Movie Quote of the Day (‘Blazing Saddles,’ on Messing With ‘This Mongo Character’)

Bart [played by Cleavon Little]: “I better go check out this Mongo character.”

[Bart reaches for his gun.]

Jim [played by Gene Wilder]: “Oh no, don't do that, don't do that. If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad.”— Blazing Saddles (1974), story by Andrew Bergman, screenplay by Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger, directed by Mel Brooks

What might make Jim say a thing like that? Maybe because Mongo (played by ex-NFL legend Alex Karras, pictured) is strong enough and crazy enough to punch out a horse?

Blazing Saddles, premiering 50 years ago today, is among the most uproarious farces in the Mel Brooks filmography. I have briefly posted several times before on this: about its wacky homage to western hero Randolph Scott, Brooks’ filming of the hilarious campfire scene, and how Gene Wilder replaced the alcoholic Gig Young in the role of Jim.

Maybe at some point, I’ll pay tribute to Madeleine Kahn’s great Marlene Dietrich parody. But today, I think I’ll take note of how Mongo was played to the hilt by Karras—described by Brooks, in a 2016 interview with TMZ, as “"very bright, very creative, very fun on the set….He didn't actually do any passing of gas, but he did everything else."

Quote of the Day (Mel Brooks, on How Gene Wilder Helped Save ‘Blazing Saddles’)

[Mel Brooks was ready to cast Gig Young in the comic western ‘Blazing Saddles,’ until, in the first scene where he was to direct him, the Oscar-winning actor began to spew green vomit. Brooks’ subsequent question—‘Wait a minute, did we sign on to direct ‘The Exorcist?’”—led Young’s agents to acknowledge that their client was a recovering alcoholic. Fearing the film faced disaster because of this miscasting of a key role, Brooks phoned Gene Wilder, whom he had worked with on ‘The Producers.’]

“I was crying and Gene was my best friend. And I told him and he said, ‘I’ll do it for you.’ And he got on a plane and he came out Sunday. On Monday morning, he was in the jail cell and Cleavon [Little, playing the black sheriff] said, ‘Are we awake?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know. Are we black?’ And boom. That was Gene Wilder … It was so lucky. That’s called a good bounce. A good bounce.”—Mel Brooks quoted in Virginia Rohan, “Mel Brooks Tells the Stories Behind 'Blazing Saddles,'” The Record  (Bergen County, NJ), Aug. 23, 2016

R.I.P. Gene Wilder (1933-2016): actor, screenwriter, director, novelist, and, as seen in this tale from Brooks, a good friend.

Quote of the Day (Mel Brooks, on the ‘Exciting’ Campfire Scene in ‘Blazing Saddles’)

“I had a rough cut, and maybe I had 16 farts. Things didn’t get exciting until the fourth or fifth one, and the laughter began to diminish around the 12th fart, so I said, ‘Okay, cut it off at 12.’ I did it kind of systematically. I do a lot of homework.”—Writer-director-actor Mel Brooks, recalling the making of the bean-filled campfire scene in his 1974 film Blazing Saddles, quoted in Jeff Labrecque, “Still Blazing After 40 Years,” Entertainment Weekly, May 9, 2014

(This is for my friend Jayne, a great fan of Blazing Saddles, a film celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year.)

Quote of the Day (“Blazing Saddles,” Paying Wacky Tribute to a Past Hero of Westerns)

Sheriff Bart (played by Cleavon Little): “Just give me 24 hours to come up with a brilliant idea to save our town. Just 24 hours, that's all I ask.”

Townspeople: “NO!”

Bart: “You'd do it for Randolph Scott.”

Townspeople: [Reverently:] “Randolph Scott...”

Townspeople: [singing in the fashion of a church choir:] “RANDOLPH SCOTT!”—Blazing Saddles (1974), written by Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger, directed by Mel Brooks

(Thanks to my friend Jayne for the inspiration.)