DOES THIS CLASSIC STILL HOLD UP - BLAZING SADDLES (1974) - MOVIE REACTION
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
- Join us on our hilarious journey as we watch Mel Brooks' 1974 classic, "Blazing Saddles," for the very first time! 🎬🤠 Laugh along with co-hosts Syntell, Rekkai, Charles, and Johnny Randolph as we dive into the absurd and uproarious world Brooks created.
Synopsis:
"Blazing Saddles" is a revolutionary comedy that takes us to the wild frontier town of Rock Ridge, where a new sheriff plans to clean up the streets. Unlike any sheriff the town has seen before, Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) teams up with the drunken gunfighter, Jim, the "Waco Kid" (Gene Wilder), to save the town from the corrupt political figure, Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), who wants to route a railroad through the town. Packed with satirical gags and bold humor, this film tackles racism and the Western film genre in a way only Mel Brooks could.
Cast Highlights:
Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart
Gene Wilder as Jim, the "Waco Kid"
Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr
Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Shtupp
Mel Brooks as Governor William J. Le Petomane
In This Video:
Initial Reactions: Watch as Syntell, Rekkai, Charles, and Johnny Randolph experience the iconic scenes and one-liners for the first time.
Discussion: We’ll talk about the film’s groundbreaking approach to social issues through its humor and what makes it a standout comedy even today.
Favorite Moments: Each host picks their favorite scene and discusses why it hits the mark for humor and sharp social commentary.
Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more movie reviews and reactions. Hit the bell icon so you never miss out on the fun with us. Whether you're a longtime fan of "Blazing Saddles" or discovering it through our eyes, join the discussion and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
#BlazingSaddles #MelBrooks #MovieReaction #ClassicFilms #Comedy #FilmReview
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Chapters
00:00 Spoilers!
00:11 Reaction
29:19 Review
#xmen #cyclops #wolverine - Zábava
_(As I've posted on other reactions:)_
'You could NOT make this movie today!' -everyone
"We couldn't make it then. We did it anyway." -Brooks in an interview.
The studio did give him notes on things they wanted to cut, and he basically told them he did them all, when actually he didn’t cut anything but a single line. He was flying under the radar just a little bit, so they had no idea. The movie was basically intact as WB had seen the original when it hit theaters. The only line he took out was right after Lily says “it’s true it’s true!!” Bart then said, “Baby, you’re sucking on my arm!”
It is a shame how offended people get about everything now.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American actress and inventor. Although she died in 2000, Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the development of her frequency-hopping technology in 2014. Such achievement has led Lamarr to be dubbed “the mother of Wi-Fi” and other wireless communications like GPS and Bluetooth. 😉
Fun fact, Hedey Lamar *did* end up suing Mel Brooks for using her name in this movie!
I'm pretty sure the case was thrown out, but still...
@@BeyondSafewords I think Mel Brooks has said he told them to give her whatever she wanted. He was kind of pleased about it. I couldn't find the exact interview earlier, though.
@@BeyondSafewords He wanted her to sue him. She would not take charity. She got money.
"Hedley"
@@HuntingVioletsI think it was $10 million
"They said you was hung!" "And they was RIGHT!" Great line.
It's twu! It's twu!
I wouldnt know, but you may be onto something
And they didn’t even laugh 🤦🏻♂️ best line in the movie…
You're the first reactors I've seen that recognized the native Americans were speaking Yiddish! Also, Lily von Schtupp is funny to Yiddish speakers, because "schtupp" means "to screw"/"to smash" in Yiddish.
Fun fact, Richard Pryor wrote most of Mongo's dialogue. "Mongo only pawn in game of life" was all Pryor. Mel Brooks wanted Pryor to play Bart, but the studio execs said no, because his drug use made him a liability on set.
I went to a Blazing Saddles screening with a Mel Brooks Q&A a few years ago, and that was one of the anecdotes he shared.
Schvartzas!!!
Another fun fact about the Lily von Schtupp scene: When they first show the playbill outside the saloon, you can hear the piano playing "Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers" inside.
@@UnclePengy I never noticed that!
The phrase “La Petamain” is french for little fart. At the turn of the 1900’s there was a performance actor who was called La Petamain who could use flatulence on demand in his act. They didn’t go around the toll booth because it had the governors name on it.
