#riding a brain with a saddle on it into the nearest town and saloon

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Blazing Saddles (1974)

Week 4 Blog Post- Grant Montoya

Blazing Saddles

Critical Quote #1

Jim (Gene Wilder) - "Well, it got so that every piss-ant prairie punk who thought he could shoot a gun would ride into town to try out the Waco Kid. I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille. It got pretty gritty. I started to hear the word "draw" in my sleep. Then one day, I was just walking down the street when I heard a voice behind me say, "Reach for it, mister!" I spun around... and there I was, face to face with a six-year-old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass. So I limped to the nearest saloon, crawled inside a whiskey bottle... and I've been there ever since."

The director Mel Brookes tried to implement a lot of different types of humor in this film, but this quote demonstrates his genius in repartee- witty, descriptive humor shown in something as simple as a character describing his backstory. It's well written, and the delivery by Wilder made this one of my favorite moments of the film where it wasn't trying to be dumb or satirical.

Critical Quote #2

Bart (Cleavon Little) - "Sir, he specifically requested two "niggers". Well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch."

This was during the first 5 minutes of the film when Brookes wanted to bring in the shock value of racism, but he does so in a way that makes use of satire. The quote is spoken by a sensible black man who is the main character of the movie, while the white men who ridicule him are clearly missing some brain.

Textual Evidence #1 - This quicksand scene shows how the white folks are indifferent to the lives of their railroad workers, ignoring them fully while getting the handcar out.

Textual Evidence #2 - The appointment of Bart as sheriff is one of the most hilarious moments of the movie in my opinion. The over-the-top nature of this scene mixed with the silence makes this a powerful moment in the film.

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Blazing Saddles (1974) Critical Quotations & Textual Resources - Grant Montoya

Critical Quote #1

Jim (Gene Wilder) - "Well, it got so that every piss-ant prairie punk who thought he could shoot a gun would ride into town to try out the Waco Kid. I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille. It got pretty gritty. I started to hear the word "draw" in my sleep. Then one day, I was just walking down the street when I heard a voice behind me say, "Reach for it, mister!" I spun around... and there I was, face to face with a six-year-old kid. Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. Little bastard shot me in the ass. So I limped to the nearest saloon, crawled inside a whiskey bottle... and I've been there ever since."

The director Mel Brookes tried to implement a lot of different types of humor in this film, but this quote demonstrates his genius in repartee- witty, descriptive humor shown in something as simple as a character describing his backstory. It's well written, and the delivery by Wilder made this one of my favorite moments of the film where it wasn't trying to be dumb or satirical.

Critical Quote #2

Bart (Cleavon Little) - "Sir, he specifically requested two "niggers". Well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch."

This was during the first 5 minutes of the film when Brookes wanted to bring in the shock value of racism, but he does so in a way that makes use of satire. The quote is spoken by a sensible black man who is the main character of the movie, while the white men who ridicule him are clearly missing some brain.

Textual Evidence #1 - This quicksand scene shows how the white folks are indifferent to the lives of their railroad workers, ignoring them fully while getting the handcar out.

Textual Evidence #2 - The appointment of Bart as sheriff is one of the most hilarious moments of the movie in my opinion. The over-the-top nature of this scene mixed with the silence makes this a powerful moment in the film.