The Producers (1968)
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A desperate producer and a neurotic accountant team up to make a fortune by intentionally producing a musical that is guaranteed to fail.
The story
Max Bialystock, an aging and struggling Broadway producer, meets Leopold "Leo" Bloom, a neurotic young accountant. During an audit, they discover a way to profit from a theatrical failure: by overselling shares in a production that is guaranteed to flop, they can embezzle the excess funds. They decide to produce a play titled 'Springtime for Hitler', a work that celebrates the Nazi regime. They believe that by making the production intentionally offensive, they can ensure it fails, allowing them to keep the surplus money and flee to Rio de Janeiro. The duo begins a frantic campaign to secure investors and prepare the stage for their audacious scheme.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom conspire to defraud investors by producing a musical designed to fail. They choose 'Springtime for Hitler', a play by Franz Liebkind. They hire a director with a poor reputation, Roger De Bris, and cast a beatnik actor, Lorenzo St. DuBois, as Hitler. On opening night, despite Max's efforts to ensure a bad review, the production becomes a hit due to its campy, comedic style. The trio is eventually caught in an explosion at the theater and arrested. They are sent to a state penitentiary where they produce a new musical, 'Prisoners of Love', continuing their scheme of overselling shares to fellow inmates and the warden.
- First release year
- 1968
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mel Brooks
- Writers
- Mel Brooks · writer
- Cast and characters
- Gene Wilder · Leopold "Leo" Bloom; Zero Mostel · Max Bialystock; Dick Shawn · Lorenzo "L.S.D." Saint DuBois; Kenneth Mars · Franz Liebkind
- Genres
- satirical; black comedy
- Themes
- greed; vanity; satire
- Tone and mood
- satirical; comedic
- Premise and plot tags
- con artist; musical theatre; satire
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original screenplay by Mel Brooks
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews initially, with some critics finding it crude or in poor taste, while others praised it as a hilarious and successful satire. It eventually became a cult film and gained significant critical acclaim over time.
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Screenplay · win
- Production trivia
- The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1996.; The title 'Springtime for Hitler' was used for several of Mel Brooks's subsequent films in Sweden.; The film was reportedly banned in Germany.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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