What I learned from the Director's Commentary: Blazing Saddles

[youtalkfunny]

Anything in parentheses is my comment, not Mel Brooks':

--Original title: "Tex X". Rejected by the studio.

--Next title rejected by the studio: "Black Bart".

--Unlike most Mel Brooks films, a team of writers worked on this one, including Richard Pryor. (That sounds like something I should have already known, but didn't.)

--Brooks was adamant that Pryor be cast as Bart. Studio refused. "He was well known as a sniffer," said Brooks on the commentary track. Brooks said he went to every executive in the studio hierarchy, but couldn't get them to budge on Pryor. (It's already one of the funniest movies ever, but I think casting Pryor--together with Gene Wilder, BTW--would have made it even funnier.)

--Brooks' good friend Wilder began lobbying to play the part of The Waco Kid very early on in the process. Brooks told him, "No way, you're too young. We need an old, grizzled alky." Since they were pals, Brooks kept showing him the newest versions of the script.

--Brooks ran into John Wayne in the studio commissary, and on a whim, gave him a copy of the script, hoping to get him to play the Waco Kid (my God, Mel Brooks is brilliant). Wayne took the script home. He returned it the next day. "I can't do this picture. It's too dirty. I'm John Wayne! But I laughed all night reading it, and I'll be the first person in line at the theater to buy a ticket to see it."

--Brooks cast his alky: an old actor named Gig Young, whom Brooks had seen in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". This guy WAS an old alcoholic. On his first day of shooting ("Are we awake?" "I'm not sure. Are we, black?"), a Friday, they hang him upside-down off his bunk, and start filming. Brooks is thinking, "Man, this guy's a great actor. Look at how much he's giving me. Look how he's shaking, playing a drunk." Then, Brooks said, "the shaking wouldn't stop." It turns out that hanging an old alchoholic upsidedown in the morning is a bad idea. This became clear when green stuff started coming out of Young's nose and mouth. The shaking became screaming, an ambulance was called, and that was it for Gig Young, as far as this film was concerned. Brooks called it a day at lunchtime. So after Day One, they were already half a day behind schedule.

--Brooks called Wilder in NY. Wilder said, "Green stuff? What the hell was it? I'll take the red-eye, and be there in the morning." Wilder spent Saturday getting his hair and costumes put together. He spent Sunday practicing horseback riding. And he was hanging upsidedown from his bunk on Monday morning--jumped right in, and never looked back. Beamed Brooks, "We only lost half a day!"

--One other interesting casting note: The schoolmarm was played by Dom DeLouise's wife (who among us thought HE was straight?).

--"We were sued by Heddy Lamarr. We settled out of court, not much, maybe $1000. I personally apologized to her for almost using her name. I said, 'I am sorry we almost used your name.'"

--The film's first screening, for Warner Bros' top dozen executives, bombed. Only a few laughs were heard. When the lights came up, the discussion's tone was, "Well, it only cost $2.6M. We could eat it. That would be better than wasting another $1M in publicity for a movie that no one would go see."

--Desperate, Brooks scheduled an evening screening for WB employees in a 200-seat screening room. He hyped the hell out of it, and packed about 300 people inside. They were roaring from start to finish. The next day, it was all anyone at the studio was talking about. The top execs took notice, and got behind the film.

--One of the top execs said to Brooks, "Listen, there's just a few changes you need to make before we can release this thing." Brooks is thinking, "This guy must not be familiar with my contract, because I have Final Cut." But Brooks played along. He pulled out a little notepad, and asked what changes needed to be made.

EXEC: First off, you have to get rid of the word n****r.

BROOKS: (making notes) Done! What else?

EXEC: The farting scene has to go.

BROOKS: It's gone! What else?

EXEC: The horse getting KO'd.

BROOKS: It's gone! What else?

EXEC: That scene with the white girl and the black guy.

BROOKS: No problem! I'll just take all that stuff out!

The executive left. Brooks crumpled up that page of notepad, and threw it away. He turned in the film as is. "But can you imagine?", said Brooks on the commentary track. "Can you imagine if I didn't have that creative control? What this film would look like if guys like him had a vote?"

[shemp]

[ QUOTE ]
--One other interesting casting note: The schoolmarm was played by Dom DeLouise's wife (who among us thought HE was straight?).

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Wow. So he was married? Guess that solves that mystery!

[young Nut]

haha, great post youtalkfunny. I must go out and buy this DVD, I didn't know it was out. This movie is a classic.

[Vavavoom]

I have this on DVD....

So many classic lines...

My Favourite :

Hedley Lamarr: Qualifications?
Applicant: Rape, murder, arson, and rape.
Hedley Lamarr: You said rape twice.
Applicant: I like rape.

[Shrug]

Nice back info on one of my fav films.
Thanks for the post.

[Los Feliz Slim]

[ QUOTE ]
(It's already one of the funniest movies ever, but I think casting Pryor--together with Gene Wilder, BTW--would have made it even funnier.)

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I couldn't disagree with this more adamantly that I do. Cleavon Little is beyond perfect in this movie.

[ QUOTE ]
--One other interesting casting note: The schoolmarm was played by Dom DeLouise's wife (who among us thought HE was straight?).

[/ QUOTE ]

I know one of Dom's sons. That still doesn't make Dom straight.

The anecdote about the exec is amazing. This is easily in my Top 10 all time, and it would've been a suckier movie if Mel Brooks listened to people.

Great writeup, thanks.