He’s played by Harvey Korman who was on the Carol Burnett Show, a sketch comedy show from the 60s and 70s. You should definitely check out some of his bits on that show. In his scenes with Tim Conway, who’s also one of the funniest people who ever lived, Tim would intentionally try to make Harvey crack during scenes and the results are comedic gold.
Everyone was excellent in this movie, but shoutout to Harvey Korman. So great in that role. Happy you had the part where in his monologue he says ""You will be only risking your lives, whereas I will be risking an almost CERTAIN Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!" What a meta line.
Harvey Korman was a regular on the Carol Burnett tv show in the 70s. Hilarious show… especially when Harvey and Tim Conway teamed up. They would improvise and try to get the other to start laughing and break character.
@@mellokeith He also acted in several other movies and appeared in a couple other TV shows outside The Carol Burnett Show. He was a very talented character actor.
There are so many subtle moments like that. The suddenly loud public speaking lady, “I am not from Havana”, when Hedley and the governor “growl” at each other… it’s just non-stop.
Yep. That's how you know he's a villain right down to the core. It kills me every time. That, and Korman's delivery of "Kin-ky!" in response to the "Through the Vatican?" bit.
@@Rebel9668 Here is one that damn near no one gets, too. The Governor's name is LaPetamaine. That is the stage name of a performer in France in the 1880's and 1890's who was all the rage at the time. His stage act was him farting musical numbers. And I mean farting. That is not a euphemism. Somehow he taught himself how to control his butt well enough to be able to fart tunes. He did all sorts of things, popular songs of the day, classical numbers, and his closer was the 1812 overture. I'm just sorry that video had so long to wait...
The reason for the ending being what it is is because Brooks wanted to do a satirical movie about racism and set it in the present (1974). Warner Brothers wouldn't sign on for that but they would sign on for a satirical movie about racism set in 1874. Brooks used the pull out shot from the fight to the Warner Brothers lots to move the entire movie and it's characters into present day which is where he wanted the movie to be in the first place.
Harvey Korman was a fantastic comic actor. Mel Brooks used him in a few films, but he mostly did TV. He was most well known for being a staple on The Carol Burnett Show for a decade. He appeared in many iconic sketches on that show, I watched this on TBS in the late 90s and fully expected it to be almost unrecognizable. They left in the campfire scene, but edited out all the fart noises. I guess they thought they were offensive. Oh, they left in all the N-words though.
One of Korman's colleague was Tim Conway. Tim Conway had a knack and timing to break Korman out of his characters during each skit that they were in during the show. Example: The Dentist.
1. Mel Brooks played the Governor and the Indian Chief and one of the thug roundup. 2. Mel Brooks doesn't just break the 4th wall he shatters, steps on and grinds it into the ground. 3. The preacher/Liam Dunn plays in Young Frankenstein as an old man that gets racked by Dr. Frankenstein. Madeline Kahn also had a smallish role in it. 4. Yes, Bart and Jim were smoking wacky tobacky. 5. The line, "You know morons" was ad lib by Wilder. Little's reaction was real. 6. The guy that was supposed to play Jim showed up the first day drunk so he was let go. Wilder agreed to do this movie for Mel Brooks only if Mel would direct Young Frankenstein for him. 7. Richard Pryor was supposed to play Bart but he was going through his addictions at the time and they thought it wouldn't be a good idea. However, he did some of the writing. 8. Jim still has his popcorn from the theater. Movie suggestion "Young Frankenstein" with Gene Wilder
Oscar winner Gig Young, the original Jim, tried to dry out before the filming started, but collapsed on that first day of shooting from alcohol withdrawal. He tragically died three years later when he killed himself and his new wife after losing role after role due to the booze.
People say all sorts of stuff about this movie but the one I hear the most is you could never make a movie like this today yet Team America and Sausage Party exist. It's just hard to do satire well, and most times you just end up with the Scary Movie franchise. Also, the reason the farts went on for so long is they were the first Farts allowed on film, and he went for broke.
I love that someone said the same thing to Brooks a few years ago, and he said “Are you kidding?! You couldn’t make it back then either!” He just basically did it all behind the studio’s back.
Someone did a great video on the fact that the genre of westerns whitewashing history on race relations in the old west was the reason for this film to serve as parody. In essence, there’s no need for this film today because part of the reason it’s humor broke through the race barrier is missing from modern culture: the ubiquity of the western and myth of national construction
Two of Mel Brooks' greatest movies, "The Producers" (1968) and "Young Frankenstein" (1974) were both turned into hit Broadway musicals. Mel is now working on turning "Blazing Saddles" into a Broadway musical too. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I also can't recommend highly enough, "The Producers" which was not only Mel's first movie but also the first movie for Gene Wilder....and Mel won an Oscar for best original screenplay.
The ending was based on the studio refusing to allow Brooks to set his movie satirizing racism in the 1970's so he set it in the 1870's and then brought it all back to "the modern day," showing that bigotry hasn't changed in one of the funniest ways I've ever seen.
Mel wanted Richard Prior to star in the film but the studio was terrified - which is ironic given how often he teamed up with Gene Wilder later on - so Clevon Little was cast, who was terrific.
I think Pryor was a bad fit for Bart. His frenetic comedy style wouldn't work here. It works in Stir Crazy with Wilder as the straight and earnest foil to Pryor bouncing off the walls. But Clevon's Bart needs to be laid-back and he does it so well.
That's a myth. Pryor was in the middle of an alcohol & drug haze at the time, and they couldn't even get him insured for the film. Ironically, Wilder wasn't the first choice for the Waco kid. They cast a veteran cowboy actor, but he showed up too drunk to even deliver his lines. At his wit's end, Mel called Gene and begged him to play the part. I've heard that that's why Brooks agreed to do Young Frankenstein, one of Wilder's pet projects.
