I love watching reactions to this film. Every one is different, but the common thread is some variation of "What just happened?!" And I laugh out loud throughout. You know it's great comedy when it just keeps getting funnier every time.
@@RKnights Critics and many fans prefer Young Frankenstein, but I like this one best, if only for the social and cultural message. And your edit is the best of many I've seen of this film...
The night before shooting began, Burton Gilliam who played Lyle went to Cleavon Little's trailer and said, "I don't think I can do this.." --- Cleavon sat him down and said, "We're ACTORS... We read the lines.. It's not who we ARE.. It's just the parts we play.."
To people who get upset at the racial slurs, the thing to remember is that everyone who uses them is portrayed as both evil and stupid (all the villains) or just plain ignorant (the townsfolk, who eventually learn better and come around to love Bart). Mel Brooks didn't just make a parody of western movies, he also made an effective parody of racism.
He also took big swings at antisemitism, Hollywood cliches and stereotypes, out-of-control capitalism, politicians, and people who don't know how to laugh at themselves.
Someone once said to Mel Brooks recently "You could never make this movie today" and he said "You couldn't make this movie in 1974, but we did it anyways".
They tried to remake it recently. "Paws of Fury" aka "Blazing Samurai". For some unfathomable reason, they decided to make it an animated childrens film. It was pretty terrible.
Ray gets most of them, it's the younger reactors I want to hear from. But I have faith that these movies in a strange way are a cultural education and may bridge the gap.
And the Hedy-Hedley running joke, because few of the generations since mine remember Hedy Lamar. And I'm still waiting for somebody to recognize the great Cole Porter song or the Count Basie band in the desert...
@@chazzn121 This fact will never cease to be funny. You can just picture the two of them, reading the lines off to one another and cacking themselves laughing.
Allegedly Mel showed the script to John Wayne and wanted him to be in it. After John Wayne read the script, he said there was no way he could appear in a film like this. He said, however, that he'd be first in line to see it.
That's how Mel gotten Gene Wilder after John Wayne declined the offer. Gene had one condition for Mel: next movie, directed it but not appeared in the movie. Movie is Young Frankenstein.
Well, it would have been fine, because Mel wanted him to play Taggart. The proof for this is the director commentary, so Brooks himself says so. They wanted someone else for Wako Kid, but the guy puked himself off set on day one, so Gene Wilder did the movie for a future favour: that favour came to be known as Young Frankenstein.
Another thing I just remembered, you're aware, of course, that the Native American Chief was Mel Brooks speaking Yiddish, but did you know that the bead arrangement on his head band spelled out "Kosher" in Hebrew? When I found that out, I was blown away.
This film was pretty controversial when it came out in 74 for different reasons than today. The studios almost wouldn't let him make it. Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks were the main writers and Clevon Little (Sherriff) kept daring them to make the race jokes worse "Dare, Dare!" In case you were confused they were poking fun at the racists and bigots.
Mel Brooks is a classic. One story about him- during WW2 he was a communication specialist in the Combat Engineers. During one battle (possibly the Battle of the Bulge) the Germans set up a loudspeaker set towards the American lines- broadcasting Nazi propaganda. Mel and some comrades ran commo wire to the loudspeaker, turned it around- and open returning to the American lines- started playing Yiddish songs by Al Jolson .....
Funniest thing about this reaction is that 2 guys are full on enjoying the movie and the 3rd one is trying to not get triggered and not get his feelings hurt😂
The best thing about Blazing Saddles is that the butt of every joke is bigotry. It freed up people to talk openly about every form of prejudice and see the absurdity of them ALL! Prejudice and bigotry serve no purpose except to be laughed at, and that laughter becomes a unifying farce.
I think the most impressive thing about this movie is that Harvey Korman is able to keep a straight face. He was notorious for getting cracked up on "The Carol Burnett Show". I wonder how much film they went through to get a take without him laughing in it?
@@RKnights It was a hit with my family as well. Tim Conway was another of my favorites. Their chemistry even carried over into "Mama's Family" with Vicky Lawrence. They just don't do comedy like that anymore.
The one joke Mel took out was when Lilly asks Bart about being gifted, the line that was removed was, "I hate to disappoint you, but you're sucking on my elbow!"
@@Julieroo28 I think he was uncomfortable, especially at the beginning, because he didn't get any advance warning. His body language seemed VERY uncomfortable or anxious. First time reactors to this movie who are a little older or have been warned usually handle the awkwardness better, but even then, there can be a bit of a WTF factor at first.
