Bart (Cleavon Little)’s Timeline and Summary
- We first meet Bart while he's working on the railroad with his friends. All of the workers are black and the bosses are white, but Bart has a clever way of tricking the white people into doing what he wants.
- After nearly dying in quicksand, Bart gets tired of being bossed around and hits his white boss (Taggart) over the head with a shovel.
- Next thing we know, Bart is going to be hanged for knocking out Taggart. But at the last second, Hedley Lamarr calls Bart into his office and offers him the chance to become sheriff of the town of Rock Ridge. Bart knows that he'll be killed by the townsfolk, but it's better than the sure death of hanging he's about to face.
- Bart rolls into Rock Ridge, and sure enough, the people there want to kill him. But he gets himself out of the jam by putting a gun to his head and taking himself hostage. And yes, the people of Rock Ridge aren't that bright.
- As Bart settles into his new job, he meets a drunk named Jim who was once known as The Waco Kid. As Bart finds out, Jim still has the fastest hands of anyone he's ever seen. It's clear after a while that the people of Rock Ridge won't accept Bart. But they come crawling back once a monster named Mongo comes to town. Now all of a sudden, they need Bart's help.
- Bart takes out Mongo with an exploding box of candy. All of a sudden, the people of Rock Ridge are more than willing to tolerate him.
- One night, Bart heads to see a singer named Lili Von Shtupp. He doesn't realize that Hedley Lamarr has sent Lili to seduce and destroy him. But it doesn't matter. Bart is so suave (and good in bed) that Lili is the one who ends up being charmed. But even as she begs him to stay, he says he needs to get back to work.
- Finally, Bart learns that Hedley Lamarr has been trying to drive people out of Rock Ridge in order to build a railroad. He also learns that Hedley is recruiting a huge army of outlaws to destroy the town.
- Bart gets the people of Rock Ridge and some railroad workers together and tells them to build an exact replica of the town of Rock Ridge. The ruse totally works and Hedley's army ends up attacking the wrong town. Bart detonates some explosives and moves in with his friends to finish off Hedley's men.
- The fight with Hedley's men quickly gets out of control as the battle busts out of the Warner Brothers soundstage and creates a commotion throughout the streets of Hollywood.
- Bart ends up chasing Hedley Lamarr to a movie theatre (where Blazing Saddles happens to be playing) and shoots Hedley in the groin.
- In the movie's final scene, Bart gets together with the people of Rock Ridge and informs them that he's leaving town. He rides off into the sunset with his buddy Jim, but it's only a mile outside town that they get off their horses and jump into a limousine.