The movie runs the full gamut from funny to hysterical.
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In 1968 when Mel Brooks made "The Producers," the film was thought outrageous and offensive by a large segment of the buttoned-down public, and, worse, it was hated by many of the critics of the day. "Dismally unfunny satire," wrote Leslie Halliwell. "Over and over again promising ideas are killed off, either by over-exposure or bad timing," said Tom Milne. "An almost flawless triumph of bad taste, unredeemed by wit or style," chimed in Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Today, over three decades later, you'll still get such responses from any number of people. You either appreciate the humor or you don't. Personally, I think the movie ranks among Brooks's three best works: "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles," and "The Producers," not necessarily in that order.
Fortunately, I'm not alone in liking the film, its present popularity together with the current success of its Broadway musical incarnation prompting MGM to create this Special Edition DVD. Well mastered widescreen and full-screen versions of the film, improved sound, a superior "making-of" documentary, and other bonus features make this disc a must-buy for every Brooks fan and any comedy lover.
Brooks had already been successful writing humor for TV's Sid Caesar, later co-creating television's "Get Smart," and co-starring with Carl Reiner in the "2000 Year Old Man" skits and recordings. But "The Producers" was his first attempt at a full-length movie, Brooks both writing and directing. We should all have such first successes.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the plot, "The Producers" is about an unscrupulous Broadway theatrical producer, Max Bialystock, dazzlingly and eccentrically played by Zero Mostel, who seduces little old ladies in order to win their backing for his failed plays. Brooks says he patterned the part after a real-life producer he once knew who did almost exactly the same thing. Mostel, so manically brilliant in the film, was unfairly neglected by Hollywood. He was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the fifties; he was passed over for the role of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof," a part he created on stage; he was hardly recognized by moviegoers when he showed up in "The Producers," despite his having starred in the Broadway production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" several years before and been in the movie, too; and until his death in 1977, he did only a few films after "The Producers," with "The Front" being his best. Such is the fickle nature of show business, I suppose.
Anyway, Max is struggling to get along as best he can when Leo Bloom shows up. Leo, a timid accountant played by Gene Wilder in his first starring role, shows Leo how he could theoretically make more money with a flop play than with a hit. Namely, you raise more money than you can use, and so long as the play is a failure you keep the surplus. Max is overjoyed with the news; Leo is petrified that he's been taken seriously. But after a little convincing, Leo goes along with Max in looking for a surefire flop they can sell 25,000 per cent in. When the play fails, they figure to leave the country with a cool million bucks.
The movie runs the full gamut from funny to hysterical. Max teaches Leo to lighten up and have a good time by conning him into doing it. Then, they try to find the worst play ever written. They settle on "Springtime for Hitler, A Gay Romp With Adolph and Eva," scripted by a onetime Nazi, present-day bird tender, and full-time nut case named Franz Liebkind, zanily performed by Kenneth Mars. "Next time I produce a play," Max tells us, "no author!"
Max launches himself into Little Old Lady Land to raise the money and then hires the worst director to helm it, Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), and the worst actor to play Hitler, Lorenzo St. DuBois or LSD (Dick Shawn). These two fit right in with the movie's other weirdo characters. De Bris is first seen wearing a dress ("Max, he's wearing a dress," announces Leo), and DuBois is an overage hippie flower child. Among other notable characters are Lee Meredith as Ulla, Max's new Swedish secretary who can't speak a word of English but has great curves ("When you've got it, flaunt it," is Max's motto); Andreas Voutsinas as Carmen Ghia, De Bris's personal aide and flaming roommate; Estelle Winwood as "Hold Me Touch Me," one of the little old ladies Max cons; Renee Taylor as Eva Braun; David Patch as Goebbels; and Bill Hickey as a drunk in a bar.
As colorful and fun as the cast is, it's the play-within-the-play that pushes the movie into genius, a musical so bad it's hilarious, just as its audiences discover, much to Max and Leo's dismay. "I was so careful," says a distraught Max. "I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?"
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