THE PRODUCERS
***1/2 out of *****

Genres
Comedy
Musical
Nazis

2005
Directed by
Susan Stroman
Written by
Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (screenplay)
Mel Brooks (1968 screenplay) and
Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (2001 stage play book)
Mel Brooks (2001 stage play lyrics)
Cast
Nathan Lane .... Max Bialystock
Matthew Broderick .... Leo Bloom
Uma Thurman .... Ulla
Will Ferrell .... Franz Liebkind
Gary Beach .... Roger DeBris
Roger Bart .... Carmen Ghia
Michael McKean .... Prison Trustee
Eileen Essell .... Hold Me-Touch Me
David Huddleston .... Judge
Debra Monk .... Lick Me-Bite Me
Andrea Martin .… Kiss Me-Feel Me
Jon Lovitz .... Mr. Marks

The movie version of The Producers is the third version of Mel story. It was first a non-musical film made in 1968, which won Brooks an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. As a Broadway musical it won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001. The film version was nominated for 4 Golden Globes, which means that now is the time to stop as that’s about as far down the award food chain as you’d want to drop. Susan Stroman, the original Broadway director of the musical version, directs here, and does a good job of capturing the spirit of the stage production while making it look like a movie (note: I have seen a West End production).

The Producers is about Broadway-impresario Max Bialystock whose latest show, 'Funny Boy' - a musical of Hamlet, just opened and closed on the same night. When nebbish accountant Leo Bloom comes to his office the next day to do the books he notes offhand that a producer could, under the right conditions, make more money from a flop than a hit. Max, being an unscrupulous Broadway-producer skilled at putting on flops seizes on this comment, and tries to convince Leo to be his partner and help him both make the worst show in history and get stinking rich.

The first half hour of the film is about honest, timid, Leo being convinced to go along with Max’s scheme. And unfortunately this part of the film drags. Leo’s too scared to team with Max, he changes his mind, he leaves, he comes back. It’s a frustrating start to the film, and the only part that had the feel of a filmed stage play. But once Leo decides to go along with Max, the pace picks up and the film gets very entertaining.

To put together the worst show ever they have to find the worst script and hire the worst director. The worst script they can find is for a musical called 'Springtime for Hitler’ written by an over-the-top Nazi sympathiser (Will Ferrell). The title of worst director belongs to Roger DeBris who brings with him a production team that consists of almost every comedically-stereotypical gay character possible.

The comedy style of The Producers comedy makes characters that could either seem dated or offensive quite charming. The tone is just right for the material; the film is too silly to come across as mean-spirited thanks to the artificiality of the musical genre and the over-the-top vaudevillian style of performances. If you’re interested in comedy as a writer, I’d recommend seeing this, as I can’t think of another recent movie with this style of humour.

The songs, also written by Brooks, are pretty good. They’re not Cole Porter-standard, but they’re good musical comedy songs. If you stay watching through the credits you’ll get two more of them. The first is a Nathan Lane and Matthew Broederick singing about all the drawbacks of going to see Broadway shows. The second is Will Ferrell singing a version of 'Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop' in the lush style you hear at the end of Disney cartoons. Sit through those and Mel Brooks pops up tell you to leave because the show’s over, which makes sense in a movie theatre, but I don’t know why he wants me to leave my living room so badly.

The Producers is a fun comedy/musical, and fun comedy/musicals movies come out maybe every five or ten years. It has a style of humour which isn’t used much today. So it’s a double rarity. Just stick with it past the slow first thirty minutes.

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