The "Where's the white women at?" is still the funniest line in this movie. It still makes me laugh every single time.😂 Chef's 💋.
I say it all the time - when I'm alone. I said it to myself yesterday.
Nah, I grew up watching this in the 80s with my parents. We all still love it.
It's so great to hear people actually knowing something about film/film history- I've watched several reactions to Blazing Saddles and no one seems to know who Heddy Lamarr was or half the cast.
The Count Basie Orchestra playing out in the desert is reflective of the times when he and his orchestra were often not allowed to stay in the cities that they were playing in. Mel gives a shout out to the comedy team Laurel and Hardy in the "Welcome Sherrif" scene. Mongo Santa Maria was a Cuban orchestra leader popular in the 50s and 60s. You are the first reviewers to point out the backwards wedding portrait in Hedley's office. In Hollywood when a group of background actors are needs for a scene they hold a "cattle call" to get actors. My personal favorite line in the film is when "Hitler" says "they lose me right after the bunker shot".
Burton Gillian, the actor who portrayed Lyle, had trouble saying the hard R word. After a few takes of struggling, Clevon talked with Burt, letting him know it was okay, because they weren't his words, but Lyle's.
It was the same case with Leo Di Caprio in Django Unchained.
He had to be assured by Jaimie Foxx that it was fine, but he was rally struggling with having to say it over and over again.
I was watching a boxing match on ABC Wide World of Sports one Saturday afternoon and was shocked to see Burton in the ring. It seems he moonlighted as a boxing referee.
I was in college during this movie and it was a huge hit. Black and white folks laughed together in every theatre.
The noose around the horses neck too and “but this is my shooting hand” never fail to crack me up 😂 no matter how many times I see it
I saw this movie in the 70s when it came out. We all understood the point it was making about racism; its practioners were "You know; morons," worthy of being laughed at. It was only a decade or so removed from the civil rights act, and there were still plenty of racist morons in this country. They didn't particularly like this movie, which made it even funnier to me. And as someone else commented, I have to hand it to you for picking up on the Chief speaking Yiddish. Great reaction, guys. Y'all have a great sense of humor. 👍👍
Most people also recognized the racism and able to see the total satire.
1. Mel Brooks played the Governor, the Indian Chief, the round-up thug with the aviator hat.
2. Mel Brooks doesn't just break the 4th wall he shatters, steps on and grinds it into the ground.
3. The preacher/Liam Dunn also plays in Young "Frankenstein" as Mr. Hilltop. Madeline Khan also had a great roll in it.
4. Imagine how much fun this was to make.
5. The line, "You know morons" was ad lib by Wilder. Little's reaction was real.
6. "Look, it's comin' off"
7. Gig Young was supposed to play Jim but showed up the first day drunk so he was let go.
Wilder agreed to do this movie for Mel Brooks only if Mel would direct Young Frankenstein for him.
8. Richard Pryor was supposed to play Bart but he was going through his addictions at the time and they thought it wouldn't be a good idea. However, he did some of the writing.
9. Finally, Mel Brooks is the only member of "Blazing Saddles" still living.
Prior was great, especially with Wilder, but Im glad that Clevon Little did it. He was great in this.
I've been caught in quick sand. Freaked me out, while my fellow hikers stood by and laughed. Bstrds.
“Y’all better hope I don’t find a shovel when I get out of this!”
I hope you paid them back in kind??
I'm 71 and am baffled as to why so many younger reactors seem to think quick sand is not a thing. Just look at Wikipedia. Indeed it sis a real thing.
They reference a trope which I have never seen. That trop is unrealistic' but that does not invalidate the actual existence of quick sand.
I've never seen the trope discussed in the Wikipedia page. I've always seen quick sand presented realistically, as something you should never fight against, but swim with. If you stop panicking and swim instead, you'll survive,
Guys, this movie is classic for so many reasons!
I remember being on a Military Sealift ship, we got movies and shows from the Navy.
The ship i was on, was 80% black.
When we showed the video, that covered 3 floors and 70% of the crew.
All you heard was laughter!
Next day, all off the brothers were quoting the movie!
