The Producers

The film that won Mel Brooks his Oscar, the Producers is one of the most hysterical films ever put on the silver screen.  It has got a fantastic cast of so many original characters, and it still feels fresh today.  It's one of the most creative films of all time, and it is definitely worth watching.

It's the late 60s.  Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) is down on his luck and going broke.  In an attempt to make money again, he hires a hyperactive yet timid accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder, who garnered an Oscar nomination as well for his performance).  The plan is simple:  swindle a bunch of old ladies to earn lots of money to produce a Broadway flop, so he can keep the remainder of the profits after it fails.  To make this happen, though, Bloom and Bialystock need to find the worst script possible.  Script after script, they finally discover it:  Springtime for Hitler.

First, I find it necessary to say that after Jules and Vincent in Pulp Fiction, this film has the best chemistry between two characters I have ever seen.  It is definitely implied that both characters are Jewish, but it's never clearly said and never analyzed anyways.  Still, the performances by Mostel and Wilder are two of the best I have ever seen in a comedy.  They are charming, sympathetic, and unforgettable.

Mel Brooks did a fantastic job on this screenplay.  The concept is such a gem compared to other comedies then and now, and it's deserving of being looked over time after time.  Brooks simply knows how to make a classic and make it memorable, and that's why he's regularly looked over in terms of making comedies.

If I were to write more, I would just be repeating myself.  Mel Brooks has left a lasting legacy in cinema, and has received appreciation from the American Film Institute.  In the "100 years...series," he has three of his films listed in the top fifteen.  I can definitely envision what people would say as the best comedies of all time in 50 or even 100 years.  I would say:  the Graduate, Dr. Strangelove, the Marx Brothers' work, Airplane...and Mel Brooks - definitely.  4/4.