Blazing Saddles



"He rode a blazing saddle,

He wore a shining star,

His job, to offer battle

To bad men near and far!

He conquered fear, and he conquered hate,

He turned dark night into day...

He made his blazing saddle,

A torch to light the way!"

""The sheriff is a N-" *DONG*''

"What was that?!"

"He said 'The sheriff is near!'""

Blazing Saddles is another comedy masterpiece from Mel Brooks (with writing help from none other than Richard Pryor) which mercilessly spoofs The Western.

Railroad construction runs into quicksand, and the path needs re-routing -- but the tiny town of Rock Ridge stands in the way of progress. State Attorney General Hedy Hedley Lamarr schemes to get his hands on the now-priceless real estate by hiring thugs to kill the sheriff and terrify the locals into leaving. When they don't leave, Lamarr appoints a black man named Bart -- awaiting a death sentence for striking a white man -- as the new sheriff, a move calculated to result in Bart being killed by the racist townspeople and said townspeople leaving in disgust (which would give Lamarr free reign over the land). Once Bart arrives in Rock Ridge, Hilarity Ensues.

Blazing Saddles is completely, offensively, and unapologetically politically incorrect -- and it also skewers damn near every western trope listed on this site (and likely a few we haven't thought of yet).

This film provides examples of:
"Taggart: Piss on you, I'm workin' for Mel Brooks!"
 * Actor Allusion: Well, director allusion anyway.

"Hedley: RIGHT hands!"
 * Adolf Hitler: A (heavily implied) Jewish actor playing the dictator appears briefly. They lose him after the bunker scene.
 * Also visible repeatedly giving Nazi salutes in the background of the Great Pie Fight, as well as being obliquely referenced during the swearing in scene:

"Bart: As I am your host and you are my guest, what do you like to do?
 * Just before Lili von Schtupp is introduced, you hear a few notes from "Springtime for Hitler".
 * Affectionate Parody: Westerns.
 * The Alcoholic: Jim, aka the Waco Kid, ever since his Literal Ass Kicking described below.
 * Ambiguously Gay:

Jim: Oh, I dunno... Play chess... Screw...

Bart: Let's play chess!"

""I'm parked over by the commissary...""
 * Hedley. Sure, he fawns over Lili but acts very homoerotically toward Le Petomane, doesn't mind getting accidentally groped in the bath and in one scene appears to sodomize a figurine of Justice. Plus he's camp as hell.
 * Seems more like just groping.
 * One of the cowboys, after fighting one of the male dancers into the tunnel under the stairs in the "French Mistake" set, comes out the other side of the tunnel with his arm around him.

"Taggart: Could you repeat that?"
 * Anachronism Stew: Well, it is a Mel Brooks film.
 * Apologetic Attacker: Reverend Johnson, after hitting one of the bandits, prays "Forgive me, Lord!"
 * Army Of Rustlers, Cut Throats, Murderers, Bounty Hunters, Desperados, Mugs, Pugs, Thugs, Nitwits, Halfwits, Dimwits, Vipers, Snipers, Con Men, Indian Agents, Mexican Bandits, Muggers, Buggerers, Bushwhackers, Hornswagglers, Horse Thieves, Bull Dykes, Train Robbers, Bank Robbers, Ass-Kickers, Shit-Kickers, and Methodists!!!

"Reverend: I don't have to tell you people what has been happening to our beloved town: Sheriff murdered, crops burned, stores looted, women stampeded, and cattle raped."
 * Arson Murder and Jaywalking: Hedley Lamarr's list of bad guys ends with "Methodists".
 * Which is also a bit of a Mythology Gag considering the side Methodists took over the Slavery issue.
 * Also possibly Shown Their Work, as not many people know that Methodist ministers were among the few Old West clergy who would provide religious counseling to criminals, however disreputable.
 * As Long As It Sounds Foreign: Parodied with the Indian chief, played by Mel Brooks, speaking Yiddish. Averted when Lili Von Shtupp and Bart are speaking German to each other.
 * This is also a nod to 1.) the tendency of dirty white (e.g., Greek, Jewish, Armenian) actors playing Indians to use their native languages, as did many actual Indians (usually of the wrong tribe), and 2.) the Mormon idea that the American Indians were descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel.
 * Bilingual Bonus: On the movie poster (pictured above), the Indian chief played by Mel Brooks has "Kosher for Passover" written in Hebrew on his headdress.
 * Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: "We will now read from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and... Duck!"
 * Attack Pattern Alpha: "We're gonna whip up a Number 6 on 'em!", which basically boils down to "Ride into town, whomping and woomping every living thing, except the women folk." They rape the shit out of them at the subsequent Number 6 dance.
 * We later learn that things didn't go exactly according to plan:

