The Producers (1968)

The year was 1968 and America was about to be introduced to the raw, vulgar power of Mel Brooks' comedy  for the first time through his debut feature The Producers, a film that redefined what the phrase "in bad taste" meant.  The film focuses on a conniving theater producer and his Nebbishy accountant and their plot to make a fortune off of a Broadway flop.

The Producers opens with an extended sequence where the once-renowned Broadway producer Max Bialystock is chased around his office by an old lady looking for some human contact in exchange for a modest donation to the next Bialystock-production.  Max's "tryst" is interrupted by Leo Bloom, a timid accountant sent to check up on his books.  Soon Max has coerced Leo into becoming his new partner in a scheme involving overselling shares to their new production, making the aforementioned production as bad as humanly possible, and then hightailing it to Rio to avoid the suspicion typically involved with making a fortune off of a flop.  They find their surefire failure in Springtime for Hitler, a "gay romp with Adolph and Eva", written by a Manhattan-based "former" Nazi.  They soon find an equally bad director and starring actor to put the nail in the very profitable coffin.  Things begin to change for the pair, they can afford a nice new office and Swedish secretary by the name of Ulla hired mainly for her aesthetic value (to put it mildly).  But in a production where everything is going so wrong, something is bound to go right.

The film's greatest strengths lie in its two stars, Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.  Mostel and Wilder have a natural chemistry that suits them well as the most unlikely of buddies in this, the most unlikely of buddy comedies.  Wilder (rightfully) became a star after this film was released, the first of many successful (and hilarious) collaborations he would have with Mel Brooks.  The rest of the cast members fill their roles with all of the quirkiness and hammy acting required of them.

The Producers was met with some hostility due to the vulgarity and the "taste" of much of the humor; Brooks responded to such criticism with a quote befitting the film: it rose below vulgarity.  From practically the first frame, The Producers pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable to milk for a laugh until their weren't any more boundaries, just a director with the gall and bravery to throw all regard for "common decency" out the window.

The Producers remains a hilarious film that is completely unafraid to tear down everything in its path with just the right mix of wit and vulgarity that became the standard for films directed by Mel Brooks in the years following.  The Producers  is hardly a perfect movie, but it still stands as one Mel Brooks' funniest and most enduring films with two great lead performances from Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.

8/10

Note: This review was previously posted on another blog I wrote.