IMDb >
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at
blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
blockbuster.com
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summaryplot synopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsBlazing Saddles (1974) More at IMDbPro »
| Photos (see all 75 | slideshow) | Videos |
Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
7 February 1974 (USA) moreTagline:
Never give a saga an even break!Plot:
To ruin a western town, a corrupt political boss appoints a black sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Mel Brooks To Be Honored By Academy On July 24 (From iCelebz. 2 July 2009, 6:45 AM, PDT)
[DVD Review] Spaceballs
(From JustPressPlay. 2 July 2009, 2:15 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Trailblazing "Saddles" moreUS TV Schedule:
| Thur. July 9 | 8:00 PM | AMC | |||
| Fri. July 10 | 12:00 AM | AMC | |||
| Fri. July 10 | 6:00 PM | AMC | more |
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Cleavon Little | ... | Bart | |
| Gene Wilder | ... | Jim | |
| Slim Pickens | ... | Taggart | |
| Harvey Korman | ... | Hedley Lamarr | |
| Madeline Kahn | ... | Lili Von Shtupp | |
| Mel Brooks | ... | Governor William J. Lepetomane / Indian Chief | |
| Burton Gilliam | ... | Lyle | |
| Alex Karras | ... | Mongo | |
| David Huddleston | ... | Olson Johnson | |
| Liam Dunn | ... | Rev. Johnson | |
| John Hillerman | ... | Howard Johnson | |
| George Furth | ... | Van Johnson | |
| Jack Starrett | ... | Gabby Johnson (as Claude Ennis Starrett Jr.) | |
| Carol Arthur | ... | Harriett Johnson | |
| Richard Collier | ... | Dr. Sam Johnson |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Black Bart (USA) (working title)Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles or Never Give a Saga an Even Break (USA) (poster title)
Tex X (USA) (original script title)
The Purple Sage (USA) (working title)
more
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
93 minCountry:
USAColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2004) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:12A (re-rating: 2008) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12Filming Locations:
Backlot, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
During the hanging scene, Boris the Hangman can be seen getting ready to hang an older gentleman in a wheelchair, which Hedley Lamarr refers to as "the Dr. Gillespie killings". This is a reference to Lionel Barrymore's character of Dr. Leonard Gillespie, which he played in fifteen different movies between 1938 and 1947. Lionel Barrymore was confined to a wheelchair due to arthritis, so the Dr. Gillespie character was always played from a wheelchair. This was Mel Brooks' way of finally killing off the Dr. Gillespie character. moreGoofs:
Continuity: The desk and chair in Gov. LePetomaine's office changes throughout the movie. This was possibly done on purpose as a joke by the filmmakers. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Lyle: Come on, boys! The way you're lollygaggin' around here with them picks and them shovels, you'd think it was a hundert an' twenty degree. Can't be more than a hundert an' fourteen.
more
Soundtrack:
Camptown Races moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Blazing Saddles (1974) moreRecommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| ¡Three Amigos! | Sullivan's Travels | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back | How the West Was Won | The Phantom Rider |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |













A few years ago, Broadway producers decided to adapt a Mel Brooks comedy and made a bundle. Could it happen again with 'Blazing Saddles?' The movie already has four great songs; a half-dozen more of similar caliber would make for a strong score. 'Blazing Saddles' has a ready-made cast of over-the-top characters, strong audience identification, and some minor problems for a theatrical production (like blowing up the phony Rock Ridge) which are easily overcome.
But 'The Producers' was a cult film that never made it to Main Street and needed the second act of a Broadway musical to give it a place in popular culture. 'Blazing Saddles' could never open again as big as it did in 1974. In the summer of Watergate and Patty Hearst, here was one bit of madness people could enjoy. And it wasn't just random kookiness, but a film that broke barriers and courted controversy like no other major-release film of its time. No other movie had characters that were basically likable if stupid throwing around the 'N' word before. In fact, it hasn't happened since (and I doubt it would on Broadway today.) The whole notion of white people and black people living together was not new, but the approach of 'Blazing Saddles' was certainly new. In order to live together, we have to laugh together first. The only way this film was not a trailblazer was in that it blazed trails untaken by any film that came after.
Was Cleavon Little then a civil rights pioneer for the 1970s, in a way Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the decade before? He's very good, bringing a lightness to the role that's equal parts Shaft and Bugs Bunny. Richard Pryor was one of the film's writers and Brooks' first choice for Sheriff Bart, but Pryor wouldn't have played the role in the same smooth way. Little is an amiable actor, one step ahead but never cocky about it. He makes for a sympathetic center, and he is flash in those corduroy threads.
Little didn't work much after 'Blazing Saddles,' which makes no sense. It was only the highest-grossing Western of all time, and Little was the lead actor in it. Maybe institutional racism wasn't the sole cause. After all, he had a distractingly rock-solid cast around him, particularly Harvey Korman as Attorney General Hedley Lamarr. Growing up in the '70s, it was a shock the first time I saw the unedited 'Blazing Saddles' with all the casual vulgarity spewing from the mouth of Tim Conway's slapstick buddy on the ultra G-rated 'Carol Burnett Show.' 'You will be only risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor,' he tells his gang before they ride off to pillage Rock Ridge. If only the Academy didn't penalize comedies so, that might have been true.
Madeline Kahn did get nominated for Lili Von Shtupp, and deserved her Laurel and Hardy handshake for sure. Her Baba Wawa meets Marlene Dietrich performance is a comic masterpiece, and it takes guts to wear that dead-weed lingerie in which she performs 'I'm So Tired.' Slim Pickens (Taggart), Burton Gilliam (Lyle), Dom DeLuise (Buddy), and Brooks himself as 'the Gov' all shine, and the level of comic acting remains high all the way to the smallest roles, like the guy playing Hitler ('They lose me right after the bunker scene') and the cowboy who chews gum in line ('I didn't know there was gonna be so many people!')
Gene Wilder is a little young and ironic for the bitter ex-gunslinger known as the Waco Kid, but he grows into the role well enough. Certainly he was in tune with what Brooks was doing more than Gig Young or Dan Dailey would have been (Brooks' earlier choices for the part, with Young making it all the way to the first day's shooting before it was discovered he wasn't just acting the part of a hopeless drunk.)
'Blazing Saddles' doesn't make the IMDb top 250, but it's still one of the most significant video titles because it rewards repeat viewings so well. The wholeness of the film's comic spectacle is too dense to be absorbed in one viewing, especially when you are laughing too hard. It's a cultural landmark, yes, but it's even funnier now than it was 30 years ago, one of the funniest comedies that exist today. Making it into a musical now would almost be demeaning, but I suspect it will happen anyway.