The Producers

Last night I went to a screening of The Producers (which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary) as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  I have seen the stage musical many times but not the movie so I was excited to see it on the big screen.  Zero Mostel plays Max Bialystock, a once great theatrical producer down on his luck, and Gene Wilder plays Leo Bloom, his neurotic accountant.  When Bloom mentions that Bialystock would make more money with a flop, they become partners and come up with the perfect plan: find the worst play ever written, Springtime for Hitler written by ex-Nazi Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), hire the worst director on Broadway, the flamboyant Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewitt), and hire the worst actor, a hippie named Lorenzo Saint DuBois (Dick Shawn).  Of course the show becomes the toast of Broadway so Bialystock and Bloom produce Prisoners of Love while serving their sentence at the state penitentiary.  This was so much fun because there is nothing better than an overwrought Gene Wilder!  He is particularly funny in this movie and the scene with his blue blankie had everyone in the theater laughing out loud!  Mars is also hilarious, especially when he watches Springtime for Hitler performed, and Andreas Voutsinas is an absolute hoot as Roger’s assistant Carmen Ghia.  While I really enjoyed seeing this on the big screen, I think I prefer the stage musical.  I can appreciate how groundbreaking this was for 1968 but, to me, the musical is much more irreverent!