""You said 'rape' twice."
 * Bait and Switch: "Excuse me while I whip this out." (Bart proceeds to reach for a speech letter in his pocket, while the townsfolk gasp and cower in fear, thinking he's going to whip something else out instead.)
 * Bar Brawl / Bar Slide: During the battle in the Warner Bros. commissary, Taggart slides down the buffet counter.
 * Batman Gambit: Hedley tries to exploit the fear and racism of the townsfolk of Rock Ridge by sending them a black sheriff, and it almost works. (The only reason why it doesn't work is that "They are so dumb!")
 * Beam Me Up Scotty: "We don't need no stinking badges!" was actually in this movie. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre had the longer "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"
 * Biggus Dickus: It's twue!
 * Subverted in the full version of that scene, which was considered too raunchy and cut. Bart was going to reply "Pardon me, but you're sucking on my elbow."
 * Black Comedy Rape: The rape jokes.

"I like rape.""

"Hedley: Daddy love Froggy. Froggy love Daddy?
 * Blasting It Out of Their Hands: The Waco Kid
 * Booby Trap: The fake town of Rock Ridge filled with explosives as a trap for Hedley Lamarr's army.
 * Bowdlerise: Racial slurs + profanity = a lot of changes when it's shown on TV.
 * This nearly happened to the theatrical release, see Executive Meddling below.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: At least 8 examples (9 if you count the ).
 * It's pretty fair to say that in this movie, the fourth wall is near non-existent.
 * Busby Berkeley Number: "The French Mistake" rehearsal.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Hedley could be considered this as he has a fixation on always bathing with his froggy and freaks out when he doesn't.

Froggy: *Squeek Squeek*"

""Now you men will only be risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.""
 * Bart was originally handed the job of Sheriff in order to disgust and offend the residents of Rock Ridge. Unfortunately for Hedley, he's far better at the job than he was expecting.
 * But Not Too Black: Parodied. "They're darker than us! Woof!"
 * But Now I Must Go: Provides the title quote.
 * But You Screw One Goat: Among the long list of charges against the outlaws is "cattle raped"
 * Cameo: Mel Brooks, in the line of outlaws waiting to join Hedley Lamarr's army. He's either a biker or a WWI airplane pilot. He also appears as the Yiddish-speaking Indian chief, AND Governor William J. LePetomane.
 * Count Basie's Orchestra shows up in one scene.
 * Camp Gay: The dancers in "The French Mistake" rehearsal.
 * Cecil B De Mille: The Waco Kid says, "I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille."
 * Celebrity Paradox / Post Modernism: Several examples in Breaking the Fourth Wall are also this:
 * Taggart saying "I'm working for Mel Brooks!" (writer/director), who also appears in the movie.
 * Hedley Lamarr, Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid attending a premiere of the movie Blazing Saddles.
 * The famous Running Gag regarding Hedley Lamarr's name is lampshaded by the governor when he points out that it's 1874, meaning that "You'll be able to sue her!"
 * Made even funnier by the fact that she did in fact sue Brooks.
 * They paid her off, too.
 * In Hedley's speech to the mob he hired.

"The Waco Kid:What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny"? "Make yourself at home"? "Marry my daughter"? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."
 * Chess Motifs: "Mongo only pawn in game of life."
 * Children Are Innocent: This belief was the undoing of the Waco Kid way back when. (See Literal Ass Kicking below.)
 * The Chosen Zero: The sheriff.
 * Companion Cube: Hedley Lamarr's froggy.
 * Couldn't Find a Lighter: Mongo lights a cigar by sticking it into a fire, while it's in his mouth.
 * Crowd Panic: When Mongo first arrives in Rock Ridge.
 * "Mongo! Santa Maria!"
 * "Now gather 'round here folks and... HOLY SHIT!!"
 * Curse Cut Short: Played straight with the page quote. Subverted with the governor; apparently "Can't you see that man is a ni-" is actually what he intended to say. Averted with the dozen or so uncensored utterances of the n-word.
 * Deadpan Snarker: The Waco Kid

"Hedley: Qualifications?
 * Deconstructor Fleet: Western movie tropes.
 * "'Head them off at the pass?' I HATE THAT CLICHÉ!"
 * Defeat Means Friendship: The cause of Mongo's Heel Face Turn.
 * Department of Redundancy Department:

Hired Goon: Rape, murder, arson, and rape.