Couple of things to point out. Not everybody catches the popcorn at the end, still in the lap of Gene Wilder. The morons quote was ad-lib, and Clevon Little's reaction was real.
Lastly, I haven't heard anyone catch that the first song at the railroad scene was a Cole Porter bit
"i Get a Kick Out of You From the Broadway Musical "Anything Goes." Yes it still holds up. However there are many scenes which the younger people don't understand. Growing up in the 60's I watched westerns every Saturday afternoon. Watched Blazing Saddles when it came out in 1974.
Slim Pickens is a legend
"Where Da White women at???" line aged Well, for me growing up i thought it was from White Chicks so i appreciate this more.
The delivery on this line was so perfect!
Another great choice! And absolutely! THANKS for this!!!!
Had to get the whole team in on this classic
Are you absolutely sure Dom DeLuise was gay? For what it's worth, this very popular character actor was married to the same woman for 44 years, and they had 3 sons.
She played the schoolmistress in this.
He's just a great comedy actor. They should see his Captain Chaos in Cannonball Run
He is also very funny in The End with Burt Reynolds.
Pryor and Brooks hit EVERYONE in this movie. It's a classic.
"They said you was hung? And they was right" is my favorite line. I love how it's kind of under the radar.
Lili von Shtupp vouches for that.
I expected more laughter from you guys because there’s like a different type of comedy every minute, but I love your reactions.
Another joke: The n__ work song in the first of the movie was a song by Cole Porter the first black composer to have his works played on Broadway.
Cole Porter was a white guy from a rich family in Indiana. I think that's part of the joke.
I think you're confusing him with Robert Allen Cole Jr. who helped create all-black vaudeville and musical theater productions in the late 1800s and early 1900s several decades earlier.
I first saw that movie in Ireland in 1977. When the line “we’ll take the Ni****- and Ch***s but we don’t want the Irish” the whole cinema erupted in laughter. The absurdist, almost Monty Pythonesque, tone of the movie continually pokes fun at racism of any kind. It shows how ridiculous and stupid racism in all its forms are. Mel Brooks, and this writing crew, were brilliant. They made us laugh and educated us at the same time. Loved it then and still love it now almost fifty hears later.
"They said you was 'hung'!" "And they was right!" Hilarious!
Thorough and thoughtful commentary, gentlemen. Thank you, I enjoyed that a great deal.
The orange roof on Howard Johnson's outhouse is a nod to Howard Johnson Hotel Chain ( orange roofs) and the best ice cream sundaes there used to be. 😊
I went with my my parents to see this in the theater. During the "beans" scene, you could barely hear anything over the screaming and laughter.
It was nuts to watch it on t.v. They show this scene, but there is no sound! Farts and burps not allowed. 😂
Alex Karras, who played Mongo, was also in Victor/Victoria, which is an absolutely spectacular movie from 1982, starring Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, James Garner, Lesley Ann Warren, and John Rhys-Davies. Directed by Blake Edwards, who was married to Julie Andrews at the time.
The song the railroaders sang was s Cole Porter song from a 1934 musical called "Anything Goes" - "I Get a Kick Out Of You" was the song. 😂
Gene Wilder also played Doctor Frankenstein in the comedy Young Frankenstein. As well as the original Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. 😂
That's Frahnkensteen.
@@russb24 indeed
Oh, sweet mystery of life,
at last I found you!
I agree this movie wouldn't be the same without Richard. I was 1 year old when this movie came out. My parents were 18 & 19 when I was born so this movie was just part of my viewing vernacular. So I find it astounding when I run across people who have never seen it. Thank you all so very much for sharing your experience with all of us! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
The story goes that Pryor wrote the redneck and Jewish jokes while Brooks and the Jewish writers wrote the Black jokes.
Not only does this movie hold up, I would argue that its message has actually become more important and relevant as time has gone on, especially in the last decade or so.
Love Mel Brooks xd
Actually I think Cleavon Little made the movie. Every comedy needs a straight man and Cleavon Little does it perfectly. He radiates intelligence, sophistication and class.
Okay, I love the "'Ello, guv'ner" left over from the Who reactions. Glad it's actually a thing.
I was wondering about that. Because I've mostly seen him doing _Who_ reactions.
Originally Mel had asked John Wayne to play the Waco Kid part but after reading the script he said no but I will be the first in line to see it.