Yes! Thank you, this wasn't a movie he could make even back then. He originally wanted to make a movie satirizing racism in 1974, but it was a hard no, so he decided to change it to 1874. Even then, Warner Bros. fought him and Richard Pryor every step of the way. Some of the execs wouldn't even acknowledge Brooks' presence if he walked past them and tried to say hello. Pissed off a whole bunch of (mainly white) audience members too
Exactly. People who dismiss the bravery and effort it took to make this in the seventies don't know what they are talking about. This was highly controversial, and the real racists in society absolutely hated it because it made fun of them
Hedley is amazing, and I love that Bart uses his smarts to solve problems while just being super smooth.. "you're making a german spectacle of yourself" :D You could pretty easily argue that this is Brooks' finest film, either this or Young Frankenstein.
if you loved harvey korman in this flick then you'll have to find the carroll burnett show & binge watch that. He is a comic genius in every episode. I think that was one of the funniest all time variety shows. used to be on every sunday night, then i'd have to go to school the next morning. :(
Of all the reactions to this movie that I've taken the time to watch, you're the first one I've seen laugh at the bit when they're in line talking about "washing up after a weekly cross burnin...see it's comin off." That had to have been written by Pryor, and it's such a blink-and-you'll-miss-it joke. But it's funny! I love this movie! Great reaction!
Loved the aside about the "back in the day" comments... couldn't agree more. I especially dislike the "this movie could never be made today" cliche... Like this movie wasn't boundary pushing at it's time... ...Or like filmmakers haven't been pushing boundaries since... It took a special team of filmmakers, writers and actors to make Blazing Saddles and an equally special team could certainly make a film like it today...it just takes the right artists
Thank you - I was about to say the same thing. There was such incredible - and open - racism (and homophobia and misogyny) which most people back then took for granted. At the time, this movie broke all sorts of barriers by using words and situations they hadn't been able to say (and thus, couldn't explore) in previous movies and tv, due to the Hays Code. So this movie shocked its audiences and at the same time, used it to make fun of racists and the like. For Mel Brooks, fighting against prejudices was personal, too, remembering how anti-Semitic feelings had culminated in the Holocaust only a generation earlier. At one point, a black person could not do a solo dance performance for fear it would give them star power. (This worked out well for the fabulous Nicholas Brothers, who could perform stunning tap dance duos.) Little 6-year old Shirley Temple broke one color barrier when she and Bill Bojangles Robinson did a complicated tap dance number on a staircase in the 1935 The Little Colonial (easy to find this clip on TH-cam), as the first interracial "couple" on the silver screen (the scene had to be cut for when the movie played in the South). Randolph Scott had played in dozens of westerns until his relationship with Cary Grant leaked out. Westerns were a very popular movie genre but up until Blazing Saddles, I can't think of a single black man I ever saw in a western, even the most minor of characters. (And often Indians were portrayed, not by Native Americans, but by Italians.) A movie like Lilies of the Field was revolutionary in merely having a black man as lead character, and not someone just brought on for a bit of comedy relief, with the obligatory and offensive eye-roll.
Even aside from how certain types say it from a place of bad faith to belittle inclusion and respect, to think that equally enjoyable or powerful art can't be made today is defeatist. It is self-limiting to thank that an artform has truly peaked.
Hedley Lamarr was played by Harvey Korman. He's a very funny guy, and was a mainstay on The Carol Burnett Show. Everyone in the movie mispronounced his character's name because there was an actress named Hedy Lamarr.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.
I've been watching your content for a couple years, and I've never been disappointed. Hannibal, Band of Brothers, absolutely love all of them. All excellent. Tonight I did a search for "3:10 to Yuma" reactions because I was in a mood for westerns. Yours showed up(which I had already watched, but I watched it again), and I thought, "What has he done recently?" And I saw this, less than 24 hours ago. I have watched other reactions of this ridiculous movie, but when I saw that you did it, I instantly thought "Of course! Out of every reactor that I watch, he's the one that will get the humor the most." And I wasn't disappointed. You understood this movie better than any other reactor I've seen. Love your stuff man.
The movie is a classic. Mel Brooks did a great job, along with the other screenwriters, of addressing issues of the day by lampooning and mocking EVERYONE. One of my favorite scenes will always be Brooks as the Yiddish speaking Jewish Indian.
Harvey Korman is always funny. Likwise, Madeline Kahn was a treat in absolutely everything she ever did....which includes quite a few Mel Brooks films. So sad that we lost Cleavon Little so young - he was clearly a talent to be reckoned with.
Best visual gag was Howard Johnson's ice cream parlor with just 1 flavor. In the 70's, if you wanted ice cream, you went to Howard Johnson Inns where they had 16 flavors. Very subtle. Also, the one joke Brooks felt went too far and was therefore removed was when Lily Von Shtupp asks if it's "true that all men like you are, shall we say, gifted?" After finding out it was true, Bart says, "I hate to disappoint you, but you're sucking on my elbow!"
This is my favorite comedy of all time and probably the movie I quote most often. Whenever I walk into an a-gogo bar in Thailand I always ask "Hey, where the white women at?"
Apparentlyhe actor playing Lyle had a huge problem saying the n-word to Cleavon Little, until he took him aside and said it was ok because they weren't his words
Gilliam was a Fireman in a small town North of Dallas making $12,500 annually. He met with Brooks and at first didn't want to leave his Full time job until Brooks offered him $25,000 for the part. Gilliam had an extremely difficult time with the dialogue until Little took him aside and explained to him that they are just words that People write and Actors play make believe. Little told him that He doesn't have a problem 'Acting' but Gilliam tells the story as "... but Cleavon told Me that if we weren't Acting that he would Kick my ass." They remained Friends up until Little's Death.
Hey, they couldn’t make this movie back then either, but they didn’t let that stop them. Anyway, it’s already made, and people are still discovering it, watching it, enjoying it, and getting it, and I think that speaks volumes in itself far better than some speculation about whether it could or couldn’t. The implications of it should be taken seriously, but bigotry deserves ridicule.
This is what you get when the arguably greatest Jewish comedy director teams up with Richard Pryor to mock the moronic culture of racism, in a time period when you could get away with a lot in film making. It was perfect storm, in the best possible way.
This might be Mel Brooks best Movie in my personal opinion. I remember being 8 years old and this being maybe my first movie as a black kid that not only sorta showed Racism and just how fucking dumb it is,but also how funny it is to make fun of it. So many classic lines I quote to this day. "Someones gotta go back and get a shit ton of Dimes!!" "Girl,you are making a German Spectacle of yourself.... Auf Wiedersehen Baby" "Going to run all Night,going to Run all day,got my money on bobhill Sleigh all the doo da Day." I'm so saddened Cleavon Little wasn't a bigger actor after this movie,but I also would've loved to have see the Richard Pryor casted Version. If i could reccomend History of the World Part 1.
Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamar) was in Mel Brooks's movie "History of the World Part I - which is also hilarious - and his character's name was "Count DeMonay" (long "o" and long "a" sound), and characters kept calling him "Count the Money!" He'd be like, "DeeMonaaay!" lol Yes, RIP Harvey - you gave us a TON of laughs.
I find it curious that 40 years ago people would watch this and say "Boy you couldn't get away with this level of material 40 years ago." as a point of pride in progress in reducing censorship and expanding expression and freedoms, and now we say "Jee you couldn't get away with most of this today." as either a sort of pride or despair at the regression.
“It’s all right, Taggart. Just a man and a horse being hung. Doo Doo doo.” And of course. “Baby, you are so talented. And they are so dumb!” His whole scene at the town square was hilarious, the dumbfounded looks of the townspeople before they believe the Looney Tune-esque skit was perfection. Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder played off each other brilliantly. I can’t imagine anyone playing Hedley Lamar other than Harvey Korman, his comedic timing was spot on. If you enjoy him, you should check out some of his skits on the Carol Burnett show like “The Dentist”. And of course Madeline Khan is always a gem on screen.
This movie is great writing, great actors and great production all rolled into one. Mel Brooks really went for the home run swing, and did most of it behind the studios back
You're right about the BS on "People didn't get offended easily". The whole purpose of this movie was to show the offensiveness of racism, as well as the stupidity of it and the stupidity of those who participated in it. I grew up in that era in Alabama and that much open racism was not only visible, it was expected. But after this movie shined its lights on racism, and after going to school with blacks all my life, I came to see the disgusting nature of it. I am so glad, because some of my closest friends I have had and still have in my life are not white. There are some black men in my life I love and would trust my entire family's lives with. That's more than I can say for some of the white "superior race" folks I know.
I always thought Harvey Korman was underrated as well. Seeing him on the Carroll Barnet Show was always fun. I'm glad you liked the movie, it's one of my all time favs. Thanks for the laughs!
I agree on all counts. I normally fast forward or stop from about the Jesse Owens gag. Hedley Lamar (Harvey Korman) was a standout. I do really like the charisma Cleavon Little put to the role. Right amount of comedy. Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor is a great comedy writing team
Talkin' 'bout the ending (which I also didn't like, when I saw it the first time on Dutch television, somewhere in the 1980s), I think, Mel Brooks got inspired by ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', released a year before ''Blazing Saddles'', that movie is also so absurd and ridiculously funny, it had to end like that, by breaking the 4th wall.
He must not have been able to think of any thing else to wrap up the movie. I've always tried to think of where it could have gone in a purely western setting and I can never think of anything. You got a better alternative ending?
Your premise is flawed. _Holy Grail_ came out in 1975 while _Blazing Saddles_ came out in 1974. And before anyone comments that _Holy Grail_ must have ripped of _Blazing Saddles_ then -- the earliest drafts of _Grail_ took place half in medieval times and half in present day. In them they end up finding the Grail at Harrod's, an upscale UK department store famous for having "everything."
Ah, the good ole days of "Show don't tell", You want to convey a message to the audience of "racism is stupid"? DON'T preach at your audience nor just SAY it! (or worse, CALL the audience racists) Just IMPLY the message by making everyone in the movie who IS a racist, stupid. Even Mongo, who isn't racist, isn't "stupid". He's just , , , , "simple", (yet profoundly self-aware) "Mongo only pawn, in game of life." = such a funny line! I STILL think my favorite moment is the horse that got punched! Seriously, that horse deserved an award or something for his performance!
"You want to convey a message to the audience of 'racism is stupid'? DON'T preach at your audience nor just SAY it! (or worse, CALL the audience racists)..." At a certain point, humoring racists gets old. No reflection on the movie.
Hedley was a takeoff on Hedy Lamar a famous female film star of the 1930's and 1940's. Hedley was played by Comedian/Actor Harvey Korman who was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show. Blazing Saddles was co-written by Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor. The film is dated as audiences today would probably not know who Hedy Lamar, Howard Johnson, Randolph Scott and Jesse Owens are. My favorite line is: We welcome you with this Laurel and Hardy Handshake. Referring to the Comedy team of Laurel and Hardy.
Hedley Lamarr's name is a Hollywood reference. There was actually a Hollywood actress named Hedy Lamarr in the 1940s and '50s (called by some "the most beautiful woman in film"). Along with being an actress, she also helped to invent technology for the war effort during WW2 that was the basis for WiFi and GPS. In spite of all that it appears that she didn't have a good sense of humor, as she sued for use of her name and Mel Brooks had to settle out of court. Lily Von Shtupp's performance was also based on a Hollywood legend named Marlene Dietrich. It was a parody of Dietrich, but from what little I've seen Khan's performance was not too far off the mark (by being way too far off the mark).
This movie, Trading places, Rush Hour for example had some derogative scenes to many viewers but it was not attended to promote racism. Like Blazing Saddles everyone came together at the end and so did in Trading Places and Rush Hour. Sometimes in those movies through their comedy they teach life’s lessons as well but at the same time have room for coming together
During this time Harvey Korman who played Hedley LaMarr was also a regular on the Carol Burnett show. This was one of the funniest variety shows on television.
Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr) was a great comedic actor, to see some of his best work watch " The Carol Burnett Show " He was a regular on that show, so funny.
On the, "it was a different time" theme, Mel Brooks said they couldn't make that movie then. He just did it anyway. The man is a genius with balls of steel.
You really had to be there when this came out and you had to go to a theater to watch it. It was hilarious and the entire audience was almost rolling in the aisles. You really needed to go back a second time to catch the things you missed because of the laughter. Also, as others have suggested, if you liked Harvey Korman you should really check out some of his old bits with Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett Show. Conway was an expert at making Korman break character and laugh during the skits. Conway once said that he and Korman had a running bet to see who could make the other crack up on camera. When asked who came out ahead Conway told the interviewer that his kids college tuition was paid by Harvey.
