There’s
not a doubt in my mind, THE PRODUCERS ($25) is one of the funniest
movies ever made. This debut film from writer/director Mel Brooks garnered
the comedy legend his only Oscar, but Brooks still had several decades
worth of hilarity to lay on movie fans. While later films like YOUNG
FRANKENSTEIN and BLAZING SADDLES may have garnered greater
recognition from fans during Brooks’ movie career, THE PRODUCERS
clearly remains his finest artistic achievement in the cinema. That is
probably why I wasn't surprise when Brooks decided to revisit THE
PRODUCERS, and adapt this zany comic gem for the stage, where it
became one of the most critically acclaimed Broadway musicals of all time.
The
plot of THE PRODUCERS concerns a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer
named Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who has taken to romancing little old
ladies as a means keeping his head above water. Into the quagmire of Max’s
existence comes a neurotic accountant named Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), who
is required to audit the books of his last Broadway flop. While going over
the books, Leo discovers that Max actually raised $2,000.00 more than the
production actually cost and was able to pocket the difference. It is at
this point, that Leo makes the passing comment that a producer could
theoretically make more money with a flop, than he could with a hit.
Seeing
dollar signs before his eyes, Max hatches a scheme to produce a surefire
flop and head off to Rio with a small fortune in investor money. In his
quest to produce the mother of all Broadway flops, Max selects Springtime
For Hitler, a love letter to Der Fuhrer by demented former German
soldier Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars)- a play that Max guarantees will
close on page four. Of course, Max isn’t taking any chances with his
flop, so he hires Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), the worst possible
director, who wants to turn the show into a tasteless, gaudy musical
extravaganza. On top of all that, Max casts a spaced out flower child with
the moniker LSD (Dick Shawn) in the lead role of Adolph Hitler. The loopy
cast of THE PRODUCERS also includes Estelle Winwood, Renée Taylor,
Lee Meredith and Andréas Voutsinas.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE PRODUCERS available on DVD in a
1.85:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement
for 16:9 displays. A full screen version is also offered on a separate
layer of the DVD, but the comments in this review will only address the
wide screen version. MGM really deserves a round of applause for their new
16:9 enhanced transfer, because THE PRODUCERS looks glorious on
this DVD. The image is far crisper and better defined than anything that
preceded it, including the Criterion Laserdisc. I was fairly amazed by the
amount of snap in the picture; everything shot on a soundstage or under
controlled lighting really looks virtually brand new. The outdoor
cinematography dates the image a bit, looking a bit dull by comparison to
the film's interiors. Colors are generally vibrant and well saturated,
while flesh tones come across in a very appealing manner. Blacks appear
accurate, whites are clean and contrast is quite smooth. Although authored
on a single layer, the wide screen version of THE PRODUCERS doesn't
display any bothersome sign of digital compression artifacts.
THE
PRODUCERS comes with a Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack, which has been upgraded from the original
monaural track. For all intents and purposes the new mix provides a
slightly wider presence for the original monaural recordings, without
creating any true sense of directionality. However, the track would appear
to have been digitally cleaned to remove all signs of background hiss and
surface noise. Despite limited fidelity, the musical numbers and the
film's score are pleasantly rendered and manage to sound enjoyable with a
bit of amplification. Dialogue is perfectly reproduced, so one can
understand each and every joke. The film's original monaural track is also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as the supplemental features, which are
contained on side two of the DVD. Starting things off is a sixty-four
minute documentary entitled The Making of The Producers.
Produced specifically for this DVD, the documentary is presented in
"five acts" and features interviews with writer/director Mel
Brooks and cast members Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and Andréas Voutsinas
and Lee Meredith. While I found the program to be both highly entertaining
and informative, the most amazing thing about the documentary is how good
actress Lee Meredith looks more than three decades later- I think this
woman may be even more gorgeous now than when she made the film.
Also
included on the DVD is a Sketch Gallery that offers a look at the original
designs for the film's sets. The Playhouse Outtake is a
deleted scene from the movie, which is rather amusing but would have
slowed the film's pacing in the final act. The Photo Gallery
offers a nice number of black and white production and publicity stills. Peter
Sellers Statement Read By Paul Mazursky offers the actor/director
telling the story of how the late comic genius had taken out full-page ads
in the trades heralding THE PRODUCERS as one of the greatest screen
comedies of all time. A Soundtrack Spot for the Broadway
Cast album for the Tony Award winning musical version of the film is also
provided. The film's theatrical trailer and bonus trailers for other MGM
special edition DVDs close out the extras.
