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The Producers
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The Producers (1968) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   17,667 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 33% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Mel Brooks
Writer:
Mel Brooks (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Producers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 November 1968 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Hollywood Tales: Paramount Movie Creation Meeting
 (From SoundOnSight. 6 July 2009, 9:51 PM, PDT)

Mel Brooks To Be Honored By Academy On July 24
 (From iCelebz. 2 July 2009, 6:45 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
An amusing gem that works despite not being hilarious more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Springtime for Hitler (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | German
Color:
Color (Pathécolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Bialystock refers to Bloom as "Prince Mishkin" at the beginning. Prince Mishkin is the title character of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot", implying that Bloom is an idiot. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During the scene when Max and Leo are trying to talk Roger De Bris into directing "Spring Time for Hitler," Roger's personal assistant, Carmen Ghia places a wig on Roger's head to complete his costume for the choreographer's ball. As the scene cuts back and forth from wide shots to close ups of Roger while he is speaking, the bangs of his wig alternate between being off and on his forehead. more
Quotes:
Hold me, Touch me: Hold me! Touch me!
Max Bialystock: [pulling her into his office] Not in the hall!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Wordplay (2006) more
Soundtrack:
SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
31 out of 55 people found the following comment useful:-
An amusing gem that works despite not being hilarious, 11 January 2005
8/10
Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England

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.

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