From Outer Space To The Old West, These Are Mel Brooks' Best Films

Few filmmakers have had as illustrious of a career as Mel Brooks, whose work on film, TV, and [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Few filmmakers have had as illustrious of a career as Mel Brooks, whose work on film, TV, and theater have set the standard on walking the line between razor-sharp satire and silly slapstick. Throughout his career, he's mocked religion, politics, art, and virtually every topic other filmmakers have been too scared to tackle.

In honor of Blazing Saddles having opened on this day in 1974, we're going to take a look back at the films that Brooks has directed to pick our favorites. Between writing, producing, directing, and creating, the filmmaker has hundreds of credits to his name, so we're going to be focusing just on the movies he directed, all of which he also wrote.

What's your favorite Mel Brooks movie? Let us know in the comments!

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The Producers (1967)

The very first film that Brooks directed was so successful that it inspired multiple theatrical productions and even a remake. The Producers tells the story of a theatrical producer and his accountant realizing that they'd have more financial success creating a guaranteed flop than they would creating a hit, so they put on the play "Springtime for Hitler." The film eloquently pokes fun at racism, intolerance, World War II, and the theater industry in a way that only Brooks could, with themes that are just as relevant today as they were in 1967.

[H/T YouTube, Shout! Factory]

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Blazing Saddles (1974)

Blazing Saddles wasn't the first Western to poke fun of tropes of the genre, but few others have included commentary on racism in the way the film had by then or have made in the decades since. Following similar themes to The Producers and trying to make things intentionally bad for characters, a governor (Mel Brooks) hopes to ruin a town by appointing a black sheriff (Cleavon Little). The sheriff teams up with Jim (Gene Wilder) to set the town straight, giving us one of the best comedic duos in film history.

[H/T YouTube, Movieclips Trailer Vault]

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Young Frankenstein (1974)

It might seem unbelievable, but in the same year that Brooks gave audiences Blazing Saddles, he also gave audiences Young Frankenstein, the ultimate send-up of Universal monster movies. The film teamed up Brooks with Gene Wilder once again, who played the descendant of a mad scientist who wants to prove he's not the same mad scientist that his ancestor was. Creating another incredible duo in Wilder and Peter Boyle as "The Monster," the film both lovingly pays homage to classic black and white horror movies while also mocking their classic tropes, setting the standard for the horror parody.

[H/T YouTube, wichitaorpheum]

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History of the World: Part I (1981)

As if Brooks hadn't already cemented his status as the ultimate satirist throughout his films, the filmmaker turned his attention to the history of humanity with a series of vignettes covering the course of human history, dating back to the old testament to the French Revolution. History of the World: Part I showcases Brooks' diversity as a performer and writer, managing to ridicule and offend many different groups of people while making them all laugh maniacally.

[H/T YouTube, Movie Trailers Ninja]

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Spaceballs (1987)

Brooks' previous film mocked all of human history, while Spaceballs chose to mock a relatively specific slice of pop culture, a trend his career would explore in following films. The film might not have been as politically heated as his previous films, there are some incredible jokes in the film and successfully parodied one of the most iconic stories in all of pop culture exquisitely, while also giving audiences great characters that can be appreciated on their own merits without a passing knowledge of Star Wars.

[H/T YouTube, Forever Cinematic Trailers]

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