I love how Mel didn't break the 4th wall he destroyed it. 1974 was a big year for Mel Brooks with this movie and Young Frankenstein in the same year remarkable. I love how the Wide World of Sports comment flew right by the youngsters but I was a little disappointed that the mentor missed the extend a Laurel and Hardy welcome line nevertheless you have a new subscriber
Anyone growing up in those times would have described it as a "Mad comics" style adult satire. Mad comics had been doing crazy satires of movies since the 50s and Mel's movies are definitely in that tradition.
@@Otokichi786 flat out wrong - Mad started in the 50s as a comic book printed by EC comics. Then the Comics Code Authority was enacted in reaction to the very grisly horror comics that EC published. EC also published Mad Comics at the time., of which I own the hardbound reprints. To subvert the Comic Code Authority, Gaines, the publisher, decided to print it as a magazine format so that they would have no power over his content, and so Mad Magazine was born. I also know that the writers of "The Show of Shows" the first live comedy skit show forTV, were fans of the mad comic book and there were always issues floating around the writers room. Ironically, Mel Brooks was one of those writers.
I love this movie! If you haven't watched it there is a video essay called "You couldn't make Blazing Saddles Today!" That talks about the historical context for everything. It's very well done and explains a LOT of the jokes and satire. Highly recommend! Loved this reaction vid btw!
@@davidcave5426 Haha yes! And actually one of the points made in the video is how the real question should be "Why would you need to make Blazing Saddles today?" At the time it was made there were something like over 60 different cowboy shows on television, all of the same formulaic nature and based on this idea of white, American cowboys. In reality most cowboys were black or native or even Irish. But of course all of those ethnicities were characterized in those westerns. Love what Mel Brooks did by poking fun at this formula and offending everyone along the way, while also cowning on racists in a big way!
I saw this in packed theaters when it came out, and the audience reaction was so great that you couldn't hear some of the lines. It really amplified the show and made it 10X better than seeing it on TV without a crowd around.
Madeline Kahn took her song style from a 1939 movie called Destry Rides Again with Marlene Dietrich who cannot sing but did in the film so Kahn copied how bad it was on purpose. Check it out, you will immediately see it LOL
Marlene Dietrich sings a lot better than Bob Dylan, was a terrific German actress who stood up to Hitler, and entertained allied troops for the entirety of World War II. She’s a hero of Brooks and countless others of his generation. Likewise, when Sheriff Bart trots past Count Basie in the desert and gets his seal of approval, that is no small thing either; his orchestra is one of the greatest cultural institutions in our nation’s history.
When this movie came out a friend of mine ran the projectors at several theaters. I got to see this movie half a dozen times the first 2 weeks it was out. "All I can say is, Mel Brooks", well said.
Loved how they "Rode off into the sunset" at the end of the movie. Plus, Like we found out in the movie, "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka!", every Black Hero needs a theme song and Barts was Count Basse.
The part where the movie spills onto the set, breaking the forth wall, is known as "The French Mistake" and has been referenced in other shows and movies when breaking the fourth wall. The series Supernatural has one example with an episode named accordingly.
Hedy Lamarr was a spectacularly beautiful German Jewish 40s movie star who also contributed to the development of Wi-Fi. She sued Mel and they settled out of court for unauthorized use of her name. I think she was hooked up with Howard Hughes. She left Germany in the 30s.
Some help with one of the jokes: In the opening scene where the foreman wants the workers to sing a "****** work song" He expected to hear a traditional negro spiritual, like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot etc. We sang that in public school music class (white middle class I might add), along with "Joshua fought..etc." So it was a joke when Cleavon Little broke into a crooner/nightclub standard just to mess with them.
Alex Karras, who played Mongo, was supposed to swing at the horse and the horse was supposed to fall down. By what method. What really happened is Alex actually hit the horse. Obvious;y he was not supposed to and he totally regretted doing so. Al little trivia about Alex. He played George Stephanopoulos on the TV show Webster. Susan Clark played his wife. Behind the scenes, They were actually married.
@@RKnights Every Kubrick movie is great in one way or another, but the black comedy of Strangelove takes great to another level. My favorite Kubrick art is Clockwork Orange, but that would take even more editing than this one...
@@thatsthat2612 It's true. That was the first time anyone had ever farted in a movie. Mel was told to cut the scene before release. He said alright, then released it as is.
@@r.awilliams9815 He also urged the editor to turn up the sound as far as it would go. He knew the audience would not be able to hear anything after the first fart - and he was RIGHT. Everyone fell apart, everyone SCREAMING with laughter. The entire audience regressed to six-year-olds. It was one of the most awesome nights of my life!
