1968 comedyRating: 16/20
Plot: An accountant and a theater promoter come up with a can't-miss plan to swindle their way into riches by getting people to invest in a show guaranteed to be a flop--Springtime for Hitler. The plan does not go as expected.
It's Gene Wilder in the Unhinged Character Hollering Competition of his life! Good ol' Gene can get frantic, upset, and angry with the best of them, but flabby Zero Mostel as the producer and unlikely ladies' man, Kenneth Mars as the play's writer, and Dick Shawn as the titular dictator in the musical-within-a-movie all give him a run for his money. Watch Wilder going bonkers over his blue blanket, however, and you'll want to hand him an award of some kind. There are some classic moments and a lot of stuff that seems dated, but it's hard for me to see a room full of Hitlers practicing their saluting and not want to laugh. And remember, the fuhrer never said baby. That's all I have to say about this movie.
This movie is a perfect example of my Mel Brooks ratio, come to life. The less screen time that Mel Brooks has in his movies, the better that movie is. He has the briefest of voice cameos (Where he says "Dont be stupid be a smarty come and join the Nazi party) and that makes this movie among his best. Wilder is absolutely perfect. The scene with the blue blanket is incredible, but the part where I laugh the most is when Mostel is jumping up and down over him, and Wilder just goes ballistic over being crushed like a bug. This movie does go over the top, quite often, but even then it still works on a lot of levels. I shall do what Cory SHOULD be doing here, and ranking the Mel Brooks movies I have seen.
ReplyDeleteYoung Frankenstein--19
The Producers-------18
Blazing Saddles-----16
High Anxiety--------15
The 12 Chairs-------14
Spaceballs----------13
Robin Hood----------13
Life Stinks---------9
History of the World-7
So you can see, The Producers is pretty high on my Brooks list.
Glad you saw it.
Fine, here:
ReplyDelete1. The Producers-18
2. Young Frankenstein-18
3. Blazing Saddles-13
4. High Anxiety-12
5. History of the World, Part 1-8
I never made it through Spaceballs
I was almost as surprised by how few films Brooks has made as I was to find out he was an uncredited Producer on The Elephant Man and The Fly.
I agree with everything Barry says about this. The film is an all-time great comedy, and the Wilder/Mostel bug scene is one of the most perfectly hilarious scenes, ever.
Not a fan of 'Blazing Saddles' or really any other Mel Brooks movie except 'Young Frankenstein' and this one. I haven't seen 'Blazing Saddles' in a really really long time though.
ReplyDeleteOne night Barry suggested watching Blazing Saddles to a bunch of us friends (about 20 years ago). I remember him being very funny since he knew the film by heart, but it was one of those things that don't hold up as well when you judge it with others.
ReplyDelete