Richard Pryor: One of the great comedy standouts of the 1970s, Pryor was key to Blazing Saddles ' satirical and race-charged screenplay but never appeared in … Release Dates "[11], The original title, Tex X, was rejected to avoid it being mistaken for an X-rated film,[2] as were Black Bart – a reference to Black Bart, a white highwayman of the 19th century[2] – and Purple Sage. [5], 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.[5][6]. The site's consensus reads: "Daring, provocative, and laugh-out-loud funny, Blazing Saddles is a gleefully vulgar spoof of Westerns that marks a high point in Mel Brooks' storied career. Le Petomane, a Yiddish-speaking Native American chief and "a director" in line to help invade Rock Ridge (a nod to Hitchcock); he also dubs lines for one of Lili von Shtupp's backing troupe. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. [34], On the film-critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 88% approval rating based on 59 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.1/10. Korman did not receive an Oscar bid, but the film did get three nominations in 1974: Best Supporting Actress (Madeline Kahn, who lost to Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express), Best Film Editing (losing out to The Towering Inferno), and Best Music, Original Song (the title song, which lost to "We May Never Love Like This Again", also from The Towering Inferno). [22], The film was almost not released. 6 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Laughs list. What does that matter while Alex Karras is knocking a horse cold with a right cross to the jaw? The film satirizes the racism obscured by myth-making Hollywood accounts of the American West, with the hero being a black sheriff in an all-white town. He won an Emmy for playing Mr. Stein in the comedy series Will & Grace in 2003. Little died of colon cancer in 1992 at age 53. [41], In September 2017, Mel Brooks indicated his desire to do a stage play version of Blazing Saddles in the future. A rundown of the other main players in Blazing Saddles: Cleavon Little: Little was primarily a Broadway actor before being plucked to star as Sheriff Bart in Blazing Saddles, a part for which Brooks says he was "perfect." "[19] The world premiere took place on February 7, 1974, at the Pickwick Drive-In Theater in Burbank; 250 invited guests—including Little and Wilder—watched the film on horseback. Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about. Don Megowan. "[11] Brooks was taken with the story, which he described as "hip talk—1974 talk and expressions—happening in 1874 in the Old West", and purchased the film rights from Bergman. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Vincent Canby wrote:[26]. East of Rock Ridge, Bart introduces the white townspeople to the black, Chinese, and Irish railroad workers, who have agreed to help in exchange for acceptance by the community, and explains his plan to defeat Lamarr's army. After Jim detonates the bombs with his sharpshooting, launching bad guys and horses skyward, the Rock Ridgers attack the villains. "I wrote a first draft called Tex-X" (a play on Malcolm X's name), he said. [25], While the film is now considered a classic comedy, critical reaction was mixed when the film was released. He added, "If they did a remake of Blazing Saddles today [2012], they would leave out the N-word. "Alan Arkin was hired to direct and James Earl Jones was going to play the sheriff. Blazing Saddles is a 1974 American satirical Western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Death of a Drive-In : Pickwick Theater Shuts Down, Ending an Era for Burbank Moviegoers and Film Makers. | He ducks into Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which is playing the premiere of Blazing Saddles. "[29] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called the film "irreverent, outrageous, improbable, often as blithely tasteless as a stag night at the Friar's Club and almost continuously funny. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, was nominated for three Academy Awards and is ranked No. The disc features liner notes featuring comments from Mel Brooks and John Morris. [44] The film was released on DVD In 2004 and Blu-ray In 2006. "[22][2] 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. Bergman is listed as the sole creator. When Bart realizes it will not fool the villains, the townsfolk construct replicas of themselves. We got so lucky with his serious interpretation of the song. Le Petomane appoint a new sheriff to protect them. Richard Pryor: One of the great comedy standouts of the 1970s, Pryor was key to Blazing Saddles' satirical and race-charged screenplay but never appeared in the film. His brashness is rare, but his use of anachronism and anarchy recalls not the great film comedies of the past, but the middling ones like the Hope-Crosby "Road" pictures. Though he had not worked with a writing team since Your Show of Shows, he hired a group of writers (including Bergman) to expand the outline, and posted a large sign: "Please do not write a polite script. (uncredited), Commissary Customer