MovieChat Forums > Blazing Saddles (1974) Discussion > Von Shtupp's German...

Von Shtupp's German...

posted 8 years ago by facebook-336-885041
5 replies | jump to latest

... is both unintelligible and nonsensical. I get that comedies tend to exaggerate German to a funny effect (cf. The Great Dictator), but this was just unfunnily bad. The closest it came to actual German was the deleted scene where she explains the botched explosion as being caused by the cable not being attached to the detonator (and getting it at least remotely correct).

[–] facebook-336-885041 8 years ago

Another fail was the subtitles rendering Von Shtupp's "Willkommen Bienvenue Welcome" (which happens to be the opening line to "Cabaret") as "[German words] bienvenue welcome".

[–] justanicknamed 8 years ago

Who put the sticks up their butt's? That is cruel.

[–] facebook-336-885041 8 years ago

The Native Americans' Yiddish was very comprehensible, in contrast.

[–] kaneforgov 8 years ago

It's called parody. Look up the word. She was lampooning Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

It's called parody. Look up the word. She was lampooning Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again.

Exactly.

It's also not too far removed from the gibberish French, Italian and German that Sid Caesar once used (to comic effect) on "Your Show of Shows," with the occasional recognizable & genuine word tossed in. Since Mel Brooks wrote for that show, it's not surprising he opted for a similar approach on "Blazing Saddles."