(Mel Brooks, US 1974, 93 min., 35mm)
Mel Brooks’s third feature, and his first box-office blockbuster, turns the western upside down and inside out. Scheming politician Hedley (not Hedy!) Lamarr (Harvey Korman) appoints a Black sheriff (Cleavon Little) to the small town of Rock Ridge in order to drive the people away. When the plan backfires, he is forced to take further desperate measures to unsettle the town's unity, while Little teams up with washed-up gunslinger Gene Wilder to do his job.. A delirious mix of postmodern parody (the finale) and bathroom humor (the campfire scene), the film was co-scripted by Richard Pryor, who lends the film an in-your-face send-up of racist stereotypes that remains both hilarious and powerful.
Upcoming Events in this Series
Film Screenings | Spaceballs (35mm)
100 Years of Mel Brooks One of Brooks’s most quotable films, this Star Wars send-up takes on the mega-franchise, American politics, and Hollywood itself.