The Producers (1967 Film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Producers'' is a 1967 American
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
film written and directed by
Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
, and starring Zero Mostel,
Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...
, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars. The film is about a mild-mannered accountant and a con artist theater producer who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
designed to fail. To this end, they find a playscript celebrating
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and the Nazis and bring it to the stage. Because of this theme, ''The Producers'' was controversial from the start and received mixed reviews. It became a
cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...
, and found a more positive critical reception later. ''The Producers'' was Brooks's directorial debut. For the film, he won an
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and placed eleventh on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list. It was later adapted by Brooks and Thomas Meehan as a
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
, which itself was adapted into a
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
.


Plot

Max Bialystock is an aging Broadway producer whose career has veered from great success to the depths of near failure. He now ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence while romancing lascivious, wealthy elderly women in exchange for money for a "next play" that may never be produced. Leopold "Leo" Bloom, a nervous young accountant prone to hysterics, arrives at Max's office to audit his accounts and discovers a $2,000 discrepancy in the accounts of Max's last play. Max persuades Leo to hide the fraud, and Leo realizes that, since a flop is expected to lose money, the
IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
will not investigate its finances, so a producer could earn more from a flop than from a hit by overselling interests and embezzling the funds. Wishing to put this scheme into action and flee to
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
with the profits, Max convinces Leo to join him, treating him to lunch and a day out and saying that his drab life is little different to prison anyway. The partners find the ideal play for their scheme: '' Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden'': a "love letter to Hitler" written by deranged ex-
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
soldier Franz Liebkind. Leo and Max bond with Franz over Schnapps and tell him they want to show the world a positive representation of Hitler. Now with the stage rights, Max sells 25,000% of the play to investors, using some of the money to redecorate the office and hire a new receptionist, Ulla. To guarantee the show's failure, they hire Roger De Bris, a flamboyantly gay transvestite director, whose productions seldom make it past initial rehearsals. The part of Hitler goes to a
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
named Lorenzo Saint DuBois, also known, in a reference to the
counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
, as L. S. D., who wanders into the theater during the casting call. At the theater on opening night, Max tries to ensure a harshly negative review by attempting to bribe ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' theatre critic. The play opens with a lavish production of the title song, " Springtime for Hitler", which celebrates
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's conquering Europe ("Springtime for Hitler and Germany/Winter for
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
"). L. S. D. then comes on stage as Hitler, and his beatnik-like portrayal makes the audience think the show is a
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
. To Leo and Max's horror, ''Springtime for Hitler'' is a hit, so their investors will be expecting a larger financial return than can be paid out. Back at their office, as Leo and Max are fighting after the former attempts to turn himself in to get a plea bargain, a gun-wielding Franz confronts them. He tries first to shoot them, and then himself, but runs out of bullets. The three then decide to blow up the theater to end the production, but they are caught in the explosion and arrested. At the trial, where they are found "incredibly guilty" by the jury, Leo makes an impassioned statement praising Max for being his friend and changing his life. Leo, Max, and Franz are sent to the state penitentiary, where they produce a new musical called ''Prisoners of Love''. While Max and Franz supervise rehearsals, Leo oversells shares of the play to their fellow prisoners and the warden.


Cast

* Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock *
Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...
as Leopold "Leo" Bloom * Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.) * Estelle Winwood as "Hold Me! Touch Me!" * Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris * Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind * Lee Meredith as Ulla * Renée Taylor as actress playing Eva Braun * Andreas Voutsinas as Carmen Ghia * William Hickey as the drunk in bar (credited as Bill Hickey) * David Patch as actor playing Joseph Goebbels * Barney Martin as actor playing
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
* Madelyn Cates as Concierge ("I'm not a madam!") * Shimen Ruskin as The Landlord * Frank Campanella as The Bartender * Josip Elic as Violinist * John Zoller as Drama Critic * Brutus Peck as Hot Dog Vendor * Arthur Rubin, Zale Kessler, Bernie Allen, Rusty Blitz and Tony Gardell as Auditioning Hitlers (uncredited) * Michael Davis as Lead Stormtrooper/Production Tenor (uncredited) * David Evans and Tucker Smith as Lead Dancers (uncredited) * Bill Macy as Foreman of the jury (uncredited) *
Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
as Singer in " Springtime for Hitler" (voiceover cameo, uncredited) The Ladies * Anne Ives * Amelie Barleon * Elsie Kirk * Nell Harrison * Mary Love


Production


Early publicity

A substantive early ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' account of the property's genesis dates to December 1961: "Edward Padula has acquired a new comedy by Mel Brooks tentatively called 'Springtime for Hitler'. The producer said yesterday that actually 'Hitler is not in the comedy.' 'It's a sort of play-within-a-play. The setting is contemporary England.' Kenneth Williams, rated by Mr. Padula as 'England's new comic discovery' is under consideration for the leading role....Work on the new Brooks comedy will start immediately after the local presentation of 'All American'."


