Description: A 'startling, stunning, outrageous [and] breathtaking debut' (Los Angeles Times) from acclaimed writer/director Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs), this Oscar®-winning* comedy combines 'pure pell-Mel lunacy [and] wild, ad-lib energy [into an] uproariously funny' (Time) film! Low-rent Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) and his high-strung accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), discover that, with the help of a few gullible investors, they can make more money on a flop than on a hit! Armed with the worst show ever written ('Springtime for Hitler') and an equally horrific cast, this double-dealing duo is banking on disaster. But when their sure-to-offend musical becomes a surprise smash hit, they find themselves in the middleof a Broadway blitzkrieg! *1968: Original Screenplay
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: - A Comedy Classic!
Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are magic in this movie about two producers (one a has-been, the other a wannabe) who decide to put on the worst possible Broadway show as part of a scam to make a small fortune. The characters are great in this movie and some of the scenes (such as the casting call) are unforgettable. And when it comes to the Broadway show itself ("Springtime for Hitler") it becomes absolutely hilarious.
This is one of those "must-see" movies. If you haven't seen it already do yourself a favor and get it.
Rating: - "Drenched with historical goodies..."
Mel Brooks takes aim and strikes a blow against both Hitler and accursed political correctness with the most frenetically paced and screamingly funny film of all time!
Zero Mostel's performance as the producer crazily desperate to make it to the top is the perfect counterpoint to Gene Wilder's quiet hysteria. To watch them together is almost unbearably funny.
Own it and watch Springtime for Hitler over and over again.
Rating: - Very borring movie - not what I expected to see
I was expected to see a musical and comedy but what a dissapointment I had when I watched it. It is not a musical at all. The movie has great actors but the story was too borring. I love comedy and specially musicals but this movie doesn't fall under any of these categories. I doubt I will ever watch this movie again or even recommend it to anyone regardless of their taste in movies.
Rating: - One of Mel Brooks' best films........
I haven't seen the latest version of THE PRODUCERS on Broadway, nor the film adaptation of the remake. I did see the original some fifteen years ago and it left me laughing so hard I nearly cried. This wildly absurd movie, directed by one of the great clown princes, Mr. Mel Brooks, features the comedic brilliance of the late, great Zero Mostel (best known for his role in the original Broadway production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF) and Gene Wilder. The screenplay is sharp-witted and absurd and showcases two of the most loveably devious con artist around. They are Mr. Max Bialynstock (Mostel) and Mr. Leo Bloom (Wilder). Max is a seasoned con artist who has a penchant for snagging little old ladies as investors in his doomed stage productions by trading romantic favors for monetary contributions (with the checks made out to "Cash"). When Bloom gets wind of Bialynstock's scam, he is hysterical (literally). Yet, together, ... Read More
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- A Comedy Classic!
- Very borring movie - not what I expected to see
