Mel Brooks has turned a funny idea into a slapstick film, thanks to the performers, particularly Zero Mostel.
The Producers
Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour!
1968 · 1h 29m · PG
Comedy
Directed by
Mel Brooks
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The Producers
Overview
A conniving Broadway producer and his meek accountant plan to profit from charming wealthy old biddies to invest in an overbudget production, and then put on a sure-fire disaster, so nobody will ask for their money back — and what's more disastrous than a tasteless musical celebrating Adolf Hitler.
Director and cast
- Mel Brooks Director
- Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock
- Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom
- Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.)
- Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind
- Estelle Winwood as Hold Me-Touch Me
- Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris
- Andréas Voutsinas as Carmen Ghia
- Lee Meredith as Ulla
- Renée Taylor as Eva Braun
- Michael Davis Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Everything that can go wrong in an amateur film does go wrong, from the timing to the structure to the pitch of the performances.
Some of it is shoddy and gross and cruel; the rest is funny in an entirely unexpected way.
The one aspect of the original Producers that still stuns is the roaring, over-the-top, in-your-face thereness of its two lead performances.
The film is ripe with treasures worth rediscovering.
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