Writing and development

The title ''Springtime for Hitler'' was first coined by Brooks as a joke during the press conference for '' All American'' in 1962. Shortly afterwards, he also decided to relate this title to a character named Leo Bloom, an homage to Leopold Bloom, protagonist of
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's '' Ulysses.'' It was reused by him years later once he had an idea about "two schnooks on Broadway who set out to produce a flop and swindle the backers". The inspiration was some people Brooks met during his early show business days: Benjamin Kutcher, a New York producer who financed his plays by sleeping with elderly women, became the basis for Max Bialystock, and the scheme had origins in two theater producers who had a lavish lifestyle while making various unsuccessful plays. In her 1943 novel '' The Fountainhead'',
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...
in fact anticipates Mel Brooks's premise by having a consortium of unscrupulous businessmen sell 200 percent of a planned vacation resort which they intend to be a disaster, to that end hiring the controversial modernist architect Howard Roark, but his buildings are a great success, and the backers are prosecuted. When imagining what play "would have people packing up and leaving the theatre even before the first act is over", Brooks decided to combine Adolf Hitler and a musical. Brooks, in a 2001 episode of ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'', stated that, while serving in the army, he was called "Jew boy", and he lightheartedly admitted that he made ''The Producers'' to "get even" with antisemites, particularly
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. In another interview, he further explained his reasoning, stating, Brooks first envisioned his story as a novel, and changed it to a play when publishers told him it had "too much dialogue. Not enough narrative". He wrote the script in nine months, with the help of secretary Alfa-Betty Olsen. During the process, he mentioned in an October 1966 interview with ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' that he was working on ''Springtime for Hitler,'' "a play within a play, or a play within a film – I haven't decided yet". Then, it evolved into a screenplay to take advantage of various settings, as "it could go places, it wouldn't have to stay in the office". As Brooks sought backers for his 30-page film treatment, both major film studios and independent filmmakers rejected ''Springtime for Hitler,'' finding the idea of using Hitler for comedy outrageous and tasteless (with some even stating that they would consider the script if Brooks changed it to ''Springtime for Mussolini''). This changed as Brooks's agent arranged for him to have a meeting with a friend of his, New York producer Sidney Glazier. Glazier laughed so much at Brooks's performance of the script, he accepted the project by saying, "We're gonna make it! I don't know how, but we're gonna make this movie!" Glazier budgeted the film at $1 million, and sought financiers. Half the money came from philanthropist Louis Wolfson, who liked the idea of laughing at a dictator, and the remainder, along with the distribution, was arranged by Joseph E. Levine of Embassy Pictures. Levine's only condition was to change the title, as he felt many distributors would not carry a picture named ''Springtime for Hitler.'' Brooks renamed it ''The Producers,'' considering it ironic as "these guys are anything but producers". As Brooks "couldn't think of anybody to direct it", eventually he decided to take the task for himself, even though he himself had only directed one play before. While Levine was insecure in having an inexperienced director, Brooks convinced him by saying it would be cost-effective, and he knew how to do physical comedy after being a stage manager in '' Your Show of Shows.''