Mongo Santamaria was a popular Cuban percussionist and band leader in the early '60s. Mel Brooks chose the name Mongo so that when he rode into town, a villager could yell, "Mongo! Santa Maria!"
That’s new to me. It’s sort of like the Laurel and Hardy handshake.
Quicksand is indeed real. But it’s unusual to sink deeper than waist deep. Humans are fairly buoyant and quicksand is pretty dense, so you only sink until you reach neutral buoyancy. The weight of your head isn’t enough to make you go under. BUT if you panic and start flailing about you will sink deeper. And because you can’t swim in quicksand, you can’t go up to the surface. Which causes you to panic more until, you know. That’s gotta be terrifying.
Lightningsand, however… well, you just have to hope you have a farm boy turned swashbuckler to help you out. 😉
@@0okamino Have fun storming the castle!
@@jeanine6328 You think it'll work?
I've watched this movie and all the reactions to it numerous times, but someone pointed out that Lili's character was based on a role played by Marlene Dietrich (with her strong German accent) as the town madam, in the 1937 Destry Rides Again. I haven't seen anyone suggest this, but I think the framework for Blazing Saddles was inspired by the overall plot line of Destry - a new sheriff (in this case Jimmy Stewart) comes to town to clean up the rampant crime and fights. His manner is not the John-Wayne strong-but-silent macho stereotype, but quiet ways, which gets him mocked by the townspeople. The story resolves itself at the end by a giant melee.
So much to discuss and consider with this film; you guys have a great sense of perspective and insight, and a MUCH greater knowledge of film history than the majority of "reaction" hosts on YT. I saw "Blazing Saddles' three times in a public movie theater in 1974; the 3rd time was in the Baltimore/Chesapeake Bay area, with an audience 50% black, 50% white. I was totally aware that we were all approaching the film from a very different perspective, and I was actually a little concerned at first about the reaction. But the place was wild with laughter from beginning to end..much like your own reactions. Nice job.
You figured out the secret. This is basically a Warner Brothers cartoon.
Never thought of that before but I agree. One of my favorite movies (own the dvd) and I’m a big fan of Warner Brothers cartoons.
Hedy Lamar was an inventor who also invented what was known at the time as frequency hopping technology. In other words, all the things that we depend on to have cell phones nowadays she created. From switching from one cell network to the next she thought all that up.
The horse was an accomplice to the crime the rider was being hung for. (He was the getaway driver 🤣)
You picked out two things that I don't believe anyone else that I have seen react has: 1) That the movie seems to be a live version of a Looney Tunes cartoon, and 2) "See? It's coming off" when Wilder flipped Little's hand over. I will share one: When the little old lady is getting beat up, the guy holding her is eating cake! Thanks for the great reaction. You guys are awesome!
I saw this at the theater and the entire place was roaring. Even the black people. I think a couple of people got up and left but only a few.
Actually, Mel Brooks has made a modern version of this movie. It's a kids animated movie but it follows Blazing Saddles perfectly. It's called "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank." It's set in an Asian backdrop, about a village of cats that needs a new Samurai to protect the village after their current Samurai is run off and they send a dog named Hank to replace him. Mel Brooks voices the Shogun. Samuel L. Jackson voices the drunk, broken down former Samurai that helps Hank. It also has Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Houdsou, George Takei and Michelle Yeoh.
Syntell, first video I saw of yours and I had to subscribe! Blazing Saddles is classic lmao.
Now, another one that you should consider is "In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poitier.
It has a similar message, but it is far more serious in delivery.
Black detective from Philadelphia is going down to visit his grandmother in the south. Very racist town. They have a murder. A cop is sent out to find any possible suspect, and he sees Poitier, so he arrests him for Waiting for a Train While Black. The sheriff feels very stupid upon discovering that Poitier is a detective from Philadelphia, and asks him to help them with the murder. It's REALLY good, and the ending is a big surprise!
There's a lot of classic scenes in it, like they go to interview a rich guy who owns a plantation, and the owner slaps Poitier for daring to ask him where he was when the guy was murdered, and Poitier immediately slaps him back MUCH HARDER. It was great! And apparently the first time a black man slapped a white man in a movie. There's another scene where the sheriff says "Virgil, that's a funny name for a [n-word] from Philadelphia, what do they call you up there?" and Poitier answers, voice raised, "THEY CALL ME MR. TIBBS!".
