Blazing Saddles

1974 93 min ★ 7.2 Western, Comedy

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.

▶ Watch Trailer

Cast

Cleavon Little

Bart

Gene Wilder

Jim

Slim Pickens

Taggart

Harvey Korman

Hedley Lamarr

Madeline Kahn

Lili Von Shtupp

Mel Brooks

William Le Petomane / Indian Chief

Burton Gilliam

Lyle

Alex Karras

Mongo

David Huddleston

Olson Johnson

Liam Dunn

Rev. Johnson

Details

Director

Mel Brooks

Screenplay

Richard Pryor

Tagline

"...or never give a saga an even break!"

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$2,600,000

Revenue

$119,500,000

Production

Crossbow Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures

Reviews

G

GenerationofSwine

January 12, 2023

★ 10/10

I'm married to a Millennial and that presents difficulties that are unique to her generation. Especially unique since I am Gen-X and there is that whole rejection of labels thing and her generation is obsessed with labels. And the not understanding satire or dark humor thing that plagues that generation. And, of course, the fact that my generation kind of raised ourselves and hers, well, I have to...

C

CinemaSerf

February 10, 2024

★ 7/10

I grew up watching the "Friday Western" each week on the television so am a bit steeped in the genre to which this takes an entertaining, and loving, swipe. "Hedley Lamarr" (Harvey Korman) is out to trash his own town so he can buy up the land cheaply for his railroad. What better way to drive folks away than to appoint an African-American sheriff? The shrewd "Bart" (Cleavon Little) knows full wel...

R

r96sk

July 16, 2025

★ 8/10

<em>'Blazing Saddles'</em> is fairly funny. The good intentions of this 1974 satire is clear to see, naturally it can come across as a bit on the nose at times but it does lead to some amusement. Cleavon Little & Gene Wilder give good performances; always nice to see the latter. Harvey Korman is the one I probably found most amusing, for example the Hedy Lamarr running gag gave me a minor chuck...