The best a comedy can achieve is for the audience to be in stitches watching it. There, each viewer has different tastes, but there are titles that have generated a clear consensus for how brilliantly they shine in that regard. Now the American Film Institute has sought to crown Blazing Saddles as the funniest movie of all time.
Truth be told, this acclaimed Mel Brooks feature had sat in sixth place until now, but the AFI wanted to perform a “honorary reorganization” to celebrate the filmmaker’s hundredth birthday. That said, Bob Gazzale, the organization’s president and CEO, wanted to go one step further, agreeing with Brooks, who argued that Blazing Saddles is much funnier than Some Like It Hot, which had held the top spot until now: “He’s right! We are pleased to correct this error.”
John Wayne Almost Starred in It
Blazing Saddles is a Western parody, a genre favorite for both Clint Eastwood—the character played by Gene Wilder here clearly draws from Eastwood’s Man with No Name—and John Wayne. In fact, Brooks offered Wayne the chance to star in it, but The Duke turned it down because it was “too dirty” and ran counter to the image he had spent decades cultivating. Still, he made clear that he would be the first in line at the box office to see it.
Its premise revolves around the arrival of a Black sheriff in a town whose governor wants everyone to leave so he can sell the land to a railroad company. In fact, they’ve appointed him with the aim of letting anarchy reign in the place to ensure their evil plan can go ahead.
Released in 1974, Blazing Saddles’ success was such that it became the highest-grossing Western of all time up to that point. That honor has since faded away, but its sharp sense of humor remains intact, continuing to provoke roaring laughter from viewers.
Personally, I must admit I enjoy Young Frankenstein a great deal more, noting that Brooks released both that film and Blazing Saddles in the same year. Quite a remarkable double achievement that is hardly replicable and in itself demonstrates how much he contributed to comedy in cinema.
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