There was a sequel to the movie, and they made a series of it in the late 80s/early 90s which was also good, I used to watch it in high school. 🙂
This is quite simply one of the greatest comedies ever. Anyone who gets upset and offended by this film is totally missing the point.
Fun fact, Mel Brooks is still alive at 97 years old!
I have come across quicksand in the Northwest Territories on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. I was on a mineral exploration crew. There was a lot of quicksand and it was pink, I think from the algae on top, on one prospect. It was mostly easily visible and easily avoided. On one line we were surveying there was a small quicksand bog covered in moss. I was the second guy down the line. The first guy was 50 lbs lighter than me and carrying less than 10 lbs of gear. I had a 30 lb piece of electronic equipment on my back and broke through the moss and began to sink.
I took the backpack off and laid it to one side and laid on my back. I had sunk to mid thigh by then. My wellingtons had filled with mud and I was determined not to lose them so it took 20 mins to extricate myself with the boots. No you can't sink to your death in quicksand because it is much denser than water. You can get pretty damn stuck and if you are not young and healthy have trouble getting out.
Someone once asked Mel Brooks decades later " Do you think you could make Blazing Saddles today" he said "We couldn't make it in the 70s, but we did it anyways"
I sometimes keep a jar of peppermints on my desk. But they're the individually wrapped ones, not just hard candies like that.
“He just got invited to the barbecue.” Cracked me up!! LOL
Fab 😊 Really great discussion
By the way, Mongo is Detroit Lions All-Pro defensive tackle Alex Karras.
Classic films always "hold up." It's modern audiences that sometimes don't.
Many people that have seen and loved Blazing Saddles do not know that Mel, after hearing so many times, "You couldn't remake it today" he legit said Challenge accepted and he remade Blazing Saddles as a Cartoon, and got Samuel L Jackson to star in it. It's called Paws of Fury. Would love to see you guys react to it and to see the interesting comparisons. Given the wonderful opinions you guys had just watching this classic.
Many jokes are beyond the knowledge of younger people. Randolph Scott,
Laurel and Hardy handshake and "we don't need no stinkin' badges" are just a few examples.
What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a goin' on here?
Younger reactors don't get it.
It's amazing how few reactors miss that it's Mel Brooks as the Native American chief speaking Yiddish. Good for you guys!
(Also, on the movie poster, when you see him as the same character, the head dress has Hebrew lettering, and translated it means "Kosher for Passover.")
I first saw this on the big screen in '76 at Mel Brooks marathon the fall I started my senior year in high school I had full context. It was hilarious to me then, and is hilarious still to me.
"Tropic Thunder" is genius, RDJ definitely deserved his Oscar nomination.
I love this 'laugh at racists' film❤❤❤❤👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Jonathan Majors! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was lucky with this movie. My father was terminally ill when I was 11-12 and my brother and I stayed with our aunt and uncle a while, my uncle is Jamaican.
He asked if we had seen this movie and we all watched it.
The lines in this are still hilarious.
“My grandmother was Dutch” 😂
The scene where Gene says “you know, morons” was improvised.
Very good commentary. This is the kind of reaction that makes me laugh and smile.
You mention the TikTok crowd seeing less than 15 seconds of Kirk Lazarus and they get offended. Have you ever noticed that those offended are usually white liberal? I've seen a lot of black Americans react to Tropic Thunder and Blazing Saddles and they are dying laughing. You get the humor.
In reality, Blazing Saddles is as hard on white people or maybe harder on white people because of what it makes them look like. "You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons." And that is the point of Blazing Saddles. It criticized racism by showing how absurd racism is. For it's time, I consider Blazing Saddles as an ice breaker in race relations. We learned it is okay to laugh with each other.
Cleavon Little was the perfect actor to play Sheriff Bart. He's smooth while Richard Pryor is a little rough around the edges. Conversely, Cleavon could never have pulled of Stir Crazy. Your observation that this movie wouldn't have been the same without Pryor's input is spot on.
Daniel Day Lewis also played an American president. He did a damn good job.
