Classic Films
Related: About this forumMy god. The Producers is hilarious.
I haven't seen it in a while. It's on TCM right now - "Springtime for Hitler" just finished up.
"I lieb ya, baby!"
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)The funny thing was, this was not a major hit back when it was released.
Only in the 70s was it rediscovered.
And to think he made it a hit on Broadway years later (though the movie was better).
Mel forsaw what Bernie Madoff would do.
In the same way Mel & Buck Henry's Get Smart seems to always be relevant today.
But there is a reason Mel's last big success was now decades ago, being so politically incorrect you can't away with that anymore. But it did help that he was going for a niche audience so he did not need large success, then when it happened, it was extra satisfying for him.
Auggie
(31,184 posts)The war had been over for only 23 years when The Producers debuted, just long enough after Hitler's regime that a parody of this kind could/would seem appropriate IMO. That happily coincided with the cultural revolution of the mid to late 1960s which allowed Mel (along with Mike Nichols and Woody Allen, to name a few) to really exploit "issues" of the day others before them could not. Of course, Mel's real masterpiece would came a few years later with Blazing Saddles, perhaps the most bodacious comedy ever produced.
I caught about 3/4 of it last night. It's still as funny as the first time I saw it.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)There are persistent rumours that Blazing Saddles is also coming to broadway.
Now, how are they going to do the Bean Scene?
Auggie
(31,184 posts)but as long as they don't revert to "Odorama," I'm certain it'll be funny.