Gerard That horse hit by Mongo (Alex Karras) is a trained stunt horse with his handler, stuntman posing as a town member. You will see that stuntman pulled the reins signal the horse to fall safely. Mongo (Alex Karras) does not hit the horse. Karras acted like he hit the horse. Sound effects added later in post-production.
Alex Karras aka Mongo was a Pro Bowler, Hall of Famer for both College and NFL. He played for Iowa (College) and Detroit Lions (NFL) as a Defensive Tackle.
If anyone worries about the horse being abused or getting hurt they should watch a few videos. I've had the luck of being on a few movie sets. Those horses LOVE doing the stunts and tricks and literally get upset if they have to spend too much time in the stables on set. They are like big spoiled dogs wanting to go play fetch and are treated extremely well with safety in mind at all times.
When the chairman of the welcoming committee says is my pleasure to extend to you this laurel and hardy handshake it was Mel brooks giving a shout out to the legendary comedy duo laurel and hardy.
Shout-out to the late great Slim Pickens --- his name --- for playing "Taggert so hilariously. He is a LEGENDARY cowboy actor, an everyman with no looks, but criminally underrated skills. He is a comic-relief or sidekick staple of decades of westerns. To see why he's criminally underrated, go back to the toll booth scene, and watch him use two sweeping rears, like a windshield wiper, to bring his horse to a stop in ONE HORSE LENGTH, all this with other horses hard-riding up behind him. That's control, and flare. That's horsemanship. And despite his ENORMOUS hesitation to take this role --- the carpet-bombing of the N-word in his dialog being his reasons --- he also saw the wisdom, already knowing the power of comedy. The shovel bit was worked up between him and Mel. They needed Taggert to be the brunt of as many jokes as possible.
Laurel & Hardy reference was about a Comedy team who made several movies together. Mango is Alex Karis who played as Defensive Lineman for the Detroit Lions. Back in the mid 1840's into the 1850s when the Irish fled the famine. Employers would post signs saying, "Irish Need Not Apply". Plus, they added the obligatory riding off into the sunset, but in a Caddy. Don't forget to watch Mel's "Young Frankenstein".
The oldest “raunchy” TV show I can think of was The Benny Hill Show, which started airing in 1955 on BBC. You might consider “Some Like It Hot” from 1959 a raunchy comedy movie… it had Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon.
Bummer you had to re-upload, great reactions. I had added you to a mashup I did of Mongo punching the horse. I updated the links back here, hopefully you get your views back.
Thanks boss! It sucked that we had to do that but I guess its part of working with RU-vid. Hey we appreciate the mashup. If you are doing one for House of the Dragon's 9 episode dont forget us :-)
I told them that several times. I produced a 2-part series on the making of that movie for it's 25th anniversary, for a regional sports television nework.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights is another Mel Brooks movie that comes close to having as much raunchy humor in it as this one - most notably the "Shadow Puppet" scene. And that's all I'm going to say about that . . .
You guys should try watching "High Anxiety" (1977). Not only is it a Mel Brook's tribute film that spoofs many of Alfred Hitchcock's classics, but it stars Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn.
In one episode of Webster, Alex Karras' character punishes Webster for the first time. Webster breaks his bedroom mirror in anger, to which I said out loud, "7 years bad luck. You're never gonna grow, kid." My girlfriend's 15 year old brother laughed harder and longer at that than anything in that entire episode.
If you can find it there's another hilarious movie called Soggy Bottom USA from 1980. It has Don Johnson in it and other famous actors in it back in the day. I don't think alot of people will remember it but it's a good one to.
I was only a year or two old when this came out. But my dad made sure I watched it. It’s the best satire on racism ever made. I’m thrilled to see another generation enjoying this film. People keep saying this film couldn’t be made today. It sad, but true, races actually got along better and could joke with each other without anyone dying back then. I had a group of black guys at a bar in laughing their butts off at my “reverse racism” joke rant about 13 years ago….. I wouldn’t even try it today because people today don’t seem to have a sense of humor.
There's breaking the fourth wall and then there's leaving the film and watching from the other side of the fourth wall. This movie is brilliant. Also, for more amazing Madeline Khan, Clue is the one to watch if you haven't yet.
A great film. I agree about the best description is - It's a Mel Brooks Film. And it should be noted some people really had a hard time with saying that one word. Even though it was still common then, it was not generally accepted as a good word. I still love this film.
Mel Brooks wanted Gene Wilder for the Waco Kid. Before he agreed to do it, Gene asked Brooks to direct a screenplay he had just written. That was Young Frankenstein.
Gene was an emergency replacement. They had originally hired Gig Young, an old time western actor, to play the Waco Kid. Problem was he was a raging alcoholic and arrived completely drunk on 1st day shooting. So Brooks asked Wilder to take the role and that's when Wilder laid the Young Frankenstein condition on him.
