Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 comedy western movie directed by Mel Brooks starring Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder and Harvey Korman. It tells the story of a black Sheriff, played by Little, who is appointed Sheriff of a small Western town and how he must try to make friends with the racist towns people and stop a ruthless businessman from knocking down the town to make way for a railway line.
| Blazing Saddles | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mel Brooks |
| Produced by | Michael Hertzberg |
| Screenplay by | Andrew Bergman Mel Brooks Richard Pryor Norman Steinberg Al Uger |
| Story by | Andrew Bergman |
| Starring | Cleavon Little Gene Wilder Harvey Korman Slim Pickens Madeline Kahn Mel Brooks Dom DeLuise |
| Music by | Mel Brooks (songs) John Morris (score) |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Danford B. Greene John C. Howard |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.6 million |
| Box office | $119,500,000[1] |
While the movie is widely said to be a classic comedy today, critical reaction was mixed when the movie was first released.
Cast
- Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart
- Gene Wilder as Jim, aka "The Waco Kid"
- Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr
- Madeline Kahn as Lili von Shtupp, the "Teutonic Titwillow"
- Slim Pickens as Taggart
- Dom DeLuise as Buddy Bizarre
- Mel Brooks as Gov. William J. Le Petomane / Indian Chief / Tough wearing sunglasses and a bomber jacket.
- Liam Dunn as Reverend Johnson
- George Furth as Van Johnson
- Burton Gilliam as Lyle
- John Hillerman as Howard Johnson
- David Huddleston as Olson Johnson
- Richard Collier as Dr. Samuel Johnson
- Alex Karras as Mongo
- Jack Starrett as Gabby Johnson
- Robyn Hilton as Miss Stein (the governor's secretary)
- Rodney Allen Rippy as Young Bart
- Charles McGregor as Charlie
- Robert Ridgely as Boris, the hangman
- Carol Arthur as Harriet Johnson
- Anne Bancroft as Extra in Church Congregation (uncredited)
Awards and honors
In the scene where Lamarr talks to his band of bad guys, he says, "You men are only risking your lives, while I am risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!" Harvey Korman did not, in fact, get an Oscar nomination. The movie did receive three other Academy Awards nominations in 1974: Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Madeline Kahn, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Song. The movie also earned two BAFTA awards nominations, for Best Newcomer (Cleavon Little) and Best Screenplay.
The movie won the Writers Guild of America Award for "Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen" for writers Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger.[2]
In 2006, Blazing Saddles was chosen by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry.[2]
References
- ↑ "Box Office Information for Blazing Saddles". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Blazing Saddles" – via www.imdb.com.
