The wild wild west

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Movie
German title The wild wild west
Is' what, Sheriff?
Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles
Original title Blazing saddles
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 89 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mel Brooks
script Mel Brooks
Norman Steinberg
Andrew Bergman
Richard Pryor
Alan Uger
production Michael Hertzberg
music Mel Brooks
John Morris
camera Joseph F. Biroc
cut Danford B. Greene
John C. Howard
occupation

The wild wild west (also: "Is' was, Sheriff?", Original and German DVD title: Blazing Saddles ) is a satirical western comedy by Mel Brooks from 1974. The film tells of a black sheriff in the Wild West who Opposes a corrupt politician. The film specifically deals with racism and the position of Afro-Americans in the USA.

action

Lieutenant Governor and Prosecutor Hedley Lamarr wants to build a railway line through the picturesque wild west town of Rock Ridge . Since the residents do not want to sell their city and leave it, Lamarr wants to drive the people out of the city with constant raids by the most evil bandits. After the first raids, the community comes together to discuss how to proceed. After an agreement not to give up the city, the residents demand a new sheriff. Lamarr then hatches the plan to appoint a sheriff: He has Bart, a black railroad worker, appointed as the new law enforcement officer.

As expected, the black sheriff causes a scandal in town. Only former gunslinger Jim, formerly known as Kid the Kid , stands by Bart. When the bandit Mongo once again haunts the city and is defeated by the sheriff, the hostility of the residents subsides.

Lamarr learns that Mongo was unsuccessful and puts the Teutonic beauty Lili on the sheriff - she is supposed to turn his head and get him out of the way. However, Lili falls in love with Bart and therefore cannot finish her work. Lamarr and his constant companion, Mr. Taggart, decide to set up an army to unite the worst villains in the world: In addition to bandits and Ku Klux Klan members, this army also includes German soldiers from the Second World War , rocker gangs and other stereotypical villains . Bart alerts his old railroad friends to make a copy of Rock Ridge with them and the townspeople. This is filled with dynamite and is supposed to lure the gangsters on the wrong track. The plan works, and the dummy goes up in flames with the crooks.

During the showdown, however, the film metaleptically breaks the level and the fourth wall : During the brawl that follows the explosions in the clone town, the bullying break down a studio wall and disrupt the recordings for a music film there. Furthermore, they storm the canteen of Universal Studios and finally watch the film The Wild Wild West in the cinema to the end: The sheriff and his companion Jim ride towards the sun to track down and fight new crooks.

Reviews

For Phil Hardy the film is a “wonderful celebration of bad taste, (…), not just a western parody.” Brooks creates “more brilliant scenes than one would expect.” The film demonstrates “both the flexibility of the genre and that Contemporary taste of the 1970s. "

Joe Hembus states that Brooks has established himself with this film "as the greatest genius of Jewish jokes in American show business alongside Woody Allen ." He mixes "the subtle with the vulgar", but the film suffers from "hideous synchronization."

The lexicon of international films believes that the "coarsely staged" film is a "[t] partially unsuccessful Western parody, the clichés of the genre and quotes from other films with sometimes convulsive irony and current allusions" garnish "a certain independence" only towards the end win.

The film first ran in Germany under the title Is' was, Sheriff? and - as not only Joe Hembus remarked - had been dubbed very badly, lovelessly and with stupid dialogue. When Brooks found out about this, he had the screenings in German-speaking countries stopped, the German text revised and, in some cases, re-dubbed by other actors. For this resynchronization, he had voice samples sent to him from Germany for each major role and selected the right voices for each role.

Awards

The wild wild west was nominated for three Oscar in 1975 :

  • Best Supporting Actress ( Madeline Kahn )
  • Best cut
  • Best soundtrack

The film won the WGA Award for Best Screenplay.

The film was also nominated for the British Film Awards :

In 2006 the film was included in the National Film Registry of the most historically significant US films.

backgrounds

According to co-writer Andrew Bergman , when production began in 1971, the film was to be called Black Bart . Originally Alan Arkin was to direct the film and the actor James Earl Jones played the part of Bart . According to the script, the film was supposed to take place in the 1970s. But the film censorship at the time made them difficult and therefore the project failed. Two years later, Mel Brooks was hired to direct and revised the script together with Bergman and moved the plot from 1974 to 1874. Andrew Bergman explained about the joint work: “And so the gags went around until nobody knew who the gags were really from! "

Actually , according to Brooks, the role of Black Bart should have played the actor and comedian Richard Pryor , one of the co- writers of the screenplay of Blazing Saddles in the film. But Warner Bros. didn't want him as he was very unreliable at the time due to his drug addiction. He was often absent from the set and was also absent from discussions of the script. So Warner Bros. chose comedian and actor Flip Wilson first. Brooks, however, insisted on young actor Cleavon Little for the role.

Gene Wilder plays the role of the drunkard Jim, former gunslinger Kid the Kid (in the original: Waco Kid ), the fastest shooter of all time, whereby the viewer never sees him pulling the revolver because the movements are too fast for the eye. Wilder said of the film: “The writers did something remarkable. By slapping racism in the face and bleeding its nose. But they do it while you are laughing! "

Madeline Kahn was also nominated for an Oscar for her role Lili Von Shtupp, a parody of actress Marlene Dietrich .

Harvey Korman plays Hedley Lamarr, a deliberate reference to actress Hedy Lamarr . Mel Brooks said, “The producers came and said Hedy Lamarr would sue the production if we used her name in the film. Please pay them! "

Actor Robert Ridgely, who plays the executioner, also played the executioner in Mel Brooks Robin Hood - Heroes in Tights .

The citizens of the western town of Rock Ridge all bear the surname Johnson.

Others

  • The German tagline read: "Where churches are blown up, women brutally beaten and cattle raped, there is still time to have a little fun."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Phil Hardy: The Encyclopedia of Western Movies. Woodbury Press, Minneapolis 1984, ISBN 0-8300-0405-X , p. 345.
  2. ^ Joe Hembus: Western Lexicon - 1272 films from 1894 to 1975. 2nd edition. Carl Hanser, Munich / Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-446-12189-7 , p. 702.
  3. ↑ The wild wild west. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ The wild wild west on boxofficemojo.com