When Harvey Korman was running out of the studio at the end there was a little old man standing on the corner. He wasn't part of the movie. They had to get a release from him after the scene was shot.
People need to remember that it's OK to laugh at things like these even if they are controversial. If they are made properly, they can be eye opening as well as hilarious. Mel Brooks is Jewish, let him make jokes and poke fun at his own religion instead of being offended. Richard Pryor (a black man) wrote the black jokes in this. I don't believe that the current cancel culture is in the right 100% just because it thinks it is. It's good to see people of all ages laughing at a comedy/parody and enjoying their time together. Hope it will get passed on to their kids and grandkids as well.
Mel was a Jewish man who had relatives die in the Holocaust and he knew all about censorship from that experience and he hated racism and that is what this movie is poking fun at. He points out how stupid it is right in this film. That is what makes it a masterpiece. He promised to remove the offensive scenes but never did and it came out when there was nothing like it. Hollywood was pretty tame back then.
I have watched a LOT of reactions to this movie, but your reactions are without doubt my favorite! Evidently, we have similar senses of humor, because my cheeks hurt from laughing. Great jobs.
You can tell the middle guy is older than the other two, as he caught some things they didn't, like the "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a goin' on here?"
PS: Oh yeah! I didn't see this when it was new in a movie theater. My first time was probably regular broadcast television. Then I saw it uncensored during a dormitory movie night in the lounge. Then there was a campus movie night, when a reel to reel projector was used to project it against the white exterior wall of one of the campus buildings. Viewings like that and drive-in movie theaters were two ways for passing minors to see what they weren't meant to see even if the context was lost without sound! It used to be a common practice to make at least two versions of a movie at the same time! One for television and one for theaters. Laurel & Hardy, would make an English language version first, and then do it all over again in Spanish! The series "Highlander" made a "European Cut" with the bare breasts kept in! 👌
I wish l could remember but there was a movie by Woody Allen where he woke up in the future, it was a raunchy comedy made in the early 70's. I think it had Jane Fonda co-starring.
When this movie, first played in the Bay Area, it was on KBHK Channel 44, they left all the "N" words, but they cut out Madelin Khan's last name. But one scene that was cut out was she's alone with Cleavon Little and she exclaims "It's True, It's True!" He says "That My Elbow".
I took a tour of the studio when I was in my early 20s. It was pretty cool. They had carts take you from lot to lot, and you could walk around while they told you about the movies filmed on each one. It was literally the only part of going to California I enjoyed. 😂 I'm not fond of traveling or people, but I love movies. 😂 They had the Batmobile on display along with many other things.
Thank God I was a kid and teen during the 1980's...I am part of Generation X...we weren't easily offended and we knew that comedy was comedy and no more than that. The 1980's were in my opinion the best decade in politics with our beloved president Ronald Reagen who convinced the Russians to bring down the Berlin Wall among many other political events that decade...the 1980's was the best decade in American Music along with the British music invasion...and the 1980's was the best decade in Hollywood movies in which directors and producers could execute their talents in movie making without having to worry about some cry baby liberal lawyers suing them for millions of dollars for offending a particular ethnic group or gender. Dammit I miss the 1980's!
One reference I’ve never seen pointed out is the person shouting “Mongo Santamaria!” Mongo Santamaria was the stage name of a Cuban percussionist of the 1950s.
1. Mel Brooks played the Governor and the Indian Chief and one of the thug roundup. 2. Mel Brooks doesn't just break the 4th wall he shatters, steps on and grinds it into the ground. 3. The preacher/Liam Dunn plays in Young Frankenstein as an old man that gets racked by Dr. Frankenstein. Madeline Kahn also had a smallish role in it. 4. Yes, Bart and Jim were smoking wacky tobacky. 5. The line, "You know morons" was ad lib by Wilder. Little's reaction was real. 6. The guy that was supposed to play Jim showed up the first day drunk so he was let go. Wilder agreed to do this movie for Mel Brooks only if Mel would direct Young Frankenstein for him. 7. Richard Pryor was supposed to play Bart but he was going through his addictions at the time and they thought it wouldn't be a good idea. However, he did some of the writing. 8. Jim still has his popcorn from the theater. Movie suggestion "Young Frankenstein" with Gene Wilder
Oh; btw, Richard Pryor helped write it. So buckle in, buttercup! It makes insane fun of racism and racists, government....if you've had a bad day, watch this and you will get belly laughs every time. Love this movie!
Richard Pryor helped Mel Brooks write the movie and it was an amazing social statement through the parody of stereotypes. I wish movies like this could still be made.
