Never Seen A Movie Do What BLAZING SADDLES Did (Reaction) 

The whole point of the racist aspects of this movie, are to show just how stupid racism actually is. Mel Brooks does a wonderful..... no.... masterful job of displaying exactly that.

In 2006, Blazing Saddles was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

"Airplane" has jokes. It's funny. "Blazing Saddles" has jokes and social commentary. It's funny and has food for thought.

The Native American (played by Mel Brooks) was speaking Yiddish. Never saw my father laugh so hard in the theater. Also the campfire fart scene was the first of its kind. Brooks noticed that in most westerns there was scenes of them eating beans around a campfire, although never heard one fart. So he decided to go for it.

It's devastating to realize that all the main stars have passed -- Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, and Madeleine Kahn. They were all absolute legends.

The "You know, morons." line was ad-libbed by Gene and Cleavon actually bust up for real but Mel kept it in.

In pre-production, Brooks put out an ad for "a singer who sounds like Frankie Laine" for the title song. Frankie Laine himself answered the ad. He showed up and recorded the song in a single take...and nobody bothered to tell him beforehand that the film was a parody. His strong and true rendition adds to the character of the film, and by extension, the parody.

I love how that "Y'know...morons." line was improv by Gene and the Sherriff's actor just broke character and laughed. It wasn't meant to be in the script!

This is one of many Mel Brooks' films (and he plays numerous parts throughout most all of his films). Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, and a ton of others. Brooks specialized in farces and parodies in film.

“Someone’s gotta go back and get a sh!t load of dimes!” 🤣 And, yo, that horse getting blown 50ft straight up in the air has got to be one of the most hilarious visuals of all time! 🐎💥⬆️

Hey, if you don't like fart jokes, this is pretty much the film to blame. First major film to have anyone fart in a scene if I'm not mistaken.

I mentioned this on Airplane, but Mel Brooks always shot down people's remarks like "how he could make this movie today" by saying "you couldnt make it back then either!" If you have a message, if you know you can entertain, dont let social sensibilities (which always exist) stop you.

You missed that all the town members are named “Johnson”

One line they cut when Lili is with the sherif was “I hate to disappoint you, Ma'am, but you're sucking on my arm.”

I don't know if you've already seen it, but if you liked this, you'll love Young Frankenstein!

I can't believe you are discovering Mel Brooks' genius only now. Whoever told you that Blazing Saddles is similar to Airplane missed the point completely. There's so much to discover for you in the wonderful world of Mel Brooks. I hope the next is Young Frankenstein.

When Hedley leaves the studio to go to the movie theater, the guy in the blue sweater wasn’t an extra. He was just some guy that was standing there and refused to move. Brooks just left him in the shot.

“Excuse me while I whip this out." How could you cut that part out? 😂

Best comedy ever. Clevon Little threatening himself at the podium might be the funniest scene in cinema history.

People saying "you'd never be able to do a movie like this today" don't realize people at the time told Brooks the same thing lol, if you think racial tension is bad now, this movie was made just 5 years after MLK was murdered. He did it for less than $5.5 million dollars adjusted for inflation, that's basically nothing for a major motion picture. Warner Bros would absolutely let an edgy comedy fly if it was done for just that little and with some big names attached like this had. Sausage Party had 4x that budget and got WAY more offensively racist by comparison and that came out just 5 years ago.

Every time I see a fake frog I have to bite back the urge to say to it “daddy love froggy. froggy love daddy??” thank you Mel Brooks et. all

Moments like the ‘you know… morons’ line getting a legitimate laugh out of Cleavon Little makes me wish he and Gene Wilder had worked together more. Their chemistry was amazing in this film. R.I.P. to them both

The scene where the horse gets punched made me laugh so hard when I first watched this. Those stunt horses were the real deal

I just want to tell you Brandon. Good luck. We're all counting on you.

This movie was groundbreaking on so many levels. Nobody had ever done anything like it. From the language to the adult comedy, to the racism, and making the racists look like fools, to spoofing every norm you could think of. People say you couldn't make this movie today. The truth is, Mel Brooks had a difficult time making it when they did.

"It's twoo, it's twoo!" best movie line ever

The sheriff was written with Richard Pryor in mind, but apparently he was seen as too controversial. Cleavon Little did an exceptional job in the role, his delivery and timing is just hilarious.

Blazing Saddles. One of the best westerns in, uh... the West.

Since nobody seems to have mentioned it yet, the actor who played "Mongo" was actually an NFL linebacker.

I watched this the first time in a theater. The crowd was laughing so hard you couldn't hear the next line. It took me watching it several times to get all the jokes. A masterpiece!

