Blazing Saddles (1974)

Blazing Saddles (1974) ★★★★★ 3/5

From a story point of view, this is a great movie with a good twist on the classic Western. However when it is brought to the screen, much of the story is lost in overacted nonsense, particularly when director Mel Brooks appears on screen. His over-exaggerated, forced humor completely takes away from everything and slows the movie down.

The story is that of a Western town that finds itself target of Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman), a statesman who wants to run the townsfolk out town to lay down a railroad. The town, full of residents all with the last name "Johnson" is in need of a Sheriff. Bart (Cleavon Little) is pulled from lynching to serve as Sheriff. To the town's dismay he is Afro-American, which serves as the basis for a slew of racial jokes. Bart befriends town drunk Jim (Gene Wilder) who is known to have once had the quickest hands in the West. This is a clear homage to Gunfight At The OK Corral and the role played by Kirk Douglas. References are also made to High Noon throughout the film. Madeline Kahn appears as Lili von Shtupp, the token brothel dancer often associated with Western films.

The highlight of the film is undeniably the end of the film when a false town is created to divert Lamarr's men. A fight ensues and the action moves off the set of the film and onto the set of another Warner Brother's movie being filmed by Dom DeLuise. From there, the action moves to the Warner Brother's cafeteria.

There are constant sexual innuendos and racial jabs throughout the film. There are also elements from other genres of film scattered through the picture, as well as elements that do not belong in a Western. Among these are operational toll booths, Nazis, Klansmen, references to the Academy Awards, and so much more. This makes the film a great "I Spy" game, but not necessarily a great movie. Korman is quite enjoyable in the film. He is highly likable as an actor in the film. Wilder has several performances in other films that far exceed this role. While enjoyable, it is far more over rated as a comedy. Watching it, I feel like Brooks takes liberties with the placement of himself in film and abuses them. He is not as funny as he thinks he is, but chances are nobody was going to tell the director that his appearance in his own film would completely take away from it. Had Brooks not been in this movie, it probably would have been a lot funnier.

The Jerk (1979)

The Jerk (1979) ★★★★★ 4/5

The plot line of this is really quite simple. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) leaves home to find success. In the process he invents a piece for glasses which holds the glasses on the nose. The man who he made the invention for (Bill Macy) patents and sells the invention giving Johnson 50% of all his earnings. Johnson takes his earnings and marries Marie (Bernadette Peters). The two live happily as millionaires until a class action lawsuit is initiated by Carl Reiner. The lawsuit results in Johnson losing everything.

The humor in the fill has a lot of random, or WTF moments in them. First of all, Johnson is raised in Mississippi by a black family and has a hard time understanding why his skin has not changed to match that of his family's. He is childlike and innocent and upon his first sexual encounter with a circus performer Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams) finds out what the "special purpose" of his penis is. He has a dog who he claims as his own and when someone suggests he calls the dog Shithead, he innocently takes the name, completely unaware that he is using a foul and offensive term. He gets a job at a gas station working for Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason) who gives him a place to live - which coincides with his own phone number. The irony of the phone number is that the listing in the phone book makes him target for a lunatic(M. Emmet Walsh) when he picks a random name out of the phone book.

The film is fun and light and Bernadette Peters shines in the film. She counterbalances Martin's wackiness and over the top ignorance. She is soft and charming on the screen. Without her, this film would not be as endearing I don't think. There is one scene in particular where the two serenade each other on the beach singing "You Belong To Me." The scene is beautiful and tender. At the same time it is also a random, WTF moment as she busts out a coronet in the middle of the song. But still, it is well played and enjoyable. In this day and age where comedy consists of over the top, one liners and cheap gags, this film excels as it does all of that while not being so exaggerated or so forced in it's use of humor that it ruins the film. While I did like this film, and would have no problem watching it again, I do have to add that my favorite Steve Martin film is, and will always be Father of the Bride (1991) - which, to my dismay is not included in the list of 1001 movies To See Before You Die.