The scene you left off just after 1:53 where Bart confesses that, “Uh sir, sir. He specifically requested two 'n*rs'? Well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch.”. That's a reverse play on the "One drop rule" where a social and legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th century United States. It asserted any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ('one drop' of 'black blood') is considered black. Bart was implying that since he had "one drop" of Caucasian blood that he wasn't really black. A subtle, often overlooked, yet brilliant joke. Unedited scene here th-cam.com/video/A0d0gebqAdY/w-d-xo.html 8:12 Mel Brooks as an Indian - speaking Yiddish and wearing red, white, and blue war paint.
I didn't know all of the references then but I know now. I wish I could have seen a Broadway production of Mel Brooke's: This, Young Frankenstein, Vertigo, etc.
Harvey Norman played Hedley Lamar. Harvey Korman and Tim Conway were comedic geniuses. Both men were on the Carol Burnet Show and both would be nominated for Emmy's every year. Their acceptance speeches were legendary. Here is the clip: th-cam.com/video/X1qebkWD67o/w-d-xo.html
Such a great movie! They did it perfectly, the white guy didn’t come in and save him. The white guy followed his lead and Bart was the brains of the operation. Such a brilliant film and really exposes the overall idiocy of it all.
As for they can't do that these days, in the late 60s we had Flip Wilson doing routines like Cowboys and Colored People, The Jeffersons, and Sanford & Son. Redd Fox was especially ghetto, building on his "blue" humor performances.
I grew up in the 60's watching westerns every Saturday afternoon. While the racists are stupid theme dominates, I recognized around 12 scenes which were common in the westerns. A great movie. Kudos to Cleavon Little. His calm dignity and sophistication were a perfect foil to the jokes.
a couple of notes: olsen johnson -- the big lebowski, also a direct reference to Olsen & Johnson (if hellzapoppin wasn't a direct influence on mel brooks i'd be quite surprised) howard johnson -- higgins from magnum p.i. mongo -- the dad from webster hedy lamarr actually sued warner brothers over her being mentioned, they quietly and quickly settled. that was mel as the soux chief, speaking yiddish in reference to how westerns used to hire jews to play native americans, what they'd call redfacing. when people would talk to mel about how they could never make blazing saddles "these days," he'd say that they couldn't've even made it back then. studio execs were shitting bricks about the movie until mel arranged a screening for studio employees-- the laughter quickly changed their minds.
Harvey Korman was well known to everyone when this movie was made, because he was part of the standard cast on the Carol Burnett show, and we watched him every week. Also, in the 1970's, racism was a common plot on many sitcoms and weekly TV shows. But only the BAD guys were racists. As soon as they revealed their racism, they were either the bad guy to get rid of, or the ignorant bad guy to straighten out.
Hedley Lamarr, all time character?
Harvey Korman... really funny on The Carol Burnett Show back in the day.
He’s played by Harvey Korman who was on the Carol Burnett Show, a sketch comedy show from the 60s and 70s. You should definitely check out some of his bits on that show. In his scenes with Tim Conway, who’s also one of the funniest people who ever lived, Tim would intentionally try to make Harvey crack during scenes and the results are comedic gold.
Still one of the funniest movies ever made
I just posted and honestly yes. This is one of the great characters in a comedy.
I thought Bart was the star. So charismatic and cool. Everyone loved him.
'They said you was hung!' 'And they was right!' A timeless classic.
There is so much quicksand in old movies that every child of the 70’s and 80’s expected we’d find ourselves stuck in it at some point. 😂
Yea, I've been all over the world and never seen any in person lol. But that was a real fear of mine back in the day
Quicksand and falling anvils!
Haven't you??
@@fidge54 😂
“Quicksand” was in way to many goof off sessions as a kid.
Everyone was excellent in this movie, but shoutout to Harvey Korman. So great in that role.
Happy you had the part where in his monologue he says ""You will be only risking your lives, whereas I will be risking an almost CERTAIN Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!" What a meta line.
Ironically enough, Madeline Kahn who plays Lili Von Shtup got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress!
Harvey Korman was a regular on the Carol Burnett tv show in the 70s. Hilarious show… especially when Harvey and Tim Conway teamed up. They would improvise and try to get the other to start laughing and break character.
@@mellokeith He also acted in several other movies and appeared in a couple other TV shows outside The Carol Burnett Show. He was a very talented character actor.
@@xander66644 she won, too.
@@mellokeith Their dentist sketch will never not be hilarious.
Hedley Lamarr trying to get the student discount might actually be the funniest moment in the movie
There are so many subtle moments like that. The suddenly loud public speaking lady, “I am not from Havana”, when Hedley and the governor “growl” at each other… it’s just non-stop.
@@stevesheroan4131 "Sounds like steam escaping" kills me every time.
Yep. That's how you know he's a villain right down to the core. It kills me every time. That, and Korman's delivery of "Kin-ky!" in response to the "Through the Vatican?" bit.
I love the joke that almost no one gets where Howard Johnson (John Hillerman) offers a Laurel & Hardy handshake to the new sheriff in his speech.
@@Rebel9668 Here is one that damn near no one gets, too. The Governor's name is LaPetamaine. That is the stage name of a performer in France in the 1880's and 1890's who was all the rage at the time. His stage act was him farting musical numbers. And I mean farting. That is not a euphemism. Somehow he taught himself how to control his butt well enough to be able to fart tunes. He did all sorts of things, popular songs of the day, classical numbers, and his closer was the 1812 overture. I'm just sorry that video had so long to wait...
The reason for the ending being what it is is because Brooks wanted to do a satirical movie about racism and set it in the present (1974). Warner Brothers wouldn't sign on for that but they would sign on for a satirical movie about racism set in 1874. Brooks used the pull out shot from the fight to the Warner Brothers lots to move the entire movie and it's characters into present day which is where he wanted the movie to be in the first place.
"That's HEDLEY...!" Every time he was onscreen was a joy. He SHOULD have won best supporting actor!
Gene's "morons" line was an ad lib, thus Little's laugh...
"What do you like to do?"
"Play chess. Screw."
