Actually Mel Brooks has two good films, this and Young Frankenstein. Some of us like Spaceballs; some of us like History of the World: Part I; personally, I have a soft spot for Silent Movie; but we can all agree that Blazing Saddles is pretty much as good as Mel Brooks gets. So how good is it? And how dated is it?
Can a film be revered for punchlines alone? What if those punchlines are anachronisms? Most everything Slim Pickens says from “What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is going on around here?” to “”Why are you jumping around like a bunch of Kansas City f***ots?!” would not find a home in the year 2020. Luckily for us, there’s a whole lot of Blazing Saddles that isn’t Slim Pickens, and much of it is funny: a lecherous governor for whom “affairs of the state take precedence over affairs of the state,” a town entirely comprised of Johnsons, an homage to “authentic frontier gibberish,” a Native American chief speaking Hebrew, and -most importantly- a comic look at ugly and dangerous stereotypes.
Bart (Cleavon Little), and I challenge you to locate his career outside this film, is an exploited railroad construction worker. Taunted by a racist boss (was there an alternative in the 1870s?) in the opening moments to sing a Negro spiritual of sorts, he and his fellows offer up the oft-crooned classic “I Get a Kick Out of You.” The downward spiral between worker and foreman continues when Taggart (Pickens) rescues a “valuable” handcart from quicksand while leaving Bart to die. Bart’s retaliation for the callousness gets him put on death row, which is furloughed when attorney general Heddy Lamarr (“that’s HEDLEY!” – one of the film’s favorite running gags which Harvey Korman pulls off exquisitely) gets moronic governor Le Petomane (Brooks) to stay the execution and appoint Bart sheriff of Rock Ridge. This a part of a larger scheme for Heddy to get the citizens of Rock Ridge (all named “Johnson”) to abandon their town, leaving a smart railroad land swindle in their wake.
The joke is that Bart will be found unacceptable to the endless sea of racist Johnsons and they’ll opt to leave rather than accept a black sheriff. This is one of those places where one hopes future generations won’t understand the humor. I would cry tears of joy if my own child or my child’s children stared at the screen blankly upon being introduced to this plot. Alas, even after eight pretty damn good years of President Obama, the joke that white America would scoff at a black leader simply for being black is sadly more relevant than ever. And, hence, so is the humor that surrounds the scene of Sheriff Bart approaching the town, culminating in one of my favorite bits of blue humor ever. Bart: “ ‘scuse me whilst I whip this out” (Woman screams; citizens gasp; in anti-climactic fashion, Bart retrieves a rolled piece of parchment from below his belt.) Would a joke like that still play to today’s audiences? I think so.
Quickly dismissed, Bart discovers his alliance for the rest of the movie, Jim (Gene Wilder). Have you ever considered Gene Wilder? Humor me, because Gene Wilder is one of those forces of entertainment that other generations will not understand, like, say, Dane Cook, or “The Real Housewives of ___________.” Gene Wilder is nobody’s idea of a leading man. He isn’t particularly handsome or smooth or charming, nor does he look especially comfortable with a weapon. For a comic actor, I’ve never heard him tell a laugh-out-loud joke, and in his best role by far, he plays a candy maker who seems to take quasi-sadistic pleasure in harming children. Ironically, it is his kindness, of all things, that shows up as his greatest asset on screen. And yet, for a ten-year period from 1967-1976, Wilder had about as good a run as one gets in the biz, landing significant roles in several films we still watch today including: Bonnie & Clyde, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Silver Streak. These films are 40-50 years old and you know exactly what they are. Odds are you know who Gene Wilder is even if you have no opinion about the man. There are, literally, owners of multiple Oscars who would die for that résumé. So which is it? Random chance, having the world’s best agent, or have I completely underrated the late 
Mr. Wilder? At this point, I’m willing to accept any reasonable explanation.
I won’t go into the rest of Blazing Saddles. This is one of those films you discover either you love or you don’t about thirty seconds in. It gets raunchy, it gets silly, it even gets long. I always found Blazing Saddles comes to a screeching halt upon the introduction of Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn, who would be nominated for this role because, I’m guessing here, women didn’t exist in 1974). For my re-watch, I discovered the non-EFT version cheats us of two fabulous Mongo (Alex Karras) scenes. In fact, I don’t think the relationship between Bart and Mongo works in the theater edit.
Is Blazing Saddles dated? Could it be made today? Yes and no. The film is dependent on topical progressive humor, hence Blazing Saddles does have anachronistic attitudes. Sadly, none of them are about race; I think the film’s take on slavery and the general feeling of ignorant white Americans towards African-Americans is still spot on. You could tell the same jokes at Trump’s future arraignment and get the same amount of guffaws mixed with uncomfortable hedging. Where Blazing Saddles needs to be updated is the film is fairly homophobic which doesn’t play well at all to any 21st century American crowd. Also the politics need to be updated –right now, we see naked power grabs exactly for what they are — neither Trump nor any Republican pol needs hide them any longer as there exists inadequate checks on power. Hence, the way to get away with them is –simply- having no one in power willing to stand up against you. The modern plot for Blazing Saddles would almost certainly involve the Johnsons of Rock Ridge standing up to the governor and finding no voice for their lack of electoral power; I’d add a gerrymandering subplot about how two strategically situated pre-neo-Nazi xenophobic rustic rednecks living in the dunes constitute a greater electoral cadre combined than one hundred Rock Ridge citizens – such by itself would accurately reflect modern American politics.
As for the film – it wasn’t perfect to begin with and it is indeed dated, but when it’s funny, there are few films funnier. Ever.
♪He plied a blazing keyboard
He challenged film noir
He offered up a critique
Of bad flicks near and far
He conquered verse
And he spelled some words
In a whole new exciting way
He used his blazing keyboard
Then switched off that Blu-ray♫
Rated R, 93 Minutes
Director: Mel Brooks
Writer: Mel Brooks & Norman Steinberg & Andrew Bergman & Richard Pryor & Alan Uger
Genre: Racism!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Come for the silly, stay for the message
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Nazis, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and people who hate when you break the fourth wall.
♪ Parody Inspired by “Blazing Saddles”
