5 Little Known Facts About the Movie, Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles is a fun movie. By the cast, people should be able to tell that it will be a fun movie. It stars Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, and Dom DeLuise. It was directed by Mel Brooks. Film critics have called it "especially daring and funny." They have also said that it "succeeds in casting its own spell" and is "perhaps the funniest of the Brooks films." With these things known, it is fun to know other trivia about the movie.

Most People Consider It One of the Best Comedy Movies

The introduction has already said how it is considered one of the best comedies by many critics. Others considered one of the best comedies, too. It made the list of Premier's "50 Greatest Comedies of all Time." The movie, Blazing Saddles , also ranked #6 on AFI's 2006 list, "100 Years, 100 Laughs." Then, it is listed as #9 on Bravo's list of the 100 funniest movies.

We Might've Seen Gene Wilder in Harvey Korman's Role

The movie, Blazing Saddles , stars Harvey Korman has Hedley Lamarr. However, Mel Brooks wanted Gene Wilder to play this role. While Wilder liked the script, he did not want to play Hedley Lamarr. He wanted to play the Waco Kid. He did play that role. However, he was not going to play the role at first. The first actor cast in that role was Gig Young. However, it was found that Gig Young was really drunk while he was playing the role. After that was known, Wilder flew across the USA to play the role of the Waco Kid in the movie, Blazing Saddles .

The Film Parodies Celebrities

The movie, Blazing Saddles parodies many celebrities. Some are obvious, but others are not, especially as the movie becomes a favorite of people who were not alive when it was made. Governor LePetomane is a parody of a French entertainer known as LePetomane (the fart master or the "fartmaniac") who could blow a candle out from two feet away with his back turned to it. His real name was Joseph Pujol. A comedy duo, Ole Olson and Chick Johnson were the inspiration for the name Olson Johnson. There's a song called "Frankie and Johnny" and a comedic actress named "Patsy Kelly." Paddles handed out by the governor are called "Frankie, Johnny, Patsy, and Kelly."

Mel Brooks Deliberately Misspelled the Words on His Bandanna

Mel Brooks has bead-work that is done on his bandanna. It is done in Hebrew letters. The real phrase should be "Kosher for Passover." However, he mixed up some of the Hebrew letters. It is basically the equivalent of saying "Posher for Kassover."

Brooks Got Free Candy for Making the Film

Mel Brooks was sent free Rasinets for making the movie, Blazing Saddles . He mentioned Raisinets in the movie. The company then started sending him a gross of Raisinets each month. He told this fact during a 1975 Playboy interview.