Blazing Saddles

There really aren't that many great "spoofs" out there. Sort of a great word, that. Oxford credits "spoof" to A.Roberts, English Comedian d.1933. I don't know who Hollywood credits their version to, but it certainly should be Mel Brooks.

The astonishing success of "The Producers" on Broadway prompted me to rent the film, and always a sucker for a double-header, I grabbed "Blazing Saddles" for good measure. Mel's sense of humour and mine don't get along so well. I tend to like either really broad slapstick or extremely dry wit--and nothing in between. Mel always gets stuck somewhere in the middle where it feels like he's trying to be funny. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin made you believe every hilarious thing that happened to them was either unavoidable, or an accident--Mel Brooks never seems effortless to me. It's the same reason why Diane was funny on Cheers and Rebecca wasn't.

Anywho, you don't need me to tell you that "Blazing Saddles" is funny, is Brooks's best film, is a landmark comedy. The jokes have been copied so many times now it's difficult to conceive of how uproarious this must have been playing in the theatre next to "The Godfather Part II."

The epic-ly postmodern ending which seems rather quaintly intelligent today, must have felt like the lunatics had taken over the asylum... which I suppose is the idea. The two most famous gags are justifiably classic: punching out a horse, and of course, farting around the campfire. Other favourites include Hedley Lamarr humping a statue with excitement, the tollbooth, the bandit's resume, and who could forget Cleavon Little as the ol' west's first black sheriff, asking the crowd to "excuse me while I whip this out."

If there's one thing "Blazing Saddles" confirms, it's that Slim Pickens is a genius. From "One-Eyed Jacks" to "Dr. Strangelove," this guy has a habit of popping up in my favourite films. If there was any justice on this planet Slim Pickens would be remembered alongside Peter Sellers as the finest comedic actor of his generation.

Gene Wilder is also particularly wonderful in his small role as "The Waco Kid." He steals every scene from Cleavon Little, who comes off as a sort of seventies Tim Meadows-not hurting much, not helping much.

There will never be another "Blazing Saddles." Many spoofs, including "Airplane" and "Top Secret" throw in nods to westerns because they're such and easy target, but this is one case where it can truly be said that "it's all been done before." I guess the only thing left to spoof is a spoof.

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