Mel Brooks' best film is this parody of westerns starring Cleavon Little as the sheriff of a western town being threatened by an unscrupulous attorney general (the magnificent Harvey Korman) who is also land speculating the new railroad.If Blazing Saddles was released today it would be bashed by every watchdog of political correctness known to man, which goes to show that the stick up America's ass has grown in the last thirty-five years. Co-written by Richard Pryor, who had planned to star in Little's role, the film is a reflection of Pryor's act mixed with Mel Brook's humor. This is a very raunchy Mel Brooks film mainly because of Pryor's involvement. Is it a look at society? It probably wasn't meant to be but it sure is taken that way, one way or another.
But at its core Blazing Saddles is a homage to the old westerns of John Ford just as Young Frankenstein pays tribute to the Universal monster movies. They're very endearing to their source material while making fun of it and that's why they work on such a better level than some of the parody trash that comes out today. That and the fact that Blazing Saddles has better acting and is actually funny. A classic
No comments:
Post a Comment