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The Producers (1968)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
10 November 1968 (USA) moreTagline:
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 synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(22 articles)
Larry David Plans Fictional Seinfeld Reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7 (From FilmJunk. 31 July 2009, 9:13 AM, PDT)
Young Mel-enstein: How Brooks Broke Into Show Biz
(From The Wrap. 21 July 2009, 12:51 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Mel Brooks' amazingly hilarious debut as a director more (209 total)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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
88 minCountry:
USAColor:
Color (Pathécolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
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:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
The reason the film got released at all was due to the intervention of Peter Sellers. After Brooks completed the picture, he was told by Executive Producer Joseph E. Levine that the film, which was then called "Springtime for Hitler", would not be released; Levine thought it was in poor taste and not very funny. While Sellers was in Hollywood making I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), he liked to have films screened for his friends and himself for entertainment. One night this film was screened and Sellers loved it. When he heard it would not be released he began calling Levine and eventually convinced him to release it, the only compromise being that the title of the film be changed to "The Producers". moreGoofs:
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. moreSoundtrack:
Flying Down To Rio moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (209 total)
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This Mel Brooks' directorial debut is still after ten movies he directed afterwards one of his very greatest, cleverest and wittiest comedies ever. It's a masterpiece and perhaps the funniest film of the late 60's. Merely the basic idea of "The Producers" is already hilarious enough. Theatrical producer Max Bialystock (played irresistibly by splendid Zero Mostel) finds out that with a bit of dishonesty the producer could actually make more money with a flop than he could with a hit. In order to make this scheme reality he teams up with his new friend Leo Bloom (always terrific Gene Wilder) and starts to look for the worst play ever written.
They end up choosing a play called "Springtime for Hitler" - highly questionable musical written by a fanatic Nazi jerk Franz Liebkind, a lunatic German nutcase who never seems to take off his helmet. Of course they also hire the worst and the most ungifted man they can find to direct the play, quite a personality Roger De Bris - a bloke who just seems to like wearing dresses. Naturally they find an old hippie Lorenzo Saint Dubois (or just LSD to friends) to play the part of Adolf Hitler. They are ready to vouch for the fact that the play is going to be as catastrophical as it possible can be. If all this sounds funny that's because it simply is so damn funny, in many scenes even hysterically funny.
Finally the play "Springtime for Hitler" starts out with a shocking song and the dubious lyrics contains parts like "Springtime for Hitler and Germany, Winter for Poland and France" and "Bombs falling from the skies again, Deutschland is on the rise again". I have to give you a serious warning. Want it or not, this foolish little song is annoyingly catchy so the possibility that it will stick in your head and you still hum or sing it few days later is always there and you can imagine where it could lead. Script is so ingenious it's basically a work of art and acting is widely spectacular. Zero Mostel is marvelous and master comedian Gene Wilder's performance once again extremely convincing ("I don't like people touching my blue blanket").
Kenneth Mars was an exquisite choice to play the part of the Nazi jackass Liebkind and Christopher Hewett handles the role of the director Roger De Bris enjoyably ("That whole third act just got to go. They're losing the war...it's too depressing!"). Dick Shawn is also superb in the role of LSD, one the best moments of the film was when he performed the unexpectedly humorous song "Love power" (great parody of a typical hippie, especially considering that "The Producers" was released in 1968). Overall "The Producers" is a magnificent comedy, a masterpiece that just gets better every time you watch it. At least I can't help of loving a movie that makes the Nazis look ridiculous.