# Is Blazing Saddles the funniest movie ever made?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 2, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254 "2005-08-02T03:23:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/1 "2005-08-02T03:23:38Z")

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**Blazing Saddles** is playing on one of the multi HBOs right now, and I find that it is just as funny as it was the first time I saw it, many many moons ago. (Can it be 30 years?)

“I didn’t get a _harumph_ from that guy!”

“Give the Governor a\* harumph\*.”

“_Harumph_”

“You watch your ass.” 😃

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/2 "2005-08-02T03:28:22Z")

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Excuse me while I whip this out…

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/3 "2005-08-02T03:28:37Z")

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I dunno about funniest movie ever, but some individual bits are highly notable.

Mongo punching out the horse is a personal favourite.

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**Author:** ![Bad\_Samaritan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bad\_Samaritan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Samaritan)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/4 "2005-08-02T03:29:05Z")

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The sheriff is near…

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**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/5 "2005-08-02T03:29:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> It’s Headley!

> [@](#):
>
> I think you boys have had about enough (beans)!

> [@](#):
>
> Were’s all the white women?

Oh yeah, I’ve seen it _a bunch_  
I fell out when the horse got knocked out.

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/6 "2005-08-02T03:33:46Z")

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Oh, baby, baby I’m so talented… and they’re so _dumb._

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**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/7 "2005-08-02T03:36:34Z")

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No.

It’s damn funny, but not the funniest ever.

Upon first viewing, I thought _There’s Something About Mary_ was just about the funniest thing I had ever seen.

However, I don’t think \*Mary \*holds up as well on repeat viewing. For a film that never fails to make me laugh, I’d have to choose _The Blues Brothers_.

But if I had to pick just one comedy to preserve for after the Apocalypse, it would be _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/8 "2005-08-02T03:36:46Z")

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I still like _Young Frankenstein_ better, but there are definitely some great bits in _Blazing Saddles_\*.

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**Author:** ![meanoldman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@meanoldman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanoldman)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/9 "2005-08-02T03:37:19Z")

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Nope, sorry.  
I laughed and laughed when I first saw it lo those many years ago.  
Last time I saw it, I thought it amusing… in places. But on the whole, I don’t think it held up well. Or perhaps, too many comedic devices have been stolen and repeated by others, so I’m no longer as amused.

Only fair that I respond with a movie I still find hilarious.  
Woody Allen’s “Love and Death” 😃

“I want 3 kids, one of each”  
Natasha: “How did you become such an excellent lover”  
Woody’s character: " Well, I practice a lot when I’m alone".

I gotta watch that again. It’s been around a year or so.

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**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/10 "2005-08-02T03:39:16Z")

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Blazing Saddles is in my top pantheon of comedies, but I’d have to rank Ghostbusters, Airplane!, and This Is Spinal Tap up there too, plus the greatest moments from the Marx Brothers films.

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**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/11 "2005-08-02T03:40:31Z")

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> [@Nic2004](#):
>
> Were’s all the white women?

Actually, it’s “Where the white women at?”

It’s not the funniest movie ever made. It’s not even the funniest Mel Brooks/Gene Wilder movie. But certainly at the top of either list should be the indescribably brilliant **Young Frankenstein**.

The problem I have with **Blazing Saddles** is the ending. It’s going great, it’s this quirky anachronistic play on period westerns, has balls when it comes to racism and sexual dynamics, Gene Wilder truly is brilliant (Cleavon Little certainly isn’t slacking), and then it spills over into a movie lot and thoroughly derails while attempting to revel in the meta joke that is Hollywood.

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/12 "2005-08-02T03:40:35Z")

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Mel Brooks gave us many funny movies, but his films from the mid-late 70s are surely some of the most enduring and funniest movies ever to grace the silver screen.

Young Frankenstein  
Blazing Saddles  
Silent Movie  
High Anxiety  
History of the World, Part One

I own all of these on DVD and have watched them so much that I can recite them word for word. In fact, in my line of work we quote Blazing Saddles so much that it’s kind of an unofficial way to tell if a NFG will fit in. If someone gives out a line and the NFG gives the right line back, we know he’s gonna be alright to have on a gig.

NFG= new fuckin’ guy

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/13 "2005-08-02T03:43:41Z")

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“No, no, no… you don’t want to shoot him, you’ll just make him angry.”

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/14 "2005-08-02T03:45:35Z")

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“You shifty nigger! They said you was hung!”

“They was right, too!”

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/15 "2005-08-02T03:49:32Z")

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“Here we take the time and trouble to kill off ever’ last Indian in the west… and then they appoint a sherriff that’s blacker’n any Indian! I am depressed.”

“I shorely hate t’see you this way, Mr. Taggert. Supposin’ I was to shoot this here nigger dead, would that cheer you up?”

“Well, _that_ might help.”

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**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/16 "2005-08-02T03:50:42Z")

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This was the midnight movie at the Inwood Theatre a couple of weeks ago. Seeing it in a proper movie setting made it even funnier.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/17 "2005-08-02T03:50:58Z")

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I have to go with Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Blues Brothers, Animal House and Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the top 5. Can determine order.  
My next five include Caddy Shack and Airplane but definitely not top 5 for me.  
For top five, the funniest is whichever one I am watching.

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**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/18 "2005-08-02T03:51:52Z")

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I don’t hate it but it’s not the first movie that comes to mind when I think of Mel Brooks (that would be either _Young Frankestein_ or _The Producers_).

Like **Only Mostly Dead** said, the problem is the ending.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/19 "2005-08-02T03:52:54Z")

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“Is Bismarck a hewwing?”

**Young Frankenstein** is a _better_ movie. But I still give the nod to **BS** for sheer fall-down funny.

**OMD** , you have a sorta point on the ending. But you have to admit, the final “ride into the sunset” redefined the Western Ending forever! 😃

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**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blazing-saddles-the-funniest-movie-ever-made/315254/20 "2005-08-02T03:55:13Z")

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I’ve tried to watch it because a lot of people like it. There’s got to be something there, right? So I sit and I can see where it’s supposed to be funny but it’s _not funny_. Some of it is yucky and some is mean or stupid, but mainly it falls flat. Thud.

Maybe I would get it if I had brothers?

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