"Well let's play chess" 😳
Harvey Korman was a fantastic comic actor. Mel Brooks used him in a few films, but he mostly did TV. He was most well known for being a staple on The Carol Burnett Show for a decade. He appeared in many iconic sketches on that show,
I watched this on TBS in the late 90s and fully expected it to be almost unrecognizable. They left in the campfire scene, but edited out all the fart noises. I guess they thought they were offensive.
Oh, they left in all the N-words though.
TBS, out of Georgia? There’s a surprise….
One of Korman's colleague was Tim Conway. Tim Conway had a knack and timing to break Korman out of his characters during each skit that they were in during the show. Example: The Dentist.
For some reason, all reactors to this movie but one have bleeped out the "bad" words. Is that a TH-cam requirement?
@@Caseytify I think it's allowed but videos that don't censor it are likely to be demonetized.
@@MrTech226 They were one of the best comedy duos of all time!
1. Mel Brooks played the Governor and the Indian Chief and one of the thug roundup.
2. Mel Brooks doesn't just break the 4th wall he shatters, steps on and grinds it into the ground.
3. The preacher/Liam Dunn plays in Young Frankenstein as an old man that gets racked by Dr. Frankenstein. Madeline Kahn also had a smallish role in it.
4. Yes, Bart and Jim were smoking wacky tobacky.
5. The line, "You know morons" was ad lib by Wilder. Little's reaction was real.
6. The guy that was supposed to play Jim showed up the first day drunk so he was let go.
Wilder agreed to do this movie for Mel Brooks only if Mel would direct Young Frankenstein for him.
7. Richard Pryor was supposed to play Bart but he was going through his addictions at the time and they thought it wouldn't be a good idea. However, he did some of the writing.
8. Jim still has his popcorn from the theater.
Movie suggestion "Young Frankenstein" with Gene Wilder
Oscar winner Gig Young, the original Jim, tried to dry out before the filming started, but collapsed on that first day of shooting from alcohol withdrawal. He tragically died three years later when he killed himself and his new wife after losing role after role due to the booze.
People say all sorts of stuff about this movie but the one I hear the most is you could never make a movie like this today yet Team America and Sausage Party exist. It's just hard to do satire well, and most times you just end up with the Scary Movie franchise.
Also, the reason the farts went on for so long is they were the first Farts allowed on film, and he went for broke.
17:57 Sir, listen
I love that someone said the same thing to Brooks a few years ago, and he said “Are you kidding?! You couldn’t make it back then either!” He just basically did it all behind the studio’s back.
Team America was 2001-2004 made well before this all went tits up. Sausage party was kind when people were still denying or downplaying woke culture.
Someone did a great video on the fact that the genre of westerns whitewashing history on race relations in the old west was the reason for this film to serve as parody. In essence, there’s no need for this film today because part of the reason it’s humor broke through the race barrier is missing from modern culture: the ubiquity of the western and myth of national construction
Even the scary movie series was good until it had too many. 3.
Two of Mel Brooks' greatest movies, "The Producers" (1968) and "Young Frankenstein" (1974) were both turned into hit Broadway musicals. Mel is now working on turning "Blazing Saddles" into a Broadway musical too. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I also can't recommend highly enough, "The Producers" which was not only Mel's first movie but also the first movie for Gene Wilder....and Mel won an Oscar for best original screenplay.
Be interesting to see if Mel sees how it turns out.
He must be,at least,145 now😀
Wilders 1st starring role was The Producers but he was in Bonnie and Clyde the yr of Producers that's his 1st film.
The ending was based on the studio refusing to allow Brooks to set his movie satirizing racism in the 1970's so he set it in the 1870's and then brought it all back to "the modern day," showing that bigotry hasn't changed in one of the funniest ways I've ever seen.
Mel wanted Richard Prior to star in the film but the studio was terrified - which is ironic given how often he teamed up with Gene Wilder later on - so Clevon Little was cast, who was terrific.
So glad he did 😊
I think Pryor was a bad fit for Bart. His frenetic comedy style wouldn't work here. It works in Stir Crazy with Wilder as the straight and earnest foil to Pryor bouncing off the walls. But Clevon's Bart needs to be laid-back and he does it so well.
That's a myth. Pryor was in the middle of an alcohol & drug haze at the time, and they couldn't even get him insured for the film.
Ironically, Wilder wasn't the first choice for the Waco kid. They cast a veteran cowboy actor, but he showed up too drunk to even deliver his lines. At his wit's end, Mel called Gene and begged him to play the part. I've heard that that's why Brooks agreed to do Young Frankenstein, one of Wilder's pet projects.
Pryor co wrote the script, guess which parts? 😉
Mel Brooks was a genius with this movie. He knew the easiest way to address complicated subjects was with humor.
Yes! Thank you, this wasn't a movie he could make even back then. He originally wanted to make a movie satirizing racism in 1974, but it was a hard no, so he decided to change it to 1874. Even then, Warner Bros. fought him and Richard Pryor every step of the way. Some of the execs wouldn't even acknowledge Brooks' presence if he walked past them and tried to say hello. Pissed off a whole bunch of (mainly white) audience members too
Exactly. People who dismiss the bravery and effort it took to make this in the seventies don't know what they are talking about. This was highly controversial, and the real racists in society absolutely hated it because it made fun of them
Hedley is amazing, and I love that Bart uses his smarts to solve problems while just being super smooth.. "you're making a german spectacle of yourself" :D
You could pretty easily argue that this is Brooks' finest film, either this or Young Frankenstein.
Don't forget Robin Hood Men in Tights. Lol. Well Maybe not.
if you loved harvey korman in this flick then you'll have to find the carroll burnett show & binge watch that. He is a comic genius in every episode. I think that was one of the funniest all time variety shows. used to be on every sunday night, then i'd have to go to school the next morning. :(
Of all the reactions to this movie that I've taken the time to watch, you're the first one I've seen laugh at the bit when they're in line talking about "washing up after a weekly cross burnin...see it's comin off." That had to have been written by Pryor, and it's such a blink-and-you'll-miss-it joke. But it's funny!
I love this movie! Great reaction!
Loved the aside about the "back in the day" comments... couldn't agree more.
I especially dislike the "this movie could never be made today" cliche... Like this movie wasn't boundary pushing at it's time...
...Or like filmmakers haven't been pushing boundaries since...
