Mel Brooks finally lands on the list, with one of his two best movies. Blazing Saddles, the send-up of Hollywood westerns. If you've never seen the movie, you owe it to yourself to watch it.
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
And then, that joke would make sense.
Plus a million others. Mel Brooks and company were firing on all cylinders with this production. The gags are fast and furious, and if you've only seen the edited version, you've never seen the movie.
The first time I saw it, was naturally on television. Trust me, censoring this movie doesn't do it justice. How else can a scene of enjoying dinner around the campfire make no sense without that added sound of what's taking place?
It just doesn't work!
Of course, there is that other thing.
You know, like Gabby Johnson announcing the arrival of the new Sheriff in town.
"The Sheriff is a N..<BELL GONG!>"
Yep, the N word flies fast and furious in the movie, but when viewed in context, ala Huck Finn, it works, and works correctly as a barometer for race relations and how far they've come...and how far they still have to go.
Cleavon Little carries the movie on his shoulders. It would be hard to imagine anyone else handling the role. I've heard they considered Richard Pryor for the role, but his style and delivery seem much harsher than what Little provided.
With a town full of Johnsons, a dippy Governor, Mongo and of course Heddy "That's Hedley" LaMarr, the cast if filled with irreverent screwballs.
It's a great film, and a shame that Brooks later parodies, while amusing, did not carry the laugh-out-loud moments of Blazing Saddles.
One of my favorites but surprised it's this low on your list. Very curious to see your top ten...but is this list in order of your preference?
ReplyDeleteWell you see, it's a complicated mathematical formula that all of these movies had to go through....
ReplyDeleteMostly.
In reality, a lot of it comes down to: How often could I watch this film? This one is definitely not kid friendly. And mom isn't that big of a fan.
So...
It's rotation is much less than most of the other movies on here, but it was too good NOT to include.
The movies still to come are jockeying position daily. The original 100 has shifted slots many times, some movies got added after it was created, and bumped another movie off completely. Batman Begins is a great example.
So anything outside of the Top 10-25... don't worry so much about position. Think of it as a 75 way tie for # 26.
: )