While taking a break from producing the upcoming Spaceballs sequel that somehow exists, this past weekend Mel Brooks presented a special screening of Blazing Saddles in L.A. to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary. Which might be the best possible way to view Blazing Saddles, other than on horseback in 1974.

Brooks was, according to IndieWire, full of great stories about the making of the film, as one would expect. For example, he described how the head of Warner Bros. once had him dragged by the nape of the neck into an office, at which point he was thrown a legal pad and a Sharpie and told, “Write: No hitting an old lady — out. No hitting a horse — out. No farting — out.”

So Brooks promptly “crumpled up his notes” and “threw (them) in the waste basket,” reasoning, “Why listen to anything? I would’ve had an 11-minute movie.”

He also...