Casting

Brooks wanted Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock, feeling he was an energetic actor who could convey such an egotistical character. Glazier sent the script to Mostel's lawyer, but the attorney hated it and never showed it to the actor. Eventually, Brooks had to send the script through Mostel's wife Kathryn Harkin. While Mostel did not like the prospect of playing "a Jewish producer going to bed with old women on the brink of the grave", his wife liked the script so much, she eventually convinced him to accept the role.
Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...
met Brooks in 1963, as Wilder performed with Brooks's then-girlfriend Anne Bancroft in a stage adaptation of '' Mother Courage.'' Wilder complained that the audience was laughing at his serious performance, and Brooks replied that Wilder was "a natural comic, you look like Harpo Marx", and said he would cast him as Leo Bloom once he finished the then-titled ''Springtime for Hitler.'' When production arrived,
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...
accepted an invitation to play Leo Bloom, but he never contacted again, so Brooks remembered Wilder, who was about to make his film debut in '' Bonnie and Clyde.'' Wilder received the script to ''The Producers'' as Brooks visited him backstage during a performance of '' Luv'', and his co-star Renée Taylor was brought for a brief appearance as the actress playing Eva Braun.
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
was originally cast as Liebkind. According to Brooks, late on the night before shooting began, Hoffman begged Brooks to let him out of his commitment to do the role so he could audition for the starring role in ''
The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novella by Charles Webb. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddoc ...
.'' Brooks was aware of the film, which co-starred his now-wife Bancroft, and, skeptical that Hoffman would get the role, agreed to let him audition. When Hoffman did win the role of Ben Braddock, Brooks called in Kenneth Mars as Liebkind. Mars was originally invited because Brooks envisioned him as Roger De Bris, given he played a gay psychiatrist on Broadway. Instead, Mars was interested in the Liebkind role, which became his film debut. He remained in character while not filming as a strategy of
method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...
. De Bris was instead portrayed by Christopher Hewett, the first actor who read for the role. Recent
American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...
graduate Lee Meredith was invited to audition as Ulla on condition of being able to do a Swedish accent. She borrowed a book from the AADA library to learn the accent, and won the role with a screen test of the scene in which Ulla dances. Bancroft suggested her friend Andréas Voutsinas for the role of Carmen Ghia, feeling his thick Greek accent would fit. Brooks thought of Dick Shawn to play Lorenzo "L.S.D." Saint DuBois, and Shawn accepted because he liked the part and had no other work at the time. Brooks is heard briefly in the film, his voice dubbed over a dancer singing, "Don't be stupid, be a smarty / Come and join the Nazi Party", in the song " Springtime for Hitler". His version of the line is also dubbed into each performance of the musical, as well as the 2005 movie version.


Filming

Principal photography for ''The Producers'' began on May 22, 1967. Filming had to be done in 40 days on a $941,000 budget, and Brooks managed to fit both requests. The primary location was the Chelsea Studios in New York City, where the musical version (2005) was also shot. The now-demolished Playhouse Theatre hosted the ''Springtime for Hitler'' play, and various actors who heard the film was seeking an actor for Hitler were cast in the musical number. The crew tried to film on location whenever possible, filming at such midtown Manhattan locales as
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
, the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...
, and
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
. Brooks's lack of knowledge of filmmaking had him committing many mistakes during production, requiring the help of assistant director Michael Hertzberg. Being both inexperienced and insecure, Brooks started to have tantrums and behave angrily. He got impatient with the slow development compared to how quick television production was, temporarily banned Glazier from the set, berated a visiting reporter from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and had clashes with cinematographer Joseph Coffey and main actor Zero Mostel. Mostel also had a troublesome behavior caused by a leg injury received in a 1960 bus accident, which made his contract feature a clause dismissing Mostel from any work after 5:30 pm. Given the fact that the leg injury got worse in humid weather, the last scene, filmed at the Revson Fountain in Lincoln Center, had Mostel throwing a fit and giving up on production. Glazier had to leave a dentist's appointment and rush to the set where Mostel and Brooks were arguing, and once the producer managed to calm them down, the resulting scene had to be shot all night long. Despite being described as a lavish production number, " Springtime for Hitler" was not ready until the first rehearsals. Brooks sat with Olsen and first-time composer John Morris at the piano, and improvised some lyrics. Morris then developed the stage performance with choreographer Alan Johnson, instructed to do the number "big, wonderful, flashy, but terrible". As Brooks kept suggesting bizarre costume ideas to enhance the
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
nature of "Springtime for Hitler", such as women with clothes inspired by beer mugs and pretzels, Johnson decided to showcase them all in a parade. Few scenes had to be altered from the original script. Leo and Max were to visit the Parachute Jump in Coney Island, but the attraction was closed by the time filming began. Brooks filmed Liebkind making Max and Leo swear the Siegfried Oath, where they promised fealty to '' Siegfried'', accompanied by '' The Ride of the Valkyries'' and wearing horned helmets. But feeling that it "went overboard", Brooks cut the scene, which was restored in the stage adaptation. The art direction and costumes emphasized the color yellow, which Brooks considered a funny color. For the posters in Bialystock's office, production designer Charles Rosen found a collector in the Theater District and doctored a few posters to include the character's name. Rosen also incorporated an anecdote of his life, as he had to share a small elevator with a flamboyant Broadway director, to design the lift at Roger De Bris's house. Principal photography ended on July 15, 1967. Post-production extended for months, as Brooks had gotten final cut privilege, but still had complaints with Ralph Rosenblum regarding his editing.


