Today’s movie is a
comedy with a scene that happens on September 6. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE
PRODUCERS(1968)
Max Bialystock is a Broadway
producer who has fallen on hard times, being reduced to seducing little old
ladies so they will invest in his productions. Nerdish accountant Leo Bloom
arrives to do his books and discovers that Max raised two thousand more on his
last play than he needed, which is fraud. Max persuades Leo to cover this up.
Leo has an idea that if someone raised much more than he needed for a play that
flopped, the producer could keep all the extra cash. Max immediately decides to
put this plan into action with Leo as his partner. After reading many, many terrible
scripts, the two settle on Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and
Eva at Berchtesgarden. They
persuade the insane ex-Nazi author Franz Liebkind to sell them the rights to the script. Max sells 25, 000% of
the play to his little old ladies and hires an attractive Swedish receptionist who can’t speak
English. They hire the cross-dressing Roger DeBris as the director. On
September 6, 1967 [49:53 to 57:14] auditions are held for Springtime for
Hitler. Lorenzo St. DuBois, a hippie who wandered in by accident is signed
on to play Hitler. The show seems doomed to fail, but the audience takes the
play as a satire and it is a big hit. Liedkind tries to kill Max and Leo
because he is angry at how they presented his story. Eventually he helps them
try to blow up the theater in order to stop the show. The are caught, tried,
convicted and sent to prison where they oversell the musical they produce with
the inmates called Prisoners of Love.
A hilarious old time comedy. That
is the film is funny because of the dialogue, not because of overuse of sexual
innuendo or gross out sight gags. Still a very funny movie.
Date given in Variety at 49:47 -50
Producer - Sidney Glazier
Director - Mel Brooks
Screenplay - Mel Brooks
Awards – The film won the Best
Original Screenplay Oscar. The movie was also nominated for the Best Supporting
Actor(Wilder) at the 41st Academy Awards.
Runtime – 1 hour 28 minutes
Released - March 18, 1968
Starring –
Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock
Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom
Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois
(L.S.D.)
Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind
Lee Meredith as Ulla
Copyright by Ivan Walters in
2014.
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