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SUNDAY

“I think Mel probably suffered more than anyone else in the making of that movie….At the end of the day, his face would turn gray from fatigue,” said Sidney Glazier, producer of Mel Brooks’ debut film, The Producers—not a commercial success. In his book When the Shooting Stops…the Cutting Begins, Ralph Rosenblum, that film’s editor, paints an unflattering portrait of an unsteady neophyte director insulting and “battering” cast and crew. If the pressure Brooks felt then caused such angst, imagine what filming Blazing Saddles was like. In between, Brooks had TV success with Get Smart, but if the outré Western didn’t turn out to be a hit, it was likely he wouldn’t get another chance to direct a film. Perhaps, then, it was desperation that led to the flick’s anything-goes energy. In any case, it was a hit: An outrage 30 years ago, Saddles remains the standard broad comedies are measured against—and usually fall short of. Eat some beans and see it with friends at 9 p.m. at the Hoff Theater, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Adelphi Road, College Park. Free. (301) 314-4633. (Dave Nuttycombe)