Impressive. Not a lot of people know Hedy Lamar was a scientist. Well done on an excellent review.
Love your reactions guys! 😁 Pryor & Brooks wrote a very clever, hilarious script highlighting the moronic nature of racism. P.S. Daniel Day-Lewis is English.
The scene where Taggert gets hit with the shovel was added in. The actor who played him, Slim Pickens, was very uncomfortable with his character saying some of what he said without consequences so they added in the shovel scene to show a consequence for being a bad guy. For all of what this movie had what I remember from when it came on TV was the reaction to them having farts on screen. That is pretty much the only thing I remember being edited out for TV was the sound of the farts. You just saw a group of people sitting around a campfire bouncing up and down for no apparent reason.
Actually, the "Last Mohican" actor was actually native. People assume the LM was the main character, but he wasn't.
The "morons" line was ad-libbed...classic.
Hey guys a few things - in the 1970s we didn't have as many crazy religious people with anywhere close to their current power over culture.In the 1970's people were cooler because the problem then was due to conservatives.
Richard Pryon WAS supposed to star - but to due his drug issues they could not get insurance on him which was required.
Also as to why this film is so timeless is true of all great films. Citizen Kane - set in the 20s but still has relevant insights. Hell go check out the original Iliad still holds up.
The whole, "in your face" racism in the film was critical to it's commentary. Ultimately, the movie isn't about Bart, it is the redemption story of the people of Rock Ridge. All the racist dialog makes the impact of the townsfolk coming to grips with just how stupid it is to be racist, all the more significant.
Great reaction and commentary, guys.
Dom DeLuise wasn't gay. He was married to the woman who said, "Isn't anyone going to help that poor man?" as Bart took himself hostage. She was the mother of his three sons.
I am not writing this because I believe Dom was gay, but a teacher at my high school who was married with children was caught by police having sex with a man in a public bsthroom.
I'd be surprised if I'm the first person to point this out, but supposedly Brooks was compelled by the execs to cut out a line between Bart and Lily after the lights went out in her room that ran, "I'm sorry to disappoint you ma'am, but you're sucking on my arm." 🤣
This movie in a lot of ways, is like the TV show, all in the family. At first glance people would say that's racist, but what it's doing is laughing at the foolishness of racism, and what some people don't know is that Richard Pryor helped with the writing
You had one the first reviews where any noticed or at least commented on the fact that the Cisco Kid still had his popcorn from the theater. Nice catch.
Awesome discussion.
32:06 he’s a comedy genius and he poked fun at everyone and everything equally
Mel Brooks never made a bad movie!
Mel makes fun of everyone!
3:15 Quicksand IS a real thing. 5:27 Richard Pryor wrote this movie. He was supposed to play Bart, but the studio wouldn't have it. What could have been. 19:54 The first Looney Tunes cartoon came out in 1930. The good ones started coming out in the 40s. What fun this was, watching with you!
GenX white guy here. My dad and uncle took me and my cousin with them to see this movie in the theater when it first came out. I was around 8. We all laughed our asses off and the thing that stuck with me to this day is “racists are idiots”.
This movie and the TV show All in the Family were pivotal after the civil rights movement in the late 60s to get Americans to have more honest discussions about race relations.
If you haven’t, you guys should watch All in the Family or at least a super cut of the best of Archie Bunker.
GenX white woman here and same to all of it.
All in the Family and MASH are the best series ever (imo)
For the sake of accuracy, "All in the Family" is an early 70s sitcom.
48:00 Mel brooks was asked not long ago if he thought the movie could be made today and his response was “we couldn’t make it *then*, but we made it anyways”
For something “recent” besides South Park, there’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - 16 seasons and still going.
As an old white man who remembers the 70's I have a slightly different take. When a new Quentin Tarantino movie comes out & you're standing in line for opening night. You already know what kind of movie you are going to see, you know what Quentin Tarantino does. It won't be a Romantic Comedy & you know it. Mel Brooks was the same for us. He wasn't 'shocking' to us because we knew it was a Mel Brooks film before we sat down. We were aware everything & everyone was fair game. & We always knew we're gonna miss at least 100 gags on the 1st viewing.
