Film Quote of the Day: This 1974 Mel Brooks Comedy Gave Us One of Cinema's Funniest Lines

The useful part

Released in 1974 and starring Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman, the film lampoons the Western genre and racism in one fell swoop, while engaging in musical numbers, physical gags, wordplay, and more. The script was co-written by Mel Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Alan Uger. A corrupt state politician (who happens to be named Hedley Lamarr) put him there as part of a plan to take over the town's land for a proposed railroad.

How it works

• He's counting on racism for his plan to work, but with the help of the sheriff's new partner, the alcoholic Waco Kid, they keep the town together.
• YouTube www.youtube.com The Scene The film opens on the railroad workers and the ruthless crew working them under a hot sun.
• Set in 1874, it follows a Black sheriff appointed to a frontier town.
• The film is endlessly quotable, and you could easily find a dozen iconic lines in the first half-hour alone.
• The assistant foreman Lyle (Burton Gilliam) demands good attitudes and a song—immediately af...

Details worth keeping

Blazing Saddles is one of Mel Brooks' comedy masterpieces.