You missed out the "it's twue, its twue" quote this film is so famous for ;)

The line by Gene Wilder when he consoles Sherriff Bart "the common clay of the new west, you know, morons" was improvised by Gene, making Cleavons laugh genuine 😁

let's not forget to show some love for David Huddleston. he was the mayor, but is probably best known as The Big Lebowski.

Brandon - "We're going to have the ultimate showdown it looks like" Me - You aren't even close to being prepared to how big it gets.

Young Frankenstein is a must! I think you will really appreciate what Brook and Wilder bring in that one.

During filming Mel Brooks ran into John Wayne at the commissary. Wayne told Brooks "I hear you're making a Western." Brooks said "I am and I want you to be in it." Wayne said "I can't ve in it, but I'll be first in line to watch it." According to later reports Wayne was indeed at the first screening and it was one if his favorite movies.

This and Young Frankenstein. Two of the greatest comedies ever. So great.

You might notice that everyone's last name in the town is Johnson. Johnson's ice cream parlor only has one flavor. Everyone in the town is the same with no diversity.

If only Mel Brooks were still young and making movies. The world needs more humor like this right now.

You’ve never seen Blazing Saddles before?!? Oh, dude - be prepared to be amazed at what Mel got away with

Glad you got a kick out of this one. The only major film that I can think of which acknowledges its own cinematic contrivances in such a blunt way is "Adaptation". Nicholas Cage plays two brothers who are trying to turn a book into a screenplay...which is the script for "Adaptation" itself. The actual screenwriter made himself the main character and also invented a twin brother for the plot. The credits even list the brother as co-writer, and he was nominated for an Oscar as well...even though he doesn't exist! There's a very low-budget comedy called "Crashing" with Campbell Scott and Lizzy Caplan. It's also about writers, and the movie blurs the line between what's actually happening in the story versus what the characters are making up. Of course, "Fight Club" is another movie that often calls attention to itself with fourth wall-breaks and the like.

One of the greatest of all time.

From what I recall, the REAL Hedy Lamarr wasn't too thrilled: I think she had a few choice things to say about the fun they had with her name. (Btw, you should read up on her...she was a pretty smart lady) Everybody thought this was hilarious when it was released, and it caused the studios to let Mel Brooks make many more films.

24:06 This gag first appeared in "Bored of the Rings", a 1969 parody of "The Lord of the Rings" written by the guys who later founded "National Lampoon"; a toll booth is hastily erected to prevent the Black Riders from crossing at the Ford of Bruinen.

Mel Brooks is a legendary film maker! You would love The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and if you're a Star Wars fan, Spaceballs is a MUST!

I saw this movie as a pretty young kid the first time, so naturally the fart scene was the best. I did not understand so much of the humor and why my parents thought it was so funny. As I got older and actually understood more of the jokes, I loved the movie even more.

"Where the white women at?" is still quoted today. lul

The old man at the town hall meeting was saying "revered". I didn't know that until I saw this movie with subtitles lol. One of my favorite random moments is near the end when they're in the studio commissary, and the guy dressed as Hitler says "they lose me right after the bunker scene" 😆

Mel Brooks movies kind of have a multiplying effect on each other - the more you see and the more you know what his style of comedy is, the more you can enjoy each one. Personally I think Blazing Saddles is not his best, I'd put at least The Producers (1967) and Young Frankenstein (1974) above it; it's still pretty much in his top tier, but it's the one that needs the most contextualising. The whole ending sequence is amazing though. (And I'm not sure what people are doing telling you Mel Brooks films are similar to ZAZ films. I guess they fall veeerry broadly under 'spoof', but the style is very different. For movies like Airplane! you really have to go to other ZAZ productions - Naked Gun, Top Secret!, Kentucky Fried Movie, and later Hot Shots! etc.)