I will always consider this movie in the top 5 list of greatest Parodies ever made followed by 2008's Tropic Thunder.
When i was a young black kid my dad showed me this film and its maybe the first movie to not only show Racism and how stupid it is,but also how much funnier it is to make fun of it.
So many classic lines i quote to this day "someones gotta go back and get a shit load of dimes!!"
"Going to run all night,going to run all day,got my money on a bob tail nag all the doo dah day"
"The sherrif is near!!"
But one scene that will always stick with me is the old lady saying "up yours ni**er"
As a black guy that taught me something important,that sometimes its not your fault why people dont like you, all you can do is keep your head up.
Im saddened by Cleavon Little not becoming a bigger star from this movie,but i also wouldve loved to have seen the Richard Pryor casted version.
I agree. Cleavon Little was so cool! It's always surprising when I see an actor with the whole package, and I keep waiting to see him or her, and....
Another example is David Alan Grier. I loved him on In Living Color. Then, .....
Hey guys there is such a thing as quicksand and one of the writers too was Richard Pryor Mel Brooks wanted him to play the sheriff but the studio wouldn't let him
Oh goodness sake YES;!!!
Daniel-Day Lewis' character in The Last Of The Mohicans is a white adopted son of Chingachgook, not a Native-American.
Was coming to say this. Also, he's British, not Australian.
It's funny that you dropped the story about DiCaprio not wanting to use a racial slur, because the same thing happened on the set of Blazing Saddles. Cleavon Little had to take the one guy aside and coach him and tell him that it was OK to say that here. But that's the thing, Mel Brooks is Jewish and served with the US Army in WWII, so he knows a thing or two about prejudice. That's why everyone who uses racial slurs is portrayed as either just plain stupid (all the villains) or ignorant (the townsfolk, who learn better and come to love Bart). Brooks used the racial slurs to make a parody of racism, not just a parody of Westerns. That's why they work. For decades interviewers would say to Brooks, 'you couldn't make a film like that today' and he would always reply, "We couldn't make it then." After screening it, studio executives wanted to cancel the release. Brooks arranged a second screening but invited the rank-and-file workers at the studio who loved it so much that execs agreed to a very limited release. It was so popular they agreed to a wider release, over and over until it was released everywhere. It was indeed rated R and I was only 12 when it came out so I talked my mom into taking me to see my first R-rated movie. One of my best life-long memories is of the two of us laughing our asses off together in the theater. After that, we went to all the Mel Brooks movies of the 70s together. I love looking back and remembering my mom laughing so hard I thought she might fall out of her seat.
Richard Pryor played a serious role in the movie "Blue Collar." He was excellent.
a golden classic! satire has always been a great strength and if in the States today making such films is a problem, then something is wrong there. (good thing tarantino still makes films! he doesn't care about restrictions!😊)
Me and my group of hippy friends back in the mid '70s would go to the matinees at the downtown theater and watch all the "blacksploitation" films after we got good and I on the way there 🙂. I Love Pam Greer just as much as I do Jane Fonda! I guess we was just kind of tuned into things like that in my group.
"How bout a good old ***** work song"..
Yeah we're just jumping into it
Quicksand is a real thing, and is most commonly found in swamps, marches, near lake shores, beaches, and riverbanks. It is present all over the world including the United States.
Awesome wrap-up conversaton and analysis. One of the elements of social commentary people sometimes miss in this movie is that Gene Wilder is Jewish, which makes the teaming up against the racists that much more pointed.
Slim Pickens demand to play Taggart. He really was a cowboy raised on a ranch and did rodeo circuit for a while before coming in the actor.
New to your channel. Appreciate the intelligent way you chop it up. Earned my sub.
Hilarious reaction to a hilarious movie. I enjoyed watching it with you.
Gene Wilder only agreed to be in Blazing Saddles if Mel brooks would help with writing and directing Young Frankenstein(1974). The Producers (1967)is the first movie Mel Brooks directed. It also stars Gene Wilder and pokes fun of Nazis
Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel had amazing chemistry in The Producers. Although, honestly, Gene had chemistry with *everyone* he worked with.
Richard Pryor was originally cast as Black Bart. He had a reputation for being unreliable and they couldn’t get insurance for the film so they brought in Cleavon Little.