Hedley: You said rape twice.

Hired Goon: I like rape."

"The Waco Kid: Boy, is he strict!"
 * Did Not Do the Research
 * In nature, quicksand is only found in areas with a great deal of water, not extremely dry desert-like conditions as in the movie. Of course, the Rule of Funny supersedes this. It is, however, a surprisingly accurate depiction of the effects of quicksand.
 * Double Entendre: "They said you was hung!" "And they was right!"
 * The Dragon: Taggart is this to Hedly Lamarr
 * Dressing As the Enemy: Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid, after they mug two Ku Klux Klan members.
 * Dumb Is Good / Dumb Muscle: Mongo.
 * Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Lili Von Shtupp. "I'm not a wabbit! I need some west!"
 * And on the note delivered to Bart, she asks to meet him in her "dwessing woom". As Bart reads it aloud as this, it's entirely possible she spelled it this way.
 * Enforced Method Acting: Clevon Little was not warned about the "you know... morons" line. The reaction was real.
 * Equal Opportunity Evil: Hedley Lamarr's "Thugs Wanted" ad.
 * Eureka Moment: Almost all of Hedley's plots to drive the citizens out of Rock Ridge are a result of these.
 * Europeans Are Kinky: Lili von Schtupp is an example of this.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Hedley may be an evil, corrupt, heartless man who hires scum of the earth. But he has no tolerance when a robber comes to sign up, whilst chewing gum, and did not bring enough for everybody.

"Bart: Oh, baby. You are so talented! *Beat* And they are so dumb!"
 * Everyone Is Related: All of the inhabitants of Rock Ridge have the last name Johnson.
 * Lampshaded, as the ice cream parlor advertises that it has one flavor.
 * ...It's not also Johnson, is it?
 * Evil Chancellor: Hedley Lamarr to Governor Lepetomane
 * Evil Laugh: Hedley Lamarr, when he comes up with the idea of sending a black sheriff to Rock Ridge.
 * Subverted a little when he chokes on the hard candy he's been sucking on.
 * Executive Meddling: They tried, but since Mel's contract said that he had the final cut on the film, he sat through the meeting, taking careful notes of all the changes that they wanted to make, and then when the meeting was over he tossed his notes in the garbage.
 * Femme Fatale: Lili Von Shtupp.
 * Fighting for A Homeland: All the railroad workers want in return for fighting is a piece of land to homestead.
 * Follow the Leader: According to film critic Dave Kehr, this was the first major motion picture to include a fart joke. That fact, assuming it's true, makes it the most influential comic film of all time.
 * Fourth Wall Observer: At one point, the characters go to a movie theater and watch Blazing Saddles to find out what is happening to them. Yeah, this film pretty much demolishes the fourth wall.
 * Funday Pawpet Show: The parody "Blazing Ferrets"
 * Genre Killer: It was a long time after the release of this film before another serious Western was made.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Despite the foul language there's one that during the time it was made that would push the movie over the line, and they sneak it in anyway. During "The Great Pie Fight" at the film's climax Hedy (that's HEDLEY!) Lamarr exits the men's room and clearly mouths "What the fuck?" There's also the surname Shtupp, which is Yiddish for "fuck."
 * Gonna Need More Trope: "Somebody's gotta go back and get a shitload of dimes!"
 * Groin Attack: Happens to a cowboy, a Mook, a film director and Hedley Lamarr (who's shot in the groin).
 * Guile Hero: Bart.
 * Heel Face Turn: Lili Von Shtupp (Hedy ("That's Hedley!") Lamarr's henchwoman) and Mongo (Taggart's henchman).
 * Heroic BSOD: Bart gets a minor one after his encounter with the Racist Grandma.
 * He's Back: The Waco Kid.
 * Hostage Situation: Sheriff Bart takes himself hostage.

"Bart starts putting on his gun belt.
 * Hulk Speak: Mongo, with a few exceptions.
 * Human Shield: See Hostage Situation above.
 * Immune to Bullets: Mongo, or so they say.

