Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy classic Blazing Saddles, starring Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little, has been ranked the second-best comedy movie of all time, placing the Western parody among the most highly regarded comedies in film history.
The ranking puts Blazing Saddles at No. 2 on Collider’s list of the 75 Best Comedy Movies of All Time. The film is praised for its bold comedy, Western parody and sharp treatment of racism.
Released by Warner Bros. on Feb. 7, 1974, Blazing Saddles was directed by Mel Brooks, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger. The movie stars Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart and Gene Wilder as Jim, the Waco Kid.
Gene Wilder gets into an altercation with Cleavon Little in a scene from the film ‘Blazing Saddles’, 1974.Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images
Collider describes the film as both a parody and satire of Western movies. Its story centers on a corrupt politician who appoints a Black man as sheriff of a small town, expecting his appointment to cause trouble and drive the residents away.
Instead, Bart becomes a popular leader and joins forces with Jim, a drunken gunslinger, to protect the town.
The movie follows Bart after he is named sheriff of Rock Ridge. The appointment is part of a plan by Hedley Lamarr, a corrupt territorial attorney general, who wants the town’s residents gone because a new railroad route could make the land highly valuable.
Bart initially faces hostility from the townspeople because of his race. He uses his intelligence and humor to win them over, while Jim becomes his ally in the fight against Lamarr and his men.
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Blazing Saddles with an 89% Tomatometer score based on 75 reviews. Its audience score stands at 90%, based on more than 100,000 ratings.
The movie’s story combines Western action with broad comedy. Bart and Jim face a series of unusual challenges as Lamarr continues trying to remove the people of Rock Ridge.
The movie also includes deliberate anachronisms and breaks the usual rules of a Western. One of its most famous sequences eventually turns into a huge fight that moves beyond the fictional town and onto a movie set, into a studio commissary and even outside the Warner Bros. lot.
The supporting cast includes Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr, Slim Pickens as Taggart, Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Shtupp, David Huddleston as Olson Johnson and Alex Karras as Mongo.
Mel Brooks also appears in several roles, including Governor William J. Le Petomane.
The Waco Kid role also had an unusual casting history. John Wayne was offered the part but turned it down because he felt the movie was too “blue” for his family-friendly image. Gig Young was later cast but had to leave after collapsing during his first scene. Wilder was then brought in to replace him.
Blazing Saddles also received three Academy Award nominations and became a major box-office success. It grossed $119.6 million against a reported $2.6 million budget.
The film later received another major honor when it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2006 after being recognized as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
The American Film Institute has also placed Blazing Saddles on its 100 Years…100 Laughs list, further establishing its place among the most important comedy films in American cinema.
While the sequence is often described as a groundbreaking moment in comedy, later examples have shown that movies featuring fart sounds existed before Blazing Saddles.
Roger Ebert also recognized the movie’s deliberately excessive style in his review, describing it as a comedy Western packed with jokes and unexpected turns. He noted that its structure was messy but that the movie largely succeeded as an audience-focused comedy.
Its mix of Western parody, outrageous comedy and commentary on racial prejudice has helped keep Blazing Saddles part of conversations about the most influential comedy films ever made.
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