If you like Gene Wilder, see the original Producers
not watching many old movies, a movie lover
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JUL
8
2008
The Producers 1967 —
After seeing the Producers on Broadway, I was anxious to see the original Mel Brooks movie. Now that I've watched it a couple of times, I can say that I like it in the way that it is a "classic" and not necessarily as funny today as it probably was back in the 1960s.Plot
Just like the musical and the recent movie, the plot revolves around Max, a Broadway producer whose plays are starting to go down the toilet. He hires Leo, an accountant, to do his papers for his latest flop and Leo inadvertently finds that under the right circumstances Max could make more money with a flop than with a hit!
Leo says this is just an observation, but Max takes it very seriously and wants Leo to help him create the worst play in history so they can make a killing! Leo runs out scared - did I mention he's always a nervous wreck? So... will Leo come around? Will they make money on this scam? Rent it!
Actors
Max is played by Zero Mostel who is a chubby and pretty unattractive guy. This is important because he's only able to attract old ladies. He uses these old ladies for money to produce his crappy plays! Zero is pretty funny, especially watching him try to seduce old women!
Leo is Gene Wilder who is one of my favs! Gene is great in this role as the nervous, shaky accountant who is afraid to do anything outside of his normal range. He and Zero together made a terrific team as they are opposites in almost every way. Max is loud and confident, Leo is quiet and timid.
Leo: May I speak to you for a minute?
Max: [pulls out stop watch] Go. You have 58 seconds.
Leo: Well, in glancing at your books, I noticed that...
Max: you have 48 seconds left. Hurry hurry.
Leo: Oh, I glanced at your books, I noticed...
Max: 28 seconds. You're running out of time.
Leo: [Trying to explain, getting more nervous]
Max: Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...
Leo: [temper tantrum] Mr. Bialystock, I cannot function under these conditions! [pulls out a piece of cloth from his pocket and starts wiping his face] You're making me extremely nervous!
Max: Oh, what is that a handkerchief? [reaches toward the cloth]
Leo: What? Nothing, it's nothing.
Max: [grabs it] If it's nothing, why can't I see it?
Leo: Ahh!! Ahh!! My Blanket! My blue blanket! Give me my blue blanket!!!!
Max: [gives it back]
Leo: [calmer] I'm sorry. I don't like people touching my blue blanket. It's not important it's a minor compulsion. I can deal with it if I want to.
Other notable characters are Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris, the gayest director in town, Lee Meredith as Ulla, a beautiful actress they hire for her looks more than for her talent and Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind, the playwright who wrote "Springtime for Hitler" to clear the bad name of Hitler :)
As you can see it's a real colorful cast and I bet it was more controversial back in the 1960s then it is today - however it is still somewhat controversial today as there are some people who are really Politically Correct about everything (in other words - boring people!)
Genre
The original genre was Comedy, but now-a-days I'd call it a classic. It's still funny, but not as hilarious as it probably was back in 1968. I love watching this movie as a glimpse into the past to see what they found funny, and there are parts that still make me laugh today!
The Music
The music is actually very Broadway-ish and you'll notice some of the same tunes as with the play. Mel Brooks certainly had Broadway in mind when he put together the soundtrack for this. This makes it different than other Gene Wilder movies I have seen, but different in a good way!
In fact, you'll find a bunch of the lines in the newer movie and the Broadway play are exactly taken word-for-word from this original movie! You may have noticed this in the included quotes above. But since this is not a musical there are parts that vary from the Broadway play where there is dialog instead of song and dance.
For Who?
I wouldn't let kids watch this only because there are hidden innuendos and things that you probably wouldn't want your kids asking you about. As an older movie, it's definitely not as bad as a R rated movie would be today. It was only rated PG when it was released, so kids may be ok to watch it but I think they'd be bored.
Conclusion
My boyfriend did start to fall asleep the first time I tried to get him to watch this, but that was because he was already pretty exhausted. However, now that I've watched it a few times I can see it's much more enjoyable when you are wide-awake, and maybe even when you are doing something else like playing a computer game or something. It's hard to just sit and watch since older movies don't quite have the special effects and action to keep you interested, however it is something I now watch whenever I'm doing something else. Like most of Gene's movies, it's quickly becoming something I will watch over and over :) Enjoy!
The Producers 1967 is recommended by vivasuzi
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