Mel Brooks Quotes

“My work in City Heat (1984) was still getting mentions in the trades, and I’d just wrapped Cobra (1986) – another project where I was principally responsible for the film’s moody and stylish palate, lots of shadows and contrast; So when I started Spaceballs (1987) Mel Brooks said to me, “Look, sonny, I don’t want any of this artistic bullshit, and I want none of that dark crap. I paid for those walls back there so I want to see those walls on the screen! Blast the light on ’em!” That’s why Spaceballs looks like a TV pilot, there’s a lot of light. In fact, I probably ­over-lit the film, but that’s the way the studios liked it at that time and it’s also the way Mel wanted it so that’s what I gave them. But if I was to do it again, I would push for something more nuanced and use some effects in there to give it a bit more character.”
― Nick McLean, Nick McLean Behind the Camera: The Life and Works of a Hollywood Cinematographer

“Mel Brooks never even acknowledged my father during Blazing Saddles (1974) initial theatrical run; It wasn’t until the 1978 re-release, the West Coast Writers’ Guild ordered Warner Brothers to re-print the film with Richard Pryor’s name amended to the opening credits sequence (and marketing materials); After Brooks “accidentally” omitted his “Screenplay by” credit. Whenever Brooks was asked about my dad’s potential lead role in the film, the actor/director would insist he really wanted Richard Pryor in the picture but the studio forbade him. But my father still had a record contract with Warner Brothers and his comedy albums were still making money for them, that’s why they reached out to him, letting him know that decision wasn’t theirs. Blazing Saddles was actually the last picture, in a three-picture deal, Brooks had with the studio and he desperately needed it to be a box-office hit (after his first two pictures were financial losers), moreover, he believed Blazing Saddles needed to be an original “Mel Brooks” comedic hit. It was the first real showbiz betrayal my father endured while in the entertainment industry, some colleagues and close friends believed it was actually the worst, and he never really got over it.”
― Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me