The Producers (dir. Mel Brooks)
Runtime: 88 minutes
Led by a manic Zero Mostel, and a hysterical Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks’ early masterpiece, The Producers, is one of the funniest movies you’ll ever see. Maybe it’s because of the way Mostel overacts every time he’s on camera, or because of Wilder’s panicked facial expressions whenever the idea of committing a crime comes up that makes us fall in love with such greedy characters. Whatever it is, it’s impossible to not love this zany duo, and as a result, we buy in to what they’re doing and happily go along with them.
The movie follows Max Bialystock (Mostel), a failing Broadway producer, and Leo Bloom (Wilder), his dweeb accountant, as they find a way to cheat the showbiz industry. Bialystock raises money for his productions by dipping into “little old lady-land” and seducing checks out of lonely old women. Bloom is sent to do his books, and, after finding out that Bialystock raised more money than he lost on his last dud, hypothesizes that they could make a lot more money from flops than successes because “the IRS isn’t interested in flops.”
This leads to their discovery of a musical written by neo-Nazi Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars) named Springtime for Hitler, an homage to the fascist dictator with high glamor dance lines of spoofed-up SS girls and lyrics like, “Don’t be stupid, be a smarty! Come and join the Nazi Party!” The horrified looks on the audience’s faces make up some of the best moments in the film; “Well, talk about bad taste,” one woman says as she walks out of the theater, causing Max and Leo to immediately shake hands.
A remake was released in 2005 starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and never has the phrase “stick to the original” been more applicable.
Quote to remember: “I want everything I’ve ever seen in the movies!” – Leo
Published: Jan 29, 2017 01:00 pm