Blazing Saddle and Young Frankenstein Turn 50

1974 was the year of Mel Brooks, and he releases not one but two all-time classic comedies in the same year they are Blazing Saddle and Young Frankenstein and they both turn 50.

First let’s look at Blazing Saddle, which was first released on February 7, 1974. Warner Bros released the film and earned a total of $119.6 million at the box office, not bad for a film that was made on a $2.6 million budget. Brooks directed, acted, and wrote the screenplay with a few others and you might know one of the writers, his name was Richard Pryor. The cast was one of the best in any comedy film ever had, that is until later in the year. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, David Huddleston, Harvey Korman, and Madeline Kahn, who gave us an Academy Award nomination performance as Lili Von Shtupp.The film is a Western black comedy satirical film about a town that needs a sheriff to save them and they end up with a black railroad worker named Bart and his alcoholic assistant Jim. The film from start to finish is just joke after joke after joke and I don’t think a film like this would be made today.

Next, we will look at Young Frankenstein, which was first released on December 15, 1974. This time it’s 20th Century Fox that would release the film and not WB. The film made a total of $86.2 million at the box office and was made with a budget of $2.78 million. The film is a comedy horror and a parody of classic horror in terms of the whole film being made in black and white. The cast was great here with Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars as Inspector Kemp, and Marty Feldman as the iconic Igor. The film was slow-paced and in black and white, which not a lot of people would like, but the comedy, gags, and jokes were and still are some of the best to be filmed, including the legendary brains and charades scene.

Both of these films are classics and in any top 10 list of greatest comedy films of all time, these two will always be up there. If you have time this weekend, go and watch these two films and great ready to laugh your heart out.