Amazon.com essential video: Mel Brooks's directorial debut remains both a career high point and a classic show business farce. Hinging on a crafty plot premise, which in turn unleashes a joyously insane onstage spoof, The Producers is powered by a clutch of over-the-top performances, capped by the odd couple pairing of the late Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, making his screen debut.
Mostel is Max Bialystock, a gone-to-seed Broadway producer who spends his days wheedling checks from his 'investors,' elderly women for whom Bialystock is only too willing to provide company. When wide-eyed auditor Leo Bloom (Wilder) comes to check the books, he unwittingly inspires the wild-eyed Max to hatch a sure-fire plan: sell 25,000 percent of his next show, produce a deliberate flop, then abscond with the proceeds. Unfortunately for the producers (but fortunately for us), their candidate for failure is Springtime for Hitler, a Brooksian conceit that envisions what Goebbels might have accomplished with a little help from Busby Berkeley.
Truly startling during its original 1968 release, The Producers does show signs of age in some peripheral scenes that make merry at the expense of gays and women. But the show's nifty cast (notably including the late Dick Shawn as LSD, the space cadet that snags the musical's title role, and Kenneth Mars as the helmeted playwright) clicks throughout, and the sight of Mostel fleecing his marks is irresistibly funny. Add Wilder's literally hysterical Bloom, and it's easy to understand the film's exalted status among late-'60s comedies. --Sam Sutherland
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Rating: - Mel Brooks first movie is a delightful 1960's Romp
Newcomer Gene Wilder in his first hit movie plays the foil (fool?) to Zero Mostel's cagey, corrupt and over-the-hill broadway producer.
For fans of Mel Brooks you see the first glimpses of his movie madness and genius. Brooks pens some of the most absurd and hilarious songs ever written, and directs over the tops performances by each and every cast member.
Some might say the movie is perhaps a bit "dated" for younger audiences, but that didn't seem to deter laughs from the teens and youngsters at my viewing. I guess zany comedies reach across the generations.
Rating: - A must-have for your video library
"The Producers", the original, is a must-have for your video library! Classic performances by Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel and Dick Shaun make this film, which enjoyed a sort of cult classic following until they made it into a Broadway musical, a completely satisfying experience for the viewer interested in laughing, thinking and singing along. When I first saw the film back in the late '70s, I was struck dumb by the musical within the story, until I realized what irony was, that is. Mel Brookes at his very best, working with the very best, nurturing the very best. The stereotypes, the caricatures, and the very real situations presented will leave a lifelong impression on you. Everytime you hear the term "concierge", for instance, you will immediately start the routine, "I'm the concierge. My husband used to be the concierge but he's dead, so now I'm the concierge..." It's been 20 years since I've seen that scene, ... Read More
Rating: - Shelf life wasn't all that.
I bought this to share with my adult children. My memory of the film, which I saw first run back when it was newly released, was far better than the actual movie seemed this time around.
Funny how tastes change.
Still, the last bit of the film and the Broadway play that results from the film's set up, is pretty funny.
Rating: - First Class Comedy
This is Mel Brooks debut film as a director, and its amongst his very best work. Of his other films only Young Frankenstein is in the class IMO. From its marvellous opening credit sequence right through to the end this maintains a very high standard of comedy. Fortunately for Mel Brooks he was lucky enough to get Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the two leading roles. They both give outstanding performances which are very nearly matched by Kenneth Mars. He plays 'Franz Liebkind' the writer of a musical that both Max and Leo (Mostel and Wilder) believe will fail horribly and make them a fortune. Of course not everything goes quite to plan and the rest you should see for yourself.
The extras in this two disc edition are very good. The original statement from Peter Sellers after he first saw The Producers is read. Sellers described it as "the ultimate film....". Later Sellers used a large chunk of Liebkinds ... Read More
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- Mel Brooks first movie is a delightful 1960's Romp
- Shelf life wasn't all that.
- First Class Comedy