It took a special team of filmmakers, writers and actors to make Blazing Saddles and an equally special team could certainly make a film like it today...it just takes the right artists
Thank you - I was about to say the same thing. There was such incredible - and open - racism (and homophobia and misogyny) which most people back then took for granted. At the time, this movie broke all sorts of barriers by using words and situations they hadn't been able to say (and thus, couldn't explore) in previous movies and tv, due to the Hays Code. So this movie shocked its audiences and at the same time, used it to make fun of racists and the like.
For Mel Brooks, fighting against prejudices was personal, too, remembering how anti-Semitic feelings had culminated in the Holocaust only a generation earlier.
At one point, a black person could not do a solo dance performance for fear it would give them star power. (This worked out well for the fabulous Nicholas Brothers, who could perform stunning tap dance duos.) Little 6-year old Shirley Temple broke one color barrier when she and Bill Bojangles Robinson did a complicated tap dance number on a staircase in the 1935 The Little Colonial (easy to find this clip on TH-cam), as the first interracial "couple" on the silver screen (the scene had to be cut for when the movie played in the South).
Randolph Scott had played in dozens of westerns until his relationship with Cary Grant leaked out.
Westerns were a very popular movie genre but up until Blazing Saddles, I can't think of a single black man I ever saw in a western, even the most minor of characters. (And often Indians were portrayed, not by Native Americans, but by Italians.) A movie like Lilies of the Field was revolutionary in merely having a black man as lead character, and not someone just brought on for a bit of comedy relief, with the obligatory and offensive eye-roll.
Even aside from how certain types say it from a place of bad faith to belittle inclusion and respect, to think that equally enjoyable or powerful art can't be made today is defeatist. It is self-limiting to thank that an artform has truly peaked.
Dude. The fart scene is the shit. My dad would die laughing every time he watched it.
First fart scene in cinematic history!! 😂
Bart and Hedley deserved their own show/sequel. They were both pure energy in their scenes 😎
Black Bart (1975) is as close as we ever got!
@Beep Boop That Sucked like a Hoover.
Check out the Carrol Burnette show
There was a VERY short lived attempt to do a Blazing Saddles TV show, starring Lou Gossett Jr, but it disappeared quickly.
@@willmorrison1022 they never intended to show it anyway. The studio made it because that was the only way they could retain rights to the movie.
I always loved that the Waco Kid still had his movie theater popcorn at the end.
Hedley Lamarr was played by Harvey Korman. He's a very funny guy, and was a mainstay on The Carol Burnett Show.
Everyone in the movie mispronounced his character's name because there was an actress named Hedy Lamarr.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.
@@Thom1212 Thanks Wikipedia
@@wfly81 no problemo!
I've been watching your content for a couple years, and I've never been disappointed. Hannibal, Band of Brothers, absolutely love all of them. All excellent.
Tonight I did a search for "3:10 to Yuma" reactions because I was in a mood for westerns. Yours showed up(which I had already watched, but I watched it again), and I thought, "What has he done recently?" And I saw this, less than 24 hours ago.
I have watched other reactions of this ridiculous movie, but when I saw that you did it, I instantly thought "Of course! Out of every reactor that I watch, he's the one that will get the humor the most." And I wasn't disappointed. You understood this movie better than any other reactor I've seen. Love your stuff man.
Apparently the "Mungo only pawn in game of life" was a pre internet meme.
Great reaction. You're the only reactor I've seen get the clean your hands after a cross burning joke, like many others in this film is very subtle.
"where da white women at?" might be the greatest line ever written!
The movie is a classic. Mel Brooks did a great job, along with the other screenwriters, of addressing issues of the day by lampooning and mocking EVERYONE. One of my favorite scenes will always be Brooks as the Yiddish speaking Jewish Indian.
When Hedley was molesting that statue, it was the figure of Lady Justice. So he was, in effect, screwing justice. Literally.
Harvey Korman is always funny. Likwise, Madeline Kahn was a treat in absolutely everything she ever did....which includes quite a few Mel Brooks films. So sad that we lost Cleavon Little so young - he was clearly a talent to be reckoned with.
"That's not funny at all. But it is."
Perfect summary of humour like this.
The " you know, morons" was an adlib .Clevon Little broke character, but it was so unny, they left it in
Best visual gag was Howard Johnson's ice cream parlor with just 1 flavor. In the 70's, if you wanted ice cream, you went to Howard Johnson Inns where they had 16 flavors. Very subtle. Also, the one joke Brooks felt went too far and was therefore removed was when Lily Von Shtupp asks if it's "true that all men like you are, shall we say, gifted?" After finding out it was true, Bart says, "I hate to disappoint you, but you're sucking on my elbow!"
"Excuse me while I whip this out." Classic 🤣
This is my favorite comedy of all time and probably the movie I quote most often. Whenever I walk into an a-gogo bar in Thailand I always ask "Hey, where the white women at?"
Apparentlyhe actor playing Lyle had a huge problem saying the n-word to Cleavon Little, until he took him aside and said it was ok because they weren't his words
Yes, I only found this out recently. He was Burton Gilliam, who fought for progressive causes and had actually marched with Dr. King.
Gilliam was a Fireman in a small town North of Dallas making $12,500 annually. He met with Brooks and at first didn't want to leave his Full time job until Brooks offered him $25,000 for the part. Gilliam had an extremely difficult time with the dialogue until Little took him aside and explained to him that they are just words that People write and Actors play make believe. Little told him that He doesn't have a problem 'Acting' but Gilliam tells the story as "... but Cleavon told Me that if we weren't Acting that he would Kick my ass." They remained Friends up until Little's Death.
Hedley Lamar was played by Harvey Coreman from the Carroll Burnette show, which is a great comedy show from the 60s and 70s.
Hey, they couldn’t make this movie back then either, but they didn’t let that stop them. Anyway, it’s already made, and people are still discovering it, watching it, enjoying it, and getting it, and I think that speaks volumes in itself far better than some speculation about whether it could or couldn’t. The implications of it should be taken seriously, but bigotry deserves ridicule.
Great reaction!! Blazing Saddles is a classic :D
This is what you get when the arguably greatest Jewish comedy director teams up with Richard Pryor to mock the moronic culture of racism, in a time period when you could get away with a lot in film making. It was perfect storm, in the best possible way.
