Mel Brooks' memorable year of comedy dominance turns 40

Mel Brooks

I was lucky enough to catch a very special episode of Conan in which the host (my personal favorite in late night) dedicated his entire show to the late comedy legend Sid Caesar. To pay tribute to Caesar, Conan O'Brien enlisted the legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks, who got his first huge break by serving as a writer on Caesar's landmark sketch comedy series Your Show of Shows.

Brooks, at 87, is still as sharp and funny as ever. He has such a warm, engaging personality and it was such a treat to hear him tell stories about what Caesar meant to him and how his sense of humor was influenced by his early work in television.

While watching his interview it dawned on me that Brooks' peak as a comedy director took place exactly forty years ago -- 1974 -- a year in which he pulled off an incredible feat, co-writing and directing two of the biggest comedy hits of the decade, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.

Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles

They were very different films, with the significant exception that they both star Gene Wilder, and yet they both really connected with their target audience.

The movies are unabashedly nuts and especially in the case of Saddles, unafraid to push the boundaries of good taste.

And that's what makes them so fantastic.

Brooks will always be remembered for his creation of The Producers (on film and Broadway) and for his enviable forty-plus year marriage to the gorgeous Anne Bancroft (who sadly passed away in 2005). But for me, his signature achievement is these two madcap comedies.

Blazing Saddles was a movie I fell in love with almost instantly, probably if for no other reason than because it was a rare mainstream comedy film from my favorite film era (the 70s) to feature a black lead who wasn't Richard Pryor.

Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with Pryor's work -- and the role of Sheriff Bart in this western spoof was originally conceived for him (and he did co-write the screenplay) -- but Cleavon Little is charm personified. His byplay with Gene Wilder heavily influenced me as a kid and his fearlessness in the face of the white racists that populate the film was inspirational to me.

Brooks had the balls to portray an old fashioned Western town more authentically than the straight westerns that it was lampooning. The townspeople are unapologetically bigoted and the humor of the film often derives from just how awful these people are.

Obviously with any Brooks film it's the gags that everyone remembers: the campfire farting scene, Madeline Kahn's German singer Lili Von Shtupp, Brooks' roles as the governor and a Native American chieftain, the defeat of Mongo ("Mongo pawn in game of life.") -- I could go on and on. The end of the movie descends into pure chaos which I can only describe as infectious for the uninitiated.

They don't make comedies this daring anymore.

Young Frankenstein, is the more cinematically sound film (although it's my second favorite of the two). Brooks and his collaborators (again Kahn and Wilder, joined by Peter Boyle, Teri Garr and Marty Feldman) crafted a loving homage to the classic Frankenstein films.

It's amazing that this black-and-white, period comedy was such a huge hit. I can't imagine modern audiences embracing something so out of left field.

When Wilder's character's creation (Boyle) puts on a tux and tails and performs "Putting on the Ritz" it is impossible not to crack up. It's an ingenious scene. There are so many jokes packed into this film ranging from the ridiculously silly (Igor pronounces his name Eye-gore) to the truly odd (virtually every scene).

Brooks' post 1974 output was more hit or miss for me (although History of the World Part I, Spaceballs, Silent Movie and Robin Hood: Men in Tights all have their moments). But that year a short, balding, middle aged comic with roots in TV dominated Hollywood and that's really cool.

Mel Brooks deserves a lot more credit that he deserves, for making mainstream comedy edgier and for introducing a little inspired mayhem into the movies.