The Waco Kid: No no, don't do that. Don't do that, if you shoot him you'll just make him mad."

"The Waco Kid: "...the little bastard shot me in the ass!""
 * Inherently Funny Words: Hedy/Hedley Lamarr.
 * Insurmountable Waist Height Fence: The villagers of Rock Ridge hold off Hedley's men... by installing a tollbooth. "Somebody's gotta go back and get a shitload of dimes!" Yes, absurd, as the booth is set up in the middle of a stretch of desert, but since Taggart thinks that his boss installed the thing, it actually almost makes sense that he doesn't go around.
 * I Surrender Suckers: Hedley Lamarr during his confrontation with Sheriff Bart.
 * Kick the Dog: Mongo prefers punching horses in the face.
 * Kirks Rock
 * Large Ham: Mel Brooks, of course, with a serious contender in Harvey Korman as Hedy (Hedley!).
 * He's only risking an almost certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, after all.
 * And then there's Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Schtupp... hammy enough to actually be nominated as Best Supporting Actress.
 * Left the Background Music On: The church congregation was revealed to have been singing "The Ballad of Rock Ridge," and then there's Count Basie and his orchestra.
 * Literal Ass Kicking: After getting burned out on quick draw duels, this is what drives The Waco Kid to be an alcoholic after a run-in with an over enthusiastic little kid:

" Hedy Hedley: No, that's Hedley. Hedley Lamarr.
 * Lucky Translation: In Norwegian, and to some extent Swedish, "mongo" is a common slang expression which basically means the same thing as "retard". Not only does that sort of fit with Mongo's mental level, but it also fits with the politically incorrect tone of this movie.
 * Definitely a cross-language deal. Mongo's nickname surely comes from "Mongoloid," which is an outdated medical term for the developmentally disabled.
 * Magnetic Hero: Bart manages to get Mongo and Lily on his side through friendship and sex, respectively.
 * Meaningful Name: Lili von Schtupp.
 * Also Governor William J. Le Petomane. "Le Pétomane" was a performer from the 1890s famous for being able to fart at will.
 * Mel Brooks: The man, the myth, the legend.
 * The Indian chief. Woof.
 * Mistaken for Gay: "Aw, Mongo straight!"
 * Mugged for Disguise: Bart gets the attention of two Klansmen by asking Where Da White Women At, then he and Jim ambush them and steal their outfits.
 * My Name is Not Hedy: "That's Hedley!"
 * Often misuse of the name supposedly got the REAL Hedy Lamarr to sue, because it infringed her right to publicity.
 * They preemptively mocked that with this exchange:

Governor William J Lepetomane: What are you worried about, this is 1874! You'll be able to sue her!"

"Bart (to Lyle): Sir, ah, he specifically requested two 'nig-gers'... well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch!"
 * No Fourth Wall: See Breaking the Fourth Wall above.
 * Noodle Incident: At some point Richard Dix apparently tried to take over the town.
 * Not in The Face: Taggart punches him in the groin instead.
 * N Word Privileges: No way anyone but Mel Brooks could have gotten away with half of the jokes in this movie.
 * It helped having Richard Pryor on board as co-writer. But Mel Brooks has confirmed that most of the n-word jokes came from himself and Richard Pryor was largely responsible for the character of Mongo.
 * Oh Mr. Grant
 * One Scene Wonder: The Hangman, who got to reprise his role in Robin Hood Men in Tights.
 * Only Sane Man: Bart, to an extent.
 * The Waco Kid as well, who's pretty level-headed once he's sober.
 * And the Reverend, who combines this with Reasonable Authority Figure.
 * The Other Darrin: Bart is played by Cleavon Little in the film and by Louis Gossett, Jr. in the failed TV Pilot.
 * Pass Fail: The "one-drop rule" is inverted for laughs near the beginning of the film:

