Mel Brooks names the three greatest comedy movies of all time: “Diamonds are forever”
Since one person’s unfunny trash can often be another’s side-splitting treasure, there’s no definitive answer to the age-old question of which movies can inarguably be called cinema’s greatest-ever comedies. However, as one of cinema’s greatest-ever comedians, Mel Brooks has more skin in the game than most.
Who better to pass judgment on Hollywood’s ultimate rib-ticklers than an Academy Award, four-time Primetime Emmy, three-time Grammy, and three-time Tony-winning actor, writer, director, and producer who became only the eighth person in history, and first comedian, to claim the coveted EGOT?
There aren’t many, and there arguably isn’t anyone still alive and kicking more qualified, although there is some ego massaging involved. Brooks has earned that right, though, based entirely on the sizeable imprint and massive impact he’s made on the medium, one that continues to exert its influence to this day.
With seven decades under his belt, he knows a thing or two about what makes an audience tick, having weathered several storms against unimpressed studio executives and affronted viewers to deliver a cadre of stone-cold classics. This being Brooks, nobody should be too shocked to discover that when casting his eye over big-screen comedy’s three most timeless titles, one of them was his.
That said, there’s nothing egomaniacal about it. No discussion about naming the industry’s pre-eminent laugh-a-minute riots is complete without mentioning Blazing Saddles, and even if Brooks is biased because he made it, that doesn’t disqualify it from being part of the conversation, which it deserves to be.
He’s gone on record multiple times to explain why his 1974 caper is the single funniest motion picture to ever exist, and when reflecting on its ongoing merits in a conversation with Rolling Stone, he elaborated to add another two titles he’s confident will stand the test of time, endure, and remain forever undimmed as shining lights of comedic excellence.
“It still gets huge laughs when we show it,” he offered. “And it’s not like racial strife and prejudice has gone away, clearly. All that shit is still there. But some movies are diamonds, and a wise man once said, diamonds are forever.” Blazing Saddles is obviously one of them, but what are the others?
“Chaplin’s City Lights still holds up, and it’s, what, over 80 years old,” he declared. “Sullivan’s Travels, same thing; it was made in the ’40s, and it’s just timeless.” Chaplin’s masterpiece and Preston Sturges’ industry satire are indeed a pair of unequivocal masterworks from two titans of old Hollywood, but as far as Brooks is concerned, the best they can hope for is battling for second and third place.
“I really believe that it’s the funniest movie ever made,” he added, returning his attention to Blazing Saddles. “Sometimes you get lucky.” You don’t have to agree, and of course, Brooks is more inclined to pick himself over anyone or anything else, but that doesn’t mean that he’s talking nonsense.
