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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsMy favorite Mel BROOKS movie happens to be *his* favorite, too!1 Just 2 peas in a pod, us!1
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/21/mel-brooks-looks-back-blazing-saddles-could-never-get-made-today.html
[font size=5]Mel Brooks Looks Back: Blazing Saddles Could Never Get Made Today[/font]
In a world gone mad, Mel Brooks, now 90, is determined to get people back on his laugh track. Earlier this year, members of the Writers Guild of America voted for the 101 funniest screenplays of all time. Brooks was the only writer to have [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]three scripts he wrote or co-wrote in the top 12[/FONT]: his Oscar-winning original screenplay for The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein.
On September 1st at New Yorks Radio City Music Hall, after a screening of Blazing Saddles, Brook will discuss why the classic western sendup is still a riot 42 years after its theatrical debut. If that werent enough, a coffee table book of Young Frankenstein will debut this fall.
Brooks is one of precious few to capture the [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]EGOT[/FONT], taking home Emmy, Tony Grammy, and Academy Awards. Like Don Rickles, Tony Bennett, and his close friend Carl Reiner, who co- created the 2000 Year Old Man bits, Brooks represents an era of show business that will pass when they do. But until that day comes, this old man river of laughs just keeps rollin on.
.... Do you feel any of your pictures are underrated?
The Twelve Chairs. It was a nice, sweet film with a funny performance by Dom DeLuisehis best, I believe, other than when my wife Anne Bancroft directed him in Fatso. [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]My favorite film nobody saw is Life Stinks[/FONT]. I play a multimillionaire who makes a bet with a peer that he can survive on the streets as a homeless person. You root for this guy and you laugh with him, not at him. You know, basically all my films are about greed versus humanity. I never want people to leave one of my productions feeling depressed. If you come out of the play The Producers humming Springtime for Hitler and having a smile on your face, then Im a happy man. Do you realize the last time I was at Radio City Music Hall was when The Producers won more Tonys than any play in history?! That place is bigger than some New England states. Im going to be there with Blazing Saddles September 1st. I may be a 2,000-year-old man but I can still see empty seats. Since Im not getting paid for this fantastic interview Im giving you, then do your best to help me fill those seats. Is that too subtle?!
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Initech
(109,010 posts)Auggie
(33,248 posts)Previous recipients below. Goldberg, Tomlin, Crystal, Fey, Ferrell, Leno, Murray, Murphy DeGeneres, Tomlin before Brooks??? That is seriously screwed up. Mel writes, directs, produces and performs. He should have come right before or after Reiner.
1998 Richard Pryor
1999 Jonathan Winters
2000 Carl Reiner
2001 Whoopi Goldberg
2002 Bob Newhart
2003 Lily Tomlin
2004 Lorne Michaels
2005 Steve Martin
2006 Neil Simon
2007 Billy Crystal
2008 George Carlin (posthumously)
2009 Bill Cosby[5]
2010 Tina Fey[7]
2011 Will Ferrell[8]
2012 Ellen DeGeneres[9]
2013 Carol Burnett[10]
2014 Jay Leno
2015 Eddie Murphy[11]
2016 Bill Murray
dhill926
(16,953 posts)humongous oversight....
Auggie
(33,248 posts)Brooks practically invented a new style of film comedy.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,168 posts)I love that Mr. dixie and I know every line and so do our adult children.
Hedly Lamar........instant mental laugh.
dhill926
(16,953 posts)Maynar
(769 posts)and I loved the Twelve Chairs!
eggplant
(4,220 posts)I was visiting family in Phoenix, AZ back in the late 80s, and the local TV channel had one of those late movies hosted by a local personality. Their job was to introduce the movie and provide a small amount of commentary during the commercial breaks.
*Every* time the guy would talk about the movie, he would *profusely* apologize for just how racist the film was (and this was the edited-for-television version!) -- he simply didn't get it. He couldn't grasp the idea that it was *supposed* to be incredibly racist ("Alright! We'll take the niggers and the chinks, but we DON'T WANT the Irish!"
. It made watching it that much funnier and sadder, too, actually.
DawgHouse
(4,019 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)
lastlib
(28,447 posts)UTUSN
(77,795 posts)A comment from YouTube: [font size=5]She is the greatest gone too soon.[/font]