One of the greatest movies ever
This might be Mel Brooks best Movie in my personal opinion.
I remember being 8 years old and this being maybe my first movie as a black kid that not only sorta showed Racism and just how fucking dumb it is,but also how funny it is to make fun of it.
So many classic lines I quote to this day.
"Someones gotta go back and get a shit ton of Dimes!!"
"Girl,you are making a German Spectacle of yourself.... Auf Wiedersehen Baby"
"Going to run all Night,going to Run all day,got my money on bobhill Sleigh all the doo da Day."
I'm so saddened Cleavon Little wasn't a bigger actor after this movie,but I also would've loved to have see the Richard Pryor casted Version.
If i could reccomend History of the World Part 1.
"Excuse me while I whip this out." I say that at the grocery store occasionally when pulling out my card.
Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamar) was in Mel Brooks's movie "History of the World Part I - which is also hilarious - and his character's name was "Count DeMonay" (long "o" and long "a" sound), and characters kept calling him "Count the Money!" He'd be like, "DeeMonaaay!" lol Yes, RIP Harvey - you gave us a TON of laughs.
17:14 - "Not the blonde I would have taken ..." - Hahahaha.
I find it curious that 40 years ago people would watch this and say "Boy you couldn't get away with this level of material 40 years ago." as a point of pride in progress in reducing censorship and expanding expression and freedoms, and now we say "Jee you couldn't get away with most of this today." as either a sort of pride or despair at the regression.
“It’s all right, Taggart. Just a man and a horse being hung. Doo Doo doo.”
And of course. “Baby, you are so talented. And they are so dumb!” His whole scene at the town square was hilarious, the dumbfounded looks of the townspeople before they believe the Looney Tune-esque skit was perfection.
Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder played off each other brilliantly. I can’t imagine anyone playing Hedley Lamar other than Harvey Korman, his comedic timing was spot on. If you enjoy him, you should check out some of his skits on the Carol Burnett show like “The Dentist”. And of course Madeline Khan is always a gem on screen.
Hedley Lamarr (AKA Harvey Korman) was in two other Mel Brooks movies, and is also remembered for his time on the Carol Burnette Show
Jimmy Macram and Blazing Saddles. A match made in Heaven.
0:09-0:20 LOL.
11:25-11:32 LOL.
This movie is great writing, great actors and great production all rolled into one.
Mel Brooks really went for the home run swing, and did most of it behind the studios back
Mel Brooks, when told "you couldn't make that today" would say "I couldn't make it then, but I did anyway."
You're right about the BS on "People didn't get offended easily". The whole purpose of this movie was to show the offensiveness of racism, as well as the stupidity of it and the stupidity of those who participated in it. I grew up in that era in Alabama and that much open racism was not only visible, it was expected. But after this movie shined its lights on racism, and after going to school with blacks all my life, I came to see the disgusting nature of it. I am so glad, because some of my closest friends I have had and still have in my life are not white. There are some black men in my life I love and would trust my entire family's lives with. That's more than I can say for some of the white "superior race" folks I know.
Jimmy, his name is Harvey Korman he was on the Carol Burnett show, he’s fantastic
I always thought Harvey Korman was underrated as well. Seeing him on the Carroll Barnet Show was always fun. I'm glad you liked the movie, it's one of my all time favs. Thanks for the laughs!
I agree on all counts. I normally fast forward or stop from about the Jesse Owens gag. Hedley Lamar (Harvey Korman) was a standout. I do really like the charisma Cleavon Little put to the role. Right amount of comedy. Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor is a great comedy writing team
Talkin' 'bout the ending (which I also didn't like, when I saw it the first time on Dutch television, somewhere in the 1980s), I think, Mel Brooks got inspired by ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', released a year before ''Blazing Saddles'', that movie is also so absurd and ridiculously funny, it had to end like that, by breaking the 4th wall.
He must not have been able to think of any thing else to wrap up the movie. I've always tried to think of where it could have gone in a purely western setting and I can never think of anything. You got a better alternative ending?
Your premise is flawed. _Holy Grail_ came out in 1975 while _Blazing Saddles_ came out in 1974. And before anyone comments that _Holy Grail_ must have ripped of _Blazing Saddles_ then -- the earliest drafts of _Grail_ took place half in medieval times and half in present day. In them they end up finding the Grail at Harrod's, an upscale UK department store famous for having "everything."
One of my favorite jokes in the movie is a subtle, blink and you miss it joke.
_"Where were we? Where are you?"_
"see it's comin' off" LOL.
The "You know... Morons" bit was slightly improvised, Barts actor genuinly cracked up at that part
They censored this movie. misses a lot.
Ah, the good ole days of "Show don't tell",
You want to convey a message to the audience of "racism is stupid"? DON'T preach at your audience nor just SAY it! (or worse, CALL the audience racists) Just IMPLY the message by making everyone in the movie who IS a racist, stupid.
Even Mongo, who isn't racist, isn't "stupid". He's just , , , , "simple", (yet profoundly self-aware) "Mongo only pawn, in game of life." = such a funny line!
I STILL think my favorite moment is the horse that got punched! Seriously, that horse deserved an award or something for his performance!
"You want to convey a message to the audience of 'racism is stupid'? DON'T preach at your audience nor just SAY it! (or worse, CALL the audience racists)..."
At a certain point, humoring racists gets old. No reflection on the movie.
Actually, when the movie was first released the most controversial scene was the horse punching scene.
Hedley was a takeoff on Hedy Lamar a famous female film star of the 1930's and 1940's. Hedley was played by Comedian/Actor Harvey Korman who was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show. Blazing Saddles was co-written by Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor. The film is dated as audiences today would probably not know who Hedy Lamar, Howard Johnson, Randolph Scott and Jesse Owens are. My favorite line is: We welcome you with this Laurel and Hardy Handshake. Referring to the Comedy team of Laurel and Hardy.
18:30 For more Harvey Korman, check out the _Star Wars Holiday Special_ (1978).
Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr) was one of the featured performers on the Carol Burnett Show. He also starred in another Mel Brooks movie: HIGH ANXIETY.
He was in a lot of Mel Brooks movies. He was also in History of the World Part I and Dracula Dead and Loving It.