-The idea for the film came from a story outline written by Andrew Bergman that he originally intended to develop and produce himself. "I wrote a first draft called Tex-X" (a play on Malcolm X's name), he said. "Alan Arkin was hired to direct and James Earl Jones was going to play the sheriff. That fell apart, as things often do." Brooks was taken with the story, which he described as "hip talk-1974 talk and expressions-happening in 1874 in the Old West", -The original title, Tex X, was rejected to avoid it being mistaken for an X-rated film,, as were Black Bart - a reference to Black Bart, a white highwayman of the 19th century, and Purple Sage. Brooks said he finally conceived Blazing Saddles one morning while taking a shower. -Madeline Kahn was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film was also nominated for Best Original song and Film editing. It unfortunately did not win any and Harvey Korman did not receive his Oscar nomination like his character in the film hoped he would. -The film is making fun of racists not embracing them and showing how stupid they are. -During the scene when Bart is with Madeline’s character in the bed and she is yelling “It’s true” there was a deleted line of him saying “ "I hate to disappoint you, ma'am, but You’re sucking on my arm”, -Mel also writes the songs for his films and Brooks advertised in the trade papers for a "Frankie Laine-type" singer; to his surprise, Laine himself offered his services. "Frankie sang his heart out ... and we didn't have the heart to tell him it was a spoof. He never heard the whip cracks; we put those in later. We got so lucky with his serious interpretation of the song." -The man with the orchestra when Bart is heading to Rock Ridge is legendary composer Count Basie, -When the film was shown to two different groups of people The blacks were cracking up and and laughing throughout the showing while the white audience didn’t know how to respond, -The name of Hedley Lemarr for the film was sued by the real actress Hedy Lemarr, Brooks said that he was flattered and chose to not fight it in court; the studio settled out of court for a small sum and an apology for "almost using her name." Brooks said that Lamarr "never got the joke." This lawsuit would be referenced by an in-film joke where Brooks' character, the Governor, tells Hedley Lamarr that, "This is 1874; you'll be able to sue HER." -Mel Brooks type of humor is a mix of visual jokes and double play with words like when they say “A Laurel and Hardy handshake” Laurel like a wreath and Hardy as in strong or firm while at the same time referring to the comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, While the film today is considered a comedy classic when it was first released it had mixed reception. Some other of Mel Brooks films you have probably seen: Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, Robin Hood Men in Tights, Some of his films you should see if you haven’t: The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, High Anxiety (Parody of Hitchcock films), Silent Movie, History of the World Part 1,

When you watch a film like this rest assured that everything that happens or that you see is a reference to something from its time or an earlier time that the audience would get. For example Howard Johnsons at the time was the name of a restaurant/motel chain. During the 1960s and 70s it was the biggest restaurant chain in the U.S. It was famous for its 31 flavors of ice cream. In the town the sign says 1 flavor.

Look at my hand. “Steady as a rock”. Yeah but this is my shooting hand. My favorite part lol

Take a drink every time he says oh no or let's go. You'll be dead by the "are we black" scene haha

Love this movie so much. So unless you're into the western sphere a lot of this may not hit home quite as well. I grew up on spaghetti westerns because that's all my grandparents watched. A lot of this movie pokes fun at how "innocent" and "just" western movies and TV shows were and how they white washed and sanitized how brutal and fucked up the actual west was.

If you've seen more than one Mel Brooks movie, you might realize that others have 4th wall breaks. Mel Brooks is still wondering where this 4th wall is and why you would want to break it.

"Tell him I said-- OWWWW" is one of my favorite jokes in this film, but I love the entire film. I'm so glad you've been introduced to Madeline Kahn, she was so funny and sexy and smart, and a genuinely down to earth human being. You should also check out High Anxiety, another Mel Brooks film co-starring Madeline Kahn. It's a great love letter to Hitchcock while also not being too vague with its references, so you don't have to have seen every Hitchcock film to find it funny.

literally breaking through the 4th wall is genius, between the two movie sets.

How to you skip by the most famous quote from this movie? "Excuse me while I whip this out"

Oh wow, you have been reacting to some comedy classics lately. I love to see people react to Blazing Saddles because it’s so not what we see today but still so hilarious after all these years.

The guy in the blue sweater standing at the traffic light as they run off the lot isn't an actor or an extra. He just wouldn't leave the area, so they filmed around him. you can see by his reaction he has no idea what is going on.

Similar to Holy Grail it’s all an elaborate hoax plot-wise and an excuse for characters to run amok and tear the fabric between fiction and reality in the process. Simply exquisite comedy, bravo.

“Now who can argue with that?” One of my favorite lines of all time.

5:35 Mr.Lebowski 6:20 the inbreeding joke went over the head 6:59 the he's most interested in banging joke went over the head

Think my favorite off hand, blink and you might miss it part is when they're in the cafeteria and you hear the guy playing hitler say, "they lose me after the bunker scene"

There are so many stars in this movie I don't think anyone could name them all. I like Madeline with her song. All the actors and actresses must have had a blast

I love that everybody’s name is Johnson

One of my absolute faves. Such an amazing job they all did.

Fun fact: when Hedley Lamarr runs into the street to get the taxi, there's an old man just standing on the corner looking confused. Apparently he was just some guy that wandered on set and they decided to keep him in the film lol

Brendon - it's a mistake to take ANYTHING in the film at face value. The ridiculousness is the point. The film is a farce, so the only thing that's serious is the subtext on racism in America - the characters are almost entirely caricatures drawn from decades of western films. There are no character arcs or growth. Practically every line is a joke of some sort. Some of the jokes are lost on younger folks and that's not your fault. I mean, Hedy Lamarr was an actress who made films between 1930 & 1960 - so Hedly Lamarr was a joke on her name. The film was a sensation when it came out. I can remember my parents going out to see it without me & my sister, which was the first time they had ever done that, and they were laughing and quoting the film for days afterwards.