Release

According to Brooks, after the film was completed, Embassy executives refused to release it as being in "bad taste". The film's premiere in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1967, was a disaster and the studio considered shelving it. However, relief came when '' Pink Panther'' star
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...
saw the film privately and placed an advertisement in '' Variety'' in support of the film's wide release. Sellers was familiar with the film because, according to Brooks, Sellers "had accepted the role of Bloom and then was never heard from again". The film allegedly was "banned in Germany". The film was screened in New York City in March 1968. The film's wide release took place on March 18, 1968. The title of the film for the Swedish release uses the translation of the name of the play within the story, ''Springtime for Hitler''. As a result of its success, most of Mel Brooks's subsequent films in Swedish were given similar titles, despite being otherwise unrelated: '' Springtime for Mother-In-Law'', '' Springtime for the Sheriff'', '' Springtime for Frankenstein'', '' Springtime for the Silent Movies'', '' Springtime for the Lunatics'', '' Springtime for World History'', '' Springtime for Space'', and '' Springtime for the Slum''. The practice ended by the time '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' was released, at Brooks's request.


Reception

When it was first released, the film received a mixed response and garnered some exceptionally harsh reviews, while others considered it a great success. One of the mixed reviews came from Renata Adler, who, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,'' stated: "''The Producers'', which opened yesterday at the Fine Arts Theater, is a violently mixed bag. Some of it is shoddy and gross and cruel; the rest is funny in an entirely unexpected way." About the acting, she writes that Mostel is "overacting grotesquely under the direction of Mel Brooks" and that, in the role of Max Bialystock, he is "as gross and unfunny as only an enormous comedian bearing down too hard on some frail, tasteless routines can be". Co-star Wilder fares better and is called "wonderful", thanks to doing "fine", despite being "forced to be as loud and as fast as Mostel" and " ing through long, infinitely variegated riffs and arpeggios of neuroticism", and playing his part "as though he were
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
being played by Danny Kaye". She also puts the movie into the bigger context of "contemporary" comedy and that it has the same "episodic,
revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
quality" in the way it is "not building laughter, but stringing it together skit after skit, some vile, some boffo". Her early conclusion, at the end of the first paragraph, is also a comparison to other comedic movies of the time, it reads: " 'The Producers''is less delicate than Lenny Bruce, less funny than '' Dr. Strangelove,'' but much funnier than ''
The Loved One Loved Ones, Loved One, The Loved Ones, or The Loved One may refer to: Films *The Loved One (film), ''The Loved One'' (film), a 1965 American satire based on the Evelyn Waugh novel *The Loved Ones (film), ''The Loved Ones'' (film), a 2009 Australia ...
'' or '' What's New Pussycat?''" The more critical and negative reviews partly targeted the directorial style and broad ethnic humor, but also commonly noted the bad taste and insensitivity of devising a broad comedy about two Jews conspiring to cheat theatrical investors by devising a designed-to-fail tasteless Broadway musical about
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
only 23 years after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Among the harshest critics were Stanley Kauffmann in ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
,'' who wrote that "the film bloats into sogginess" and "Springtime for Hitler ... doesn't even rise to the level of tastelessness", John Simon wrote ''The Producers'' "is a model of how not to make a comedy", and
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...
who called it "amateurishly crude" in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
:'' On the other hand, others considered the film to be a great success. ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's reviewers wrote that the film was "hilariously funny" but pointed out that "the film is burdened with the kind of plot that demands resolution" but unfortunately "ends in a whimper of sentimentality". Although they labelled it "disjointed and inconsistent", they also praised it as "a wildly funny joy ride", and concluded by saying that "despite its bad moments, tis some of the funniest American cinema comedy in years". The film industry trade paper '' Variety'' wrote, "The film is unmatched in the scenes featuring Mostel and Wilder alone together, and several episodes with other actors are truly rare." Wanda Hale of the New York '' Daily News'' gave the film a full four-star rating and wrote that "Mel Brooks is a conjurer. Nobody but a conjurer could blend insanity and subtlety and make it a howling success as he has done with point with pride and say: 'This is my picture, my first feature movie.' And the place for you to see it and almost die laughing is at the Fine Arts Theater. ..Anyone, from whose head came this fantasy with profound undertones, can be forgiven for occasional looseness in direction. But even so, Mel Brooks has done remarkably well with his first feature length film which is sheer magic." Joseph Gelmis of ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
'' called the film "a high-class low comedy about greed and vanity and the perils of trying to make it on Broadway." He also described Mostel and Wilder as "a thinking man's slapstick team which is equidistant between Laurel and Hardy and W. C. Fields and Franklin Pangborn." Over the years, the film has gained in stature. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 74 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A hilarious satire of the business side of Hollywood, ''The Producers'' is one of Mel Brooks's finest, as well as funniest films, featuring standout performances by Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film received a score of 96 based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". In his review decades later,
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
claimed, "this is one of the funniest movies ever made". Ebert wrote, "I remember finding myself in an elevator with Brooks and his wife, actress Anne Bancroft, in New York City a few months after ''The Producers'' was released. A woman got onto the elevator, recognized him and said, 'I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar.' Brooks smiled benevolently. 'Lady,' he said, 'it rose below vulgarity. The film was a sleeper hit at the U.S. box office; But Embassy Pictures deemed its initial theatrical run a flop -- considering the additional costs to market and distribute, it barely broke even at the box-office.