Hedley Lamarr's name is a Hollywood reference. There was actually a Hollywood actress named Hedy Lamarr in the 1940s and '50s (called by some "the most beautiful woman in film"). Along with being an actress, she also helped to invent technology for the war effort during WW2 that was the basis for WiFi and GPS. In spite of all that it appears that she didn't have a good sense of humor, as she sued for use of her name and Mel Brooks had to settle out of court.
Lily Von Shtupp's performance was also based on a Hollywood legend named Marlene Dietrich. It was a parody of Dietrich, but from what little I've seen Khan's performance was not too far off the mark (by being way too far off the mark).
Which is why Brooks put in that "it's 1874 you can sue her" line.
Deadpool" I break the 4th wall!
Mel Brooks: That's cute, kid.
This movie, Trading places, Rush Hour for example had some derogative scenes to many viewers but it was not attended to promote racism. Like Blazing Saddles everyone came together at the end and so did in Trading Places and Rush Hour. Sometimes in those movies through their comedy they teach life’s lessons as well but at the same time have room for coming together
Little, Kahn, Korman and Wilder were all first rate.
During this time Harvey Korman who played Hedley LaMarr was also a regular on the Carol Burnett show. This was one of the funniest variety shows on television.
Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor (yes, him) wrote this movie. Bart was supposed to be played by Pryor, but the studio said no
Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr) was a great comedic actor, to see some of his best work watch " The Carol Burnett Show " He was a regular on that show, so funny.
On the, "it was a different time" theme, Mel Brooks said they couldn't make that movie then. He just did it anyway. The man is a genius with balls of steel.
Mel Brooks was once asked if Blazing Saddles could be made today. He said. "We couldn't make it then, but we did."
Love this reaction! I grew up watching Mel Brooks movies, and this one would be my favorite if it weren't for Young Frankenstein.
You really had to be there when this came out and you had to go to a theater to watch it. It was hilarious and the entire audience was almost rolling in the aisles. You really needed to go back a second time to catch the things you missed because of the laughter. Also, as others have suggested, if you liked Harvey Korman you should really check out some of his old bits with Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett Show. Conway was an expert at making Korman break character and laugh during the skits. Conway once said that he and Korman had a running bet to see who could make the other crack up on camera. When asked who came out ahead Conway told the interviewer that his kids college tuition was paid by Harvey.
I saw this in a theater rerelease with my grandfather in '75 or '76.
The scene you left off just after 1:53 where Bart confesses that, “Uh sir, sir. He specifically requested two 'n*rs'? Well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch.”. That's a reverse play on the "One drop rule" where a social and legal principle of racial classification that was prominent in the 20th century United States. It asserted any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ('one drop' of 'black blood') is considered black. Bart was implying that since he had "one drop" of Caucasian blood that he wasn't really black. A subtle, often overlooked, yet brilliant joke.
Unedited scene here th-cam.com/video/A0d0gebqAdY/w-d-xo.html
8:12 Mel Brooks as an Indian - speaking Yiddish and wearing red, white, and blue war paint.
Hedley Lamarr was and is the best part of this movie. Madeline Kahn's character, Lili Von Shtupp, is quite entertaining, as well!
I didn't know all of the references then but I know now. I wish I could have seen a Broadway production of Mel Brooke's: This, Young Frankenstein, Vertigo, etc.
Harvey Norman played Hedley Lamar. Harvey Korman and Tim Conway were comedic geniuses. Both men were on the Carol Burnet Show and both would be nominated for Emmy's every year. Their acceptance speeches were legendary. Here is the clip: th-cam.com/video/X1qebkWD67o/w-d-xo.html
Hadley Lamar is Harvey Korman who costarred on the Carol Burnett show.
Mel Brooks wrote the black jokes and Richard Pryor wrote the white jokes.
Such a great movie! They did it perfectly, the white guy didn’t come in and save him. The white guy followed his lead and Bart was the brains of the operation. Such a brilliant film and really exposes the overall idiocy of it all.
One of the writers for this movie was Ricard Prior
All the stars in this r so funny. Madeline Kahn is hilarious
'Land... land... see Snatch."
As for they can't do that these days, in the late 60s we had Flip Wilson doing routines like Cowboys and Colored People, The Jeffersons, and Sanford & Son. Redd Fox was especially ghetto, building on his "blue" humor performances.
High Anxiety is another brilliant Mel Brooks movie worth checking out.
I grew up in the 60's watching westerns every Saturday afternoon. While the racists are stupid theme dominates, I recognized around 12 scenes which were common in the westerns. A great movie. Kudos to Cleavon Little. His calm dignity and sophistication were a perfect foil to the jokes.
If you want a movie with a strong 'normal' ending, try Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Mel Brooks: "You couldn't make it in 1974 either."
Along with Do the Right Thing, best anti racism movie ever made
a couple of notes:
olsen johnson -- the big lebowski, also a direct reference to Olsen & Johnson (if hellzapoppin wasn't a direct influence on mel brooks i'd be quite surprised)
howard johnson -- higgins from magnum p.i.
mongo -- the dad from webster
hedy lamarr actually sued warner brothers over her being mentioned, they quietly and quickly settled.
that was mel as the soux chief, speaking yiddish in reference to how westerns used to hire jews to play native americans, what they'd call redfacing.
when people would talk to mel about how they could never make blazing saddles "these days," he'd say that they couldn't've even made it back then. studio execs were shitting bricks about the movie until mel arranged a screening for studio employees-- the laughter quickly changed their minds.
@5:59 ,Omg , I just got this after all these years...every one is equal in death.🤔
Harvey Korman was well known to everyone when this movie was made, because he was part of the standard cast on the Carol Burnett show, and we watched him every week. Also, in the 1970's, racism was a common plot on many sitcoms and weekly TV shows. But only the BAD guys were racists. As soon as they revealed their racism, they were either the bad guy to get rid of, or the ignorant bad guy to straighten out.
The Late Madeline Khan played our German singer
Since you like Harvey Korman so much you need to see how he couldn’t keep a straight face with Tim Conway…the dentist skit is so funny
Great reaction 🤣
Good stuff
You've got to watch Fletch Lives. Clevon Little is kind of the sidekick. It stars Chevy Chase. It's my favorite comedy of all time.