""Schmucks!""
 * Pie in The Face: the "Great Pie Fight" near the end. No-one is spared. Hedley Lamarr tries to avoid it by ducking back into a restroom. Someone pies him in there.
 * Planet of Steves: All of the inhabitants of Rock Ridge have the last name Johnson.
 * Plot Based Voice Cancellation
 * Plunger Detonator: Sheriff Bart tries to use one to detonate the explosives in the fake Rock Ridge and blow up the villains, but it doesn't work. The Waco Kid has to set them off with a shot from his revolver.
 * Post Modernism
 * Popcultural Osmosis: Candygram for Mongo!
 * Bart actually delivers the Candygram, has Mongo sign for it, then walks away as the Looney Tunes theme plays. The box doesn't actually explode until Mongo opens it. Imitators just yell it as they throw the bomb.
 * Potty Dance: When Taggart gets an idea he gets excited and jumps around. Hedley Lamarr thinks he's doing one of these.
 * Proscenium Reveal: Zig-Zagged in the climax, where the action is somehow "real" even though it's shown to be happening on a Hollywood soundstage — and eventually most of the backlot — during the climactic Battle Royale With Cheese.
 * Product Placement: "Howard Johnson's right!"
 * Bart's Gucci saddlebags.
 * Prospector: Gabby Johnson
 * Punny Name: The Johnson clan in Rock Ridge includes Howard Johnson, Van Johnson, Dr. Samuel Johnson, and Olson N. Johnson.
 * Put Down Your Gun and Step Away: Sheriff Bart to the people of Rock Ridge, while taking himself hostage.
 * Quicksand Sucks: "What is it that's not exactly water, and it ain't exactly earth?"
 * Racist Grandma: "UP YOURS, NIGGER!"
 * Real Estate Scam: Hedley Lamarr's plan.
 * Recycled the Series: The failed TV Pilot Black Bart.
 * Refuge in Audacity: Versus racism. (Notably, one of the co-writers was Richard Pryor.)
 * "All right! We'll take the niggers and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish!"
 * Repeat After Me: Hedley Lamarr to his army of criminals.

"Hedley Lamarr: I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers, and Methodists!
 * Retired Badass: The Waco Kid
 * Retired Gunfighter: The Waco Kid
 * Riding Into the Sunset: The two leads, first on horses and then in a chauffeured car.
 * Road Sign Reversal: The re-edited-for-TV version includes a originally-cut scene like this, when Bart and the Waco Kid are being chased by the villains; the duo come to an arrow-sign mounted on a post, smack it so that it starts spinning in circles, and run on. The villains ride up, wait for the sign to finish spinning, and charge off in the indicated direction.
 * Rule of Funny: The whole movie runs on this.
 * Running Gag: "That's Hedley!"
 * Also the cattle.
 * The fact that nearly everybody in Rock Ridge has the last name "Johnson" is also played for laughs throughout the film.
 * Hedley hitting his head on the window.
 * Rhyming List:

Taggart: [finding pen and paper] Could you repeat that, sir?"

"Hedley Lamarr: My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
 * Salt and Pepper: Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid.
 * Schmuck Bait: Mongo like candy.
 * Security Blanket: Hedley Lamarr's "Froggy"
 * Security Cling: Taggart does a "single glomp" version on Hedley Lamarr when a scaffold trap door releases outside.
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Hedley Lamarr, as in this lampshaded example:

Taggart: God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.

Lamarr: *sighs* Shitkicker..."

"Bart: What's your name?
 * Sex Face Turn: Lili Von Shtupp, with Sheriff Bart.
 * Sex God: Spoofed.
 * Shout Out: Multiple examples.
 * Show Within a Show: Blazing Saddles. Wait, what?
 * Slip Into Something More Comfortable: Parodied.
 * Smart People Play Chess: Played with when Bart and the Waco Kid play chess against each other. While neither man is particularly smart, they're geniuses compared to the other characters in the film.
 * Sniper Pistol: The Waco Kid manages to set off dynamite from a few hundred yards away, using a single shot from his revolver.
 * Some Call Me Tim: Inverted, then subverted.

Jim: Well, my name is Jim, but most people call me... Jim."

""Hey! The sheriff is a N-*DONG!*
 * Sound Effects Bleep: A church bell when Bart approaches the town.

"What was that?"

