazing. I still watch this every other year or so because of it sheer clever script & all out belly laughs. So glad you are reviewing this! ❤️❤️❤️
I totally admire how you saw this movie for what it is and not a biggoted, prejudice attempt at racism. You are both some high-class ladies. Keep up the good work, and God bless.
Enjoyed your reaction video they threw everything they could into this movie.. I will recommend 2 comedy movies for you ladies that are very funny! You should see them even if you don't do a reaction video to them but you may want to because they are hilarious. 1. The World's Greatest Lover (1977) & 2. The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
This movie abosoluetly ridicules racism, but they did make the racism historically accurate as well, which is what's so genius about the movie. Another thing y'all might be missing historical context for... Mel Brooks is a Jewish man. In the golden ages of Hollywood, they never cast Native Americans for NA roles. Instead, they'd often cast Jews. In the scene with the natives talking to Bart's family, that was Mel Brooks in "redface" but speaking in Yiddish as a way to ridicule Hollywood's failure to cast Native Americans in Native American roles.
At the time this movie came out, we actually thought that racism was over forever. We were a generation that could laugh at each other and even laugh at ourselves. It was a much better time than we see now.
I absolutely love watching first reaction videos of Black People watching this movie for the first time. Especially when they realize that the whole movie is nothing but making fun of racist people. I’ve had to share this movie with tons of my friends in the past (after a short explanation and warning of course) 😂
Cleavon Little is a _legend_ in this movie. The man's level of pure sass is just crazy. The dude definitely knew what caliber of comedy he was starring in and went full-tilt with his performance. A key factor in enjoying this movie is to keep in mind that, yes, it's terribly racist, but the point is to mock _the racists._ And Cleavon does a fantastic job of doing that. The moment where he holds himself hostage and escapes into the sheriff's office, then says "They are _so_ dumb" will forever be burned into my memory xD . Such a brilliant scene.
@@DunawayCreations Cancer =( . It takes away even the greats. But at the very least, we do have some great performances to remember him by, this one included. A toast to Cleavon!
Gene Wilder (Cisco Kid) wasn't really an inmate, just got put in a cell to 'sleep it off' Which Western shows (and Andy Griffith) tell me wasn't unusual Somewhere before they leave town (I think before Mongo, even) the Sherrif says something like "I'm gonna need a deputy..."
17:05 Jim "The Waco Kid" was a drunk. He wasn't in jail for committing a crime, he was in there sleeping off his drunkenness. He was free to leave at any time.
It still holds up well. Mel Brooks ( Gov and Indian chief as well as director and Co- writer ) created a farce to poke unrelenting fun at the stupidity of prejudice. The school marm in real life was the wife of the gay director. The drunk played the deputy that fell off the helicopter in First Blood. The deputy played the lead in another Mel Brooks film, Young Frankenstein. The villain was a cast member of The Carol Burnet Show. Also the name Hedley Lamerr was a play on the name of a silent era actress, Hedy Lamar. Mel Brooks is still alive. see his other well known films. it's worth it.
Hedy really wasn't a silent era actress. She was in "talkies" sound films. During WW2 she helped solve the torpedo dentination problem the US Navy was having. She was a brilliant physicist
@@steveschierholz5272 you're also correct. She spanned both eras. She was also an inventor, whose frequency skipping concepts are in use today in wifi and Bluetooth communications, and likely other areas also.
When concerns arose early on in the writing process over the use of the N-word, Richard Pryor explained that it was okay for the people who were using it to be doing so because.........they were the BAD GUYS. And it was obvious, even to a kid like me, that the people who were using that word were NOT the people to be emulated. I mean, it wasn't like I wasn't being raised right, anyway, but you know. Cleavon Little had to reassure Burton Gilliam so that he'd feel "okay" about delivering the lines that made him uncomfortable. Same thing happened decades later with Samuel Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained.
