Blazing Saddles (1974)

One of the more ludicrous comedy westerns. It's clearly a bit of a hodge-podge mixture of genuine western parody, and more off-the-wall comedy. The plot roughly centres on the town of Rock Ridge, which the railroad baron Hedley Lamarr wants to demolish to clear way for his railroad. He arranges for them to be sent a black Sheriff (Cleavon Little), which Lamarr hopes will destroy their spirit.

Much of the direct Western parody is pretty well observed. The theme song, sung by Frankie Laine, is played perfectly straight, except for over-the-top whip noises. The grizzled Gabby Johnson, who speaks "authentic frontier gibberish", the touching tribute to Randolph Scott, Lili von Shtupp's impersonation of Marlene Dietrich (a la Destry Rides Again) and The Waco Kid (who's at least party based on the alcoholic Sheriffs from Rio Bravo and El Dorado) are all nice touches.

Added to this there's the more ridiculous comedy elements, of which the climax where the heroes invade the Warner Brothers studio is the perfect example. This works perfectly in the context of the film.

There's also an unsubtle point being made about racism and segregation, that was probably reasonably bold for the early 70s, with the towns-people initially refusing to deal with Sheriff Bart because of his race and even after he proves himself being reluctant to be seen speaking to him. In some ways Gene Wilder's Waco Kid—who casually accepts Bart—seems slightly jarring and forced. The other thing that grates slightly now is the invasion of a musical set during the finale, which comes across as slightly homophobic now but was probably not seen as such in the 70s. Most of the "message" parts are well-observed though, and don't come across as preaching (which could easily have been a problem).

Good stuff.