"He said the sheriff is near! *cheers*

"NO, GODRUM DAGNABBIT! I SAID THE SHERIFF IS A N-*DONG!*"

"Olson Johnson: What are we made of? Our fathers came across the prairies, fought Indians, fought drought, fought locusts, fought Dix. Remember when Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over this town?"
 * Done more often in televised versions. For example, censoring out the word 'shit' from the final line of the Ballad of Rock Ridge by having the organist mangle a chord. Since it's pretty obvious what they were going to say, this actually makes the movie funnier.
 * Spit Take: The Waco Kid, after Sheriff Bart reads the note from Lili Von Shtupp.
 * Springtime for Hitler: Lamarr convinces the governor to appoint a random black man as Rock Ridge's new sheriff, in the hopes that the racist townspeople will be so demoralized that they give up and run off. He certainly wasn't counting on the sheriff actually helping them and winning them over.
 * Stealth Pun: One of the many Johnsons of Rock Ridge has the unfortunate first name of Anal.
 * And he always keeps things nice and clean.
 * And [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongo_Santamar
 * Hell, most of the townspeople. Howard Johnson, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Van Johnson, Olson N. Johnson

"Taggart: I want you to send a wire to the main office, and tell them I said-" *CLANG!* Owwww!"
 * "..it is my pleasure to present a laurel and a hearty handshake.."
 * The main character is a black man named Bart.
 * The awful spin-off TV pilot Black Bart ran with that one, naturally.
 * Stop Helping Me: At the film's climax, when the Waco Kid is trying to pull off an impossible shot, the priest starts (loudly) praying for God to guide him. Thankfully, the other residents of Rock Ridge shut him up by beating him with their hats.
 * Stop or I Shoot Myself: The aforementioned Hostage Situation. Especially funny because they were about to lynch him.
 * Strolling Through the Chaos: Hedley Lamarr during the Great Pie Fight.
 * Surprise Checkmate: During Sheriff Bart's game with the Waco Kid.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Everyone but Bart himself in the failed TV Pilot.
 * Take That: Howard Johnson and his orange-roofed outhouse.
 * Those Wacky Nazis
 * Tap On the Head: Bart to Taggart with a shovel after being left to die in quicksand.

- "Send wire, head office, tell them I said 'OW!' Gotcha!"

"Olson Johnson: Now who can argue with that?"
 * Title Theme Tune: Frankie Laine, who sings the film's opening song, was told the film was "a Western dealing with racism"; nobody told him the film was a comedy. After he gave an amazing performance, Mel Brooks couldn't bring himself to tell the truth.
 * Brooks had set out to get the theme performed by "a Frankie Laine type", thinking he couldn't afford the real thing. Thank goodness he was mistaken!
 * Trash the Set: At the very end of the movie, the cast trashes the fake Rock Ridge, the set of a musical, and the Warner Bros commissary. And a tour group.
 * Which walks out of the cafeteria as if nothing had happened, despite the pie stains.
 * The Trope Kid: The Waco Kid
 * Uncle Tomfoolery: Inverted, as the black Sheriff Bart has a white sidekick, the Waco Kid.
 * The Unintelligible: Gabby Johnson and his "authentic frontier gibberish."

""Now, go do that voodoo that you do so well!""
 * "Rerrit!"
 * Untrusting Community: The town of Rock Ridge vs. Sheriff Bart.
 * The Von Trope Family: Lili Von Shtupp
 * Waxing Lyrical: Before firing the starting pistol for the attack Rock Ridge, Hedley motivates his army thus:

"Man: Well, that's the end of this suit..."
 * What a Drag: An unfortunate man during the first attack on the town.


 * What Could Have Been: Brooks wanted John Wayne for the role of Jim. Wayne rejected his offer because the script clashed with his family friendly screen persona, but he also found it to be hilarious and told Brooks he'd be "first in line" to see the movie.
 * Had Richard Pryor (who contributed to the script) not been coked out of his mind, he would have played Bart, as well as being a more reliable actor (Mel Brooks was told that Richard Pryor is unreliable and he found this out when he called one day that writing was supposed to get done saying that he was with a couple of girls in New Jersey) launching his frequent film partnership with Gene Wilder a couple years before Silver Streak.
 * While Wilder himself was a last-minute replacement for Gig Young, who turned up on the set too inebriated to act.
 * He was also a replacement for Dan Dailey who was originally considered for the role of the Waco Kid but poor health and declining eyesight forced him to decline, as well as a Hawaiian actor who got cold feet.
 * Where Da White Women At: Trope Namer, but the film doesn't use the trope itself. The line is used to distract some Klansmen.
 * Who's on First: "Meeting is adjourned. It is? No, you say that, Governor. What?" [repeat]
 * The Wild West: The movie parodies just about every known Western trope in one way or another.
 * Yiddish As a Second Language: Mel Brooks as the Indian chief.

That's Hedley!