Accolades

In 1996, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
and selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
. The film is recognized by
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
in these lists: * 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #11 * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** " Springtime for Hitler" – #80


Re-releases and adaptations

In 2002, ''The Producers'' was re-released in three theaters by Rialto Pictures and earned $111,866 at the box office. As of 2007, the film continues to be distributed to art-film and repertory cinemas by Rialto.
Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
has adapted the story twice more, as a Broadway musical ('' The Producers,'' 2001) and a film based on the musical ('' The Producers,'' 2005). He did not direct the latter, but served as a producer. Unlike the original film, it was not commercially successful. This film has spawned several home media releases on VHS, Laserdisc, CED, and VCD from companies such as Magnetic Video, Embassy Home Entertainment, PolyGram Video, Speedy, and Lumiere Video. A 1997 letterbox edition Laserdisc was released by PolyGram Video, which served as the basis for the extremely rare 1998 PolyGram DVD release.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, which owns video rights to select Embassy Pictures titles that ended up with Nelson Entertainment and Polygram, released ''The Producers'' on Region 1 DVD in 2002 and reissued in 2005 to coincide with the remake released that year. In 2013, MGM licensed the title to Shout! Factory to release a DVD and Blu-ray combo pack with a new HD transfer and newly produced bonus materials. StudioCanal, worldwide rights holder to all of the Embassy Pictures library, has also released several R2 DVD editions using a transfer slightly different from the North American DVD and Blu-Ray releases. In 2018, StudioCanal gave the film its European Blu-Ray debut in the UK, Germany, and Australia. The StudioCanal releases included most extras from the Shout! Factory release as well as a new 4K restoration for a 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition.


See also

* '' The Butter and Egg Man'' * '' Jojo Rabbit'' * '' The Great Dictator'' * * List of American films of 1967 * List of cult films * Setting up to fail *
The Producers (2005 film) ''The Producers'' is a 2005 American musical comedy film directed by Susan Stroman and written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan based on the eponymous 2001 Broadway musical, which in turn was based on Brooks' 1967 film of the same name. The fi ...


References


External links


''The Producers'' essay
by Brian Scott Mednick at
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
* *
''The Producers'' at AllMovie
* *
''The Producers'' essay
by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Producers 1967 black comedy films 1967 directorial debut films 1967 LGBTQ-related films 1960s American films 1960s English-language films 1960s satirical films American black comedy films American LGBTQ-related films American satirical films Censored films Films about Adolf Hitler Embassy Pictures films Films about accountants Films about con artists Films about entertainers Films about fraud Films about Jews and Judaism Films about musical theatre Films about Nazis Films adapted into plays Films directed by Mel Brooks Films scored by John Morris Films set in 1967 Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award Films with screenplays by Mel Brooks Jewish comedy and humor LGBTQ-related black comedy films LGBTQ-related controversies in film United States National Film Registry films Cross-dressing in American films English-language black comedy films