Slim Pickens actually brought his own RV to the shooting location and camped out there while everyone else went to a fancy hotel

One joke many people seem to miss: The hangman is hanging a man and horse. "And the horse you rode in on." Hope that helps make that even funnier.

Frankie Laine, the man who sang the opening theme, was a renowned singer at the time who sang in many, many theme songs. When making the movie, they were surprised that he accepted the role, and were never sure if he realized it was a satire, because he played it straight and gave one hell of a performance

This movie says "Fourth wall?? We'll break the fifth and sixth while we're at it!" Brilliant!

There’s a story that one of, if not the first, guy in the film to say the n-word was a fireman in real life and couldn’t bring himself to say the word but Cleavon Little sat down with him and told him it was okay and that he was happy that he was against saying it, if he didn’t that would be a problem

Richard Pryor was the first thought for the sheriff. He had a little trouble with cocaine but did help write the movie. Gene Weidler was not the first pick. The first actor was actually a drunk and would throw up on set. Mongo played for the NFL.

The actor who played "Lyle", the cowboy in the red shirt that said "Why don't we give him to Mongo" was the Colt Peacemaker guy in Back to the Future III

Clevon plays a great part of a blind DJ in the original version of Vanishing Point.

I had this on VHS, it was the one of five videos that I watched so much that the tape broke on me. great reaction, love the laugh haha

When Blazing Saddles was released, some theaters really had live cows in the lobby.

Your homework assignment is Watching all Mel brooks movies and learning about one of the greatest comedic directors, creators, actors, etc. It's great that you reviewed this classic film!

Apparently when Mel Brooks wrote the theme song, he wanted a "Frankie Laine-type singer." He was surprised when Frankie Laine himself offered to sing it and didn't have the heart to tell him the film was a spoof of westerns!

Harvey Korman looks like he had fun. Watch him in some Carol Burnett skits with Tim Conway. Conway cracks him up so often that he breaks character on a regular basis and it's just awesome

All the little moment in this you must see it more than once to catch everything. It becomes more and more hilarious

I HAVENT EVEN WATCHED THE VIDEO YET BUT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG CANT WAIT TO SEE OT

Cleavon Little played a blind DJ with a sixth sense in the original 1971 version of Vanishing Point. It’s a great movie and his character is brilliant.

We took my mother to see this as part of a double bill with Mel's other classic movie, Young Frankenstein. We had to step out when she was laughing louder than everyone in the theater. All the cows were a spoof on the Hollywood term, "cattle call". It usually means an open casting call to bring in extras or background players.

The ultimate anti everything movie ever! It attacks stereotypes of every genre. It came out in a time when we could laugh at ourselves and not be offended by every little thing. Mel Brooks was a genius, a man ahead of his time.

Blazing Saddles is one of the best comedies of all time. As to the 4th wall break/studio twist. Only other time I can think of a movie making such a hard turn out of nowhere is From Dusk Till Dawn.

Mel Brooks wrote a lot of songs for his movies but he said I’m Tired was the dirtiest

I always hate it when people say things like "A movie like Blazing Saddles could never exist today." When it totally could. For one thing, it's funny! You can joke about whatever you want, and if people laugh, (and, preferably the joke is something clever) they'll give you a pass just for that. Also, the movie is making fun of racism in a way that doesn't support it. Every racist in the movie is a complete idiot, the town comes to see the error in their ways by the end and respects the sheriff, and it has a really nice interracial bromance with Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little . You could totally make this movie today

Jim was not a prisoner in the jail, he was sleeping off the night in the drunk tank. It's common for just to let a drunk sleep the night in a cell bunk rather than get in trouble.

OMG YES!! Love seeing people discover this movie

I don't see anyone else having said this, so: Blazing Saddles is the movie that killed the western. It's so iconic in its parody that no straight western could compete with it. It stayed that way until probably Unforgiven.

This and Airplane are both parodies, that's about where the similarities end.

"See no evil, hear no evil", with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor... hilarious movie.

I'm a little upset that you didn't notice the joke about everyone in that town having the same last name 🤣

This movie is GOLD. All time favourite.

After this one you just have to see 'Young Fankenstein' (it's Frankensteen!), a great comedy tribute to monster movies of the 1930s. Pretty much a pet project of Gene Wilder himself.

If you have an editor, they need a raise for this one.

The actor who played Marco was a hugely famous football , wrestler, and broadcaster Alex Karras.