Blazing Saddles
Movie, 1974, The '70s, Set in Rock Ridge
Blazing Saddles is #19 of 34 in release order and #16 of 34 in chronological order in the Westerns.
The story
Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
Blazing Saddles recap
Blazing Saddles (1974) is Mel Brooks's Western parody about a Black railroad worker made sheriff of a frontier town so the town will fall apart. Brooks directs and co-wrote with Richard Pryor among others. The scheming attorney general Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) wants the land under Rock Ridge for a railroad and talks the dim Governor William J. Le Petomane (Brooks) into appointing Bart (Cleavon Little), a railroad hand saved from hanging, as sheriff. The town greets Bart with guns, but he wins allies, starting with Jim (Gene Wilder), a drunk gunslinger once called the Waco Kid. Bart handles Mongo (Alex Karras), a giant sent to wreck the town, and the seductress Lili von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn), sent to ruin him. Lamarr recruits an army of thugs and outlaws. Bart has the townspeople build a full fake Rock Ridge overnight to trap them. The film stands alone; a TV pilot, Black Bart, aired in 1975.
Blazing Saddles ending explained
Blazing Saddles ends with the fight spilling out of the Old West onto a Warner Bros. studio lot, and Bart shooting Lamarr outside a cinema showing Blazing Saddles. The decoy town fools the gang long enough for the townspeople to attack. The brawl breaks through a wall into a musical number, a pie fight and Hollywood streets. Bart and Jim watch their own ending in the theater, ride off into the sunset, then climb into a limousine.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is streaming on YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.7/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after High Plains Drifter, before The Outlaw Josey Wales.
- Chronological order: after High Plains Drifter, before The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Cast
- Cleavon Little as Bart
- Gene Wilder as Jim
- Slim Pickens as Taggart
- Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr
- Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Shtupp
- Mel Brooks as William Le Petomane / Indian Chief
- Burton Gilliam as Lyle
- Alex Karras as Mongo
- David Huddleston as Olson Johnson
- Liam Dunn as Rev. Johnson
- John Hillerman as Howard Johnson
- George Furth as Van Johnson
Directed by Mel Brooks.