As Mel Brooks marked his 100th birthday on Sunday 28 June, the American Film Institute (AFI) honoured him by changing its 100 Years… 100 Laughs list.
The list was unveiled by the AFI on 13 June 2000, to denote the 100 funniest American movies of all time. At the time, Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot was at the top of the list.
However, the AFI noted that Brooks has “long kvetched that his film,” 1974’s Blazing Saddles, “is far funnier than Some Like It Hot.” Therefore, the AFI has now updated the list, moving Blazing Saddles from sixth place to first.
Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO said in a statement: “He’s right! We’re happy to right this wrong as Mel celebrates his centennial. It’s good to be the king, and may he live to be a 2,000 year old man. Happy birthday, Mel!”
Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles. Warner Bros./Courtesy of Getty Images
Brooks now has three films in the top 15 on the list, including The Producers, which comes in at number 11, and Young Frankenstein, which is at number 13.
Along with Blazing Saddles at number one and Some Like It Hot at number two, the rest of the top 10 includes Tootsie, Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Annie Hall, Duck Soup, MASH, It Happened One Night, The Graduate and Airplane!.
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Starring Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder and Brooks himself, Blazing Saddles is a comedy western set in a small town called Ridge Rock, which a developer wants to destroy to make way for a railway.
He appoints an African-American sheriff to the town, thinking that the white townspeople will revolt, but the sheriff and his deputy prove themselves to be formidable opponent to his villainous plans.
Brooks is set to appear in the long-awaited sequel to his film Spaceballs, titled Spaceballs: The New One, which has been co-written by Josh Gad and is scheduled for release in April 2027.
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