The Producers (1968)

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writer:

Mel Brooks (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour!

Plot:

Producers Max Bialystock (Mostel) and Leo Bloom (Wilder) make money by producing a sure-fire flop.

Plot Keywords:

Hitler | Theatrical Producer | Accountant | Empire State Building New York City | Hot Dog Stand

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Zero Mostel	...	Max Bialystock (as Zero)
Gene Wilder	...	Leo Bloom
Dick Shawn	...	'L.S.D.' - Lorenzo St. DuBois
Kenneth Mars	...	Franz Liebkind
Lee Meredith	...	Ulla
Christopher Hewett	...	Roger De Bris
Andréas Voutsinas	...	Carmen Ghia (as Andreas Voutsinas)
Estelle Winwood	...	'Hold Me Touch Me'
Renée Taylor	...	Eva Braun (as Renee Taylor)
David Patch	...	Goebbels
William Hickey	...	The Drunk (as Bill Hickey)
Barney Martin	...	Göring
Shimen Ruskin	...	The Landlord
Frank Campanella	...	The Bartender
Josip Elic	...	Violinist

Also Known As:

Springtime for Hitler (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:14A | France:U | Ireland:G | New Zealand:PG | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Broadway Theatre - 1681 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Crossbow Productions

Trivia:

Mel Brooks cannot read music. "Springtime for Hitler" and "Prisoners of Love" (as were all the songs Brooks writes for his films) were hummed into a tape recorder and transcribed by an expert.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The scam that is at the center of this story's plot wouldn't work. The idea was to create a play that would be a failure, and produce no profit, so that they could sell more than 100% stake in the profits. Profit is revenue minus expenses. The investors already paid the expenses; what they would expect in return is not a share of the profit, but of the revenue. The share of the revenue that they received, minus the share of the expenses that they paid, would amount to their share of the profit. Even if the play is unprofitable (that is, fails to bring in enough revenue to cover the expenses), if so much as one ticket is sold to that play, then there is revenue, and each investor would expect his share of that revenue.

Quotes:

Singer: Don't be stupid, be a smarty. Come and join the Nazi party.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Producers' (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Beautiful Dreamer

An amusing gem that works despite not being hilarious

I'm not a fan of Mel Brooks. At all. For a comedy director, I find him painfully unfunny and therefore very difficult to like. The Producers is often cited to be Brooks' best film, and for good reason; as it is. Although it never reaches the realms of hilarity, and quite a few of the gags aren't funny in the slightest, it's a breezy little comedy that's based around an amusing idea and is hard to dislike on the whole. The idea is that a Broadway producer can, in theory, make more money from a flop than he could from a hit. When accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) suggests that this could be the case, a plan forms in the mind of once great producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), and we're on course for an amusing ride as the two set out to find the worst play ever written (a drama called "Springtime for Hitler" eventually wins out), and pull out all the stops to ensure it's a sure-fire Broadway flop!

Through a stark colour scheme and overacting from all concerned, Mel Brooks succeeds in creating a distinct comic-book style that lends the film a very comedic, and fun, edge that few films have succeeded in capturing adequately since. The cast helps this film enormously, with everyone giving hammy performances that help in creating the film's sense of fun. Brooks regular Gene Wilder is, of course, the star of the show despite not being the absolute central character. His performance is more subdued than Mostel's, but still very over the top. The play itself features a very tasteless, yet very amusing and catchy opening song that will no doubt be swirling around your head for days afterwards. The play itself is actually the funniest thing about the film, with most of the hilarity coming from the monumental miscasting of an Elvis impersonator-esquire character calling himself 'L.S.D.' (Dick Shawn) in the role of the fuhrer himself.

Overall, this is a very fun film. The sense of fun is carried throughout, even if the jokes don't always work. I can almost guarantee a good time from watching this movie and it's one that fans of this sort of film shouldn't go without seeing.