Mel Brooks’ 1974 classic comedy Blazing Saddles is one of the most beloved and successful movies of all time. It’s almost 50 years since its release, and yet it remains a Hollywood staple and gains new fans every day.
Screenshot from "Blazing Saddles"
The hilarious spoof Western sent up the popular genre and had people laughing all the way home, but not everyone knew the truth about what was going on behind the scenes. Let’s take a look at some of the secrets from the set of this classic movie.
Today’s Times
Blazing Saddles is such a popular and classic movie, but there’s no denying that it’s pretty controversial and contains some quite shocking scenes and language that it simply wouldn't get away with today.
Screenshot from "Blazing Saddles"
Writer Andrew Bergman himself admitted, "You couldn't make this movie today. You can't say the N-word in a movie today, not even in a comic way," The Telegraph reported. He is probably right—but maybe that’s for the best!
Serious Singing
We all know and love the catchy theme song to the movie sung by Frankie Laine. It’s so convincing and it sounds just like a real theme tune from an actual Western!
Image by Popsie/Wikipedia
But did you know that this was thanks to creator Mel Brooks’ trickery—he actually didn't tell Lane that the movie was a spoof. He told him it was a real Western, to make sure he sang it seriously! It certainly worked!
Legal Matters
After WB fired Young and replaced him with Gene Wilder, Young was pretty upset by the decision and he decided to sue the production company for breach of contract.
Image by Towpilot/Wikipedia; Image by Talbot photography/Wikipedia
However, Mel Brooks put him in his place when he declared, "On the first day of shooting… we hung him upside down in the jail cell, and green stuff started spewing out of his mouth," as he recalled to Rolling Stone. Sounds like Young was the one breaching the contract!
Random Cameo
One of the funniest parts of the movie is when the whole group runs out of the studio at the end. Especially when you see them running out of the WB gates, and there’s a random man just standing there looking at them!
Screenshot from "Blazing Saddles"
But we bet you didn't know that this man was a real-life onlooker—they tried to get him to move out of the way, but he didn't understand their instructions. So Brooks just gave him a waiver and let him appear in the movie!
Famous Face
Lili Von Shtupp is of course one of the most beloved and hilarious characters in the classic movie, but did you know that she is actually based on a real-life person? That’s why it was so important to Brooks that Kahn had movie-star legs.
Image by George Grantham Bain Collection/Wikipedia
That’s right! Shtupp is actually a parody of Hollywood legend Marlene Dietrich. It wasn't just Westerns that Blazing Saddles made fun of, but actually, it was the entire movie industry.
Ride-In Reaction
Blazing Saddles is known for being totally hilarious and just quite crazy, both in the story and behind the scenes. So guests made the world premiere for the movie just as crazy to match, holding it at the now-demolished Pickwick Drive-In Theater in Burbank, California.
Image by Warner Bros/Crossbow Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock (5885267ae)
But instead of driving in, the guests rode in—on horseback! Talk about a memorable movie event, truly in keeping with the theme of the genre.
