‘Blazing Saddles’ 50th anniversary: Mel Brooks’ classic comedy divided critics

With its scathing social satire, raunchy humor and frequent use of the controversial N-word, “Blazing Saddles” got mixed reviews upon its release February 7, 1974. Nonetheless, it galloped to the top of the box office and earned three Oscar nominations, and set new standards for comedy films with its irreverence, spoofs and just plain silliness. Some reviewers did get the joke from the beginning, including Roger Ebert, who awarded it four out of four stars, saying it’s “a crazed grab bag of a movie that does everything to keep us laughing except hit us over the head with a rubber chicken.” On its 50th anniversary, we look back at how “Blazing Saddles” has endured as one of the greatest and most beloved comedies of all time.

It all started when Mel Brooks bought the film rights to a story titled “Tex-X” (changed so it wouldn’t be mistaken for an X-rated film), written by then Hollywood-unknown Andrew Bergman. Brooks, who was captivated by the idea of “hip talk” happening in the Old West, assembled a writing team and posted a sign that said, “Please do not write a polite script.” This credo was followed to the extreme, and a crazy, irreverent script was born of chaos among the five writers, which included Brooks, Bergman, Norman Steinberg, Alan Uger and a comedian who was supposed to have the starring role.

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Although it’s now hard to image anyone other than Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder in the roles of Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid, they were not Brooks’ first choices. Richard Pryor was a standup comedian who had written for some TV shows and had appeared in a few films when Brooks sought his involvement in “Blazing Saddles,” and included him on his writing team. Brooks also intended for Pryor to portray Sheriff Bart, the newly appointed black lawman who sends the residents, including many, many Johnsons, of Rock Ridge into a tizzy. Had he been cast, it could have been the first teaming of Pryor and Wilder, who later found success as the first interracial comedy “buddy team” in films like “Silver Streak” (1976). But the studio refused to allow Pryor’s casting, due to the comedian’s history of drug arrests, and Wilder was only added to the cast after other choices fell through.

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Brooks offered the role of the Waco Kid to western-film icon John Wayne, who declined because he felt it was too raunchy for his family-friendly image, but told the director the he “would be the first one in line to see it.” Former musical star Dan Dailey was considered, before Gig Young was cast. Young passed out on his first day from alcohol withdrawal, at which time Brooks called in Wilder, with whom he had worked on “The Producers” in 1967.

A who’s-who of the eras greatest comedians and character actors round out the cast. Madeline Kahn channels Marlene Dietrich for her Oscar-nominated performance as Lili Von Shtupp. “The Carol Burnett Show” star Harvey Korman received his first major feature film role as the scheming Hedley Lamar … not to be confused with the actress who was not happy with her name being parodied (there was a lawsuit, which a flattered Brooks settled out of court and references in the film). Slim Pickens, who had blasted his way to movie fame a decade prior in “Dr. Strangelove,” is the perfect sidekick for Lamarr, and professional football player-turned-actor Alex Karras is memorable as Mongo, the brute who is “only pawn in game of life.”

Brooks himself appears as three different characters, a Yiddish-speaking Native American chief, one of the applicants for Lamarr’s army and the blustering and inept Governor William J. Le Petomane, a reference to the famous French flatulist.

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The beautifully chaotic mesh of film spoofs, gags and slapstick almost didn’t make it into theaters. In 1973, studio executives were unhappy with the use of the N-word (despite support from Little and Pryor), with Lili’s seduction scene and with the fart scene around the campfire. Oh, the horrors! But a savvy Brooks retained control over the final cut, and refused to make any major changes. When screened for studio executives, there was mixed reaction and it was almost scrapped. Thankfully, this gem was released and became the top box office draw of 1974.

“Blazing Saddles” didn’t win a lot of awards upon its release. The academy honored it with three Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Kahn, Best Film Editing and Best Original Song for the title tune, for which Brooks wrote the lyrics (music by John Morris). Surprisingly (or, with its controversial content, maybe not), it wasn’t recognized for its screenplay — even though the Writers Guild of America awarded it Best Original Screenplay, and it also received a BAFTA bid in that category. In 2000, the American Film Institute listed it at number six on its list of “100 Years… 100 Laughs,” and it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2006.

If you’ve never seen it, just know that you will never quite figure out “what in the wide, wide world of sports is a’goin’ on,” you might wonder “where the white women at,” you will probably agree that they’ve “had enough beans,” you don’t need to be too terribly concerned about the “mugs, thugs, pugs, nitwits, half wits, dim wits …” and, finally, you just might feel a little tinge of sympathy for the conniving Hedy Lamarr … I mean Hedley. It’s Hedley Lamarr.

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