VideoDetective.com
The Producers (1967)
Released By: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment   Rating: Not Rated   In Theaters: N/A
Your video will start shortly...



More Videos:
Preview Details
User Reviews
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Mel Brooks
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Dick Shawn, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars, Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, Barney Martin
Published ID: 470
UPC: 027616868329, 027616902733, 027616130426,
Plot: Theatrical producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once the toast of Broadway. Now he lives in his seedy office, cadging cash contributions from wealthy old ladies in exchange for sexual favors. Even worse, he's reduced to wearing a cardboard belt. Max's new accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), the soul of honesty, suggests that Max produce a hit to try to recoup his losses, but Max knows that it's too late for that. Offhandedly, Leo muses that, if Max found investors for a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. Suddenly, Max's eyes light up -- and in that moment, Leo Bloom is gloriously corruptible. I want everything I've ever seen in the movies! cries Leo as Max embraces him. Together, Max and Leo conspire to select the worst play, the worst playwright, the worst director, and the worst actor to collaborate on their guaranteed flop. That play is Springtime for Hitler, a delightful romp...with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. The playwright is Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), an unreconstructed Nazi who, in drunken delirium, insists that Hitler was a better painter than Churchill -- He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon, two coats! The director is pompous transvestite Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), who is preparing to go to a costume party garbed as Marie Antoinette when Max and Leo come calling (Max, Max, he's wearing a dress). And the star, selected after extensive auditions, is hippie-freak Lorenzo St. DuBois (Dick Shawn) -- L.S.D. for short. At the end of several weeks, Max has sold 25,000 percent of the show; and, as a finishing touch, Max bribes the opening-night critics for a favorable review, knowing full well that such a gesture is the kiss of death. The curtains part, and Springtime for Hitler opens with perhaps the most tasteless production number in the history of films. At the end of this extravaganza, the audience sits in dumbfounded silence. Gleefully, Max and Leo repair to a corner bar to celebrate their failure. But then.... The first directorial effort of Mel Brooks, The Producers didn't do so well on its first release, but since that time it has taken its place as one of the all-time great movie comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
The one that started it all
Added 11/6/2009

Mel Brooks made a typically noisy directorial debut with this joyously insane comedy which dares to affront its audiences with crookedness & crassness. I imagine by the way this film comes across, it made quite an impact with 1968 audiences, and its loony storyline continues to entertain audiences today (i.e., the smash Broadway musical & its film adaptation). Brooks originally intended it as a novel, but then it just didn't work out, and the piece morphed from stage play to screenplay. Lucky for us!
The pairing of the late Zero Mostel & screen newcomer Gene Wilder was a casting match made in heaven. No one goes into hysterics quite like Wilder, and Mostel is a wondrous force of nature who blows through the picture. The two played off each other beautifully. The great comic actors Kenneth Mars & the late Dick Shawn were nothing less than perfection in their roles of the nutty German playwright & the hippie-ish actor L.S.D., miscast (on purpose) as Hitler, respectively (the latter's audition selection of the song "Love Power" is really something else). And the shots of stunned, shocked faces of the audience during the "Springtime for Hitler" opener is an unforgettable comedy moment.
I saw the recent Nathan Lane-Matthew Broderick starring remake of "The Producers" movie, so it was interesting to compare the two films. My opinion? The latter is a more fully realized production from the original. But few films can match the sheer comic energy of the original. It remains an offbeat classic, an indication that Brooks was just beginning to unleash his comic talents on us...fortunately!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The Producers - With Gene Wilder
Added 10/3/2009

It had been years since we first saw this film, and having seen a few clips recently decided we had to own it, to enjoy the great humor. The Matthew Broderick film, while good, was a far cry from Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. You will laugh and laugh at Mel Brooks' outrageous humor.

We also ordered Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein to have as part of our film library.

Lola, Los Angeles

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The Funniest Movie Ever Made
Added 6/23/2009

I was kidding about giving the movie one star. It really deserves five stars, I just wanted you to read my review. It worked. I have never laughed harder, not even from a Mel Brooks movie, though YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN came close. This is not just hilarious, it's imaginative. It must be hard to make a very imaginative fantasy, but I think it's just as hard to make a movie this imaginative that exists in the real world. It's also pure fun, like all of Brooks' other movies. It has a real heart, and it's wonderfully acted. Zero Mostel, especially Gene Wilder, and the supporting cast are excellent. I also want to mention the ending had me cheering, and just made me happy. The hilarious script won an Oscar as Best Original Screenplay.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
The Mel Brooks classic that started it all!!!
Added 4/20/2009

The original Producers,in a Deluxe Edition 2 DVD with BOTH Standard and Widescreen versions of the film and great extras! A must for the Mel Brooks fan or classic comedy in general! Recommended! A+
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
One of the best comedies ever made
Added 2/27/2009

This is one of the best comedies made. Mostel and Wilder are super together. This is a film you'll never tire of rewatching.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The one that started it all
Added 11/6/2009

Mel Brooks made a typically noisy directorial debut with this joyously insane comedy which dares to affront its audiences with crookedness & crassness. I imagine by the way this film comes across, it made quite an impact with 1968 audiences, and its loony storyline continues to entertain audiences today (i.e., the smash Broadway musical & its film adaptation). Brooks originally intended it as a novel, but then it just didn't work out, and the piece morphed from stage play to screenplay. Lucky for us!
The pairing of the late Zero Mostel & screen newcomer Gene Wilder was a casting match made in heaven. No one goes into hysterics quite like Wilder, and Mostel is a wondrous force of nature who blows through the picture. The two played off each other beautifully. The great comic actors Kenneth Mars & the late Dick Shawn were nothing less than perfection in their roles of the nutty German playwright & the hippie-ish actor L.S.D., miscast (on purpose) as Hitler, respectively (the latter's audition selection of the song "Love Power" is really something else). And the shots of stunned, shocked faces of the audience during the "Springtime for Hitler" opener is an unforgettable comedy moment.
I saw the recent Nathan Lane-Matthew Broderick starring remake of "The Producers" movie, so it was interesting to compare the two films. My opinion? The latter is a more fully realized production from the original. But few films can match the sheer comic energy of the original. It remains an offbeat classic, an indication that Brooks was just beginning to unleash his comic talents on us...fortunately!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The Producers - With Gene Wilder
Added 10/3/2009

It had been years since we first saw this film, and having seen a few clips recently decided we had to own it, to enjoy the great humor. The Matthew Broderick film, while good, was a far cry from Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. You will laugh and laugh at Mel Brooks' outrageous humor.

We also ordered Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein to have as part of our film library.

Lola, Los Angeles

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The Funniest Movie Ever Made
Added 6/23/2009

I was kidding about giving the movie one star. It really deserves five stars, I just wanted you to read my review. It worked. I have never laughed harder, not even from a Mel Brooks movie, though YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN came close. This is not just hilarious, it's imaginative. It must be hard to make a very imaginative fantasy, but I think it's just as hard to make a movie this imaginative that exists in the real world. It's also pure fun, like all of Brooks' other movies. It has a real heart, and it's wonderfully acted. Zero Mostel, especially Gene Wilder, and the supporting cast are excellent. I also want to mention the ending had me cheering, and just made me happy. The hilarious script won an Oscar as Best Original Screenplay.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
Photos


There are currently no photos.
Shopping
IDPriceImageUrlPurchaseUrlIdTypeBindingStore
DVD
$13.49 @ Amazon
DVD
$13.99 @ Amazon