THE
PRODUCERS is a hilarious cinematic
gem that has been given the royal treatment by the folks at MGM. The DVD
looks fantastic and offers a terrific supplemental section. If you are a
fan of the movie, you will want to own this DVD. If you are a fan of the
Broadway show, you'll want to own this DVD, so you can see where it all
began. If you never seen either, you'll want to own this DVD because THE
PRODUCERS is truly one of the funniest movies of all time. Absolutely
recommended.
There’s
not a doubt in my mind, THE PRODUCERS ($25) is one of the funniest
movies ever made. This debut film from writer/director Mel Brooks garnered
the comedy legend his only Oscar, but Brooks still had several decades
worth of hilarity to lay on movie fans. While later films like YOUNG
FRANKENSTEIN and BLAZING SADDLES may have garnered greater
recognition from fans during Brooks’ movie career, THE PRODUCERS
clearly remains his finest artistic achievement in the cinema. That is
probably why I wasn't surprise when Brooks decided to revisit THE
PRODUCERS, and adapt this zany comic gem for the stage, where it
became one of the most critically acclaimed Broadway musicals of all time.
The
plot of THE PRODUCERS concerns a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer
named Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who has taken to romancing little old
ladies as a means keeping his head above water. Into the quagmire of Max’s
existence comes a neurotic accountant named Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), who
is required to audit the books of his last Broadway flop. While going over
the books, Leo discovers that Max actually raised $2,000.00 more than the
production actually cost and was able to pocket the difference. It is at
this point, that Leo makes the passing comment that a producer could
theoretically make more money with a flop, than he could with a hit.
Seeing
dollar signs before his eyes, Max hatches a scheme to produce a surefire
flop and head off to Rio with a small fortune in investor money. In his
quest to produce the mother of all Broadway flops, Max selects Springtime
For Hitler, a love letter to Der Fuhrer by demented former German
soldier Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars)- a play that Max guarantees will
close on page four. Of course, Max isn’t taking any chances with his
flop, so he hires Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewett), the worst possible
director, who wants to turn the show into a tasteless, gaudy musical
extravaganza. On top of all that, Max casts a spaced out flower child with
the moniker LSD (Dick Shawn) in the lead role of Adolph Hitler. The loopy
cast of THE PRODUCERS also includes Estelle Winwood, Renée Taylor,
Lee Meredith and Andréas Voutsinas.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE PRODUCERS available on DVD in a
1.85:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement
for 16:9 displays. A full screen version is also offered on a separate
layer of the DVD, but the comments in this review will only address the
wide screen version. MGM really deserves a round of applause for their new
16:9 enhanced transfer, because THE PRODUCERS looks glorious on
this DVD. The image is far crisper and better defined than anything that
preceded it, including the Criterion Laserdisc. I was fairly amazed by the
amount of snap in the picture; everything shot on a soundstage or under
controlled lighting really looks virtually brand new. The outdoor
cinematography dates the image a bit, looking a bit dull by comparison to
the film's interiors. Colors are generally vibrant and well saturated,
while flesh tones come across in a very appealing manner. Blacks appear
accurate, whites are clean and contrast is quite smooth. Although authored
on a single layer, the wide screen version of THE PRODUCERS doesn't
display any bothersome sign of digital compression artifacts.
THE
PRODUCERS comes with a Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack, which has been upgraded from the original
monaural track. For all intents and purposes the new mix provides a
slightly wider presence for the original monaural recordings, without
creating any true sense of directionality. However, the track would appear
to have been digitally cleaned to remove all signs of background hiss and
surface noise. Despite limited fidelity, the musical numbers and the
film's score are pleasantly rendered and manage to sound enjoyable with a
bit of amplification. Dialogue is perfectly reproduced, so one can
understand each and every joke. The film's original monaural track is also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as the supplemental features, which are
contained on side two of the DVD. Starting things off is a sixty-four
minute documentary entitled The Making of The Producers.
Produced specifically for this DVD, the documentary is presented in
"five acts" and features interviews with writer/director Mel
Brooks and cast members Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars and Andréas Voutsinas
and Lee Meredith. While I found the program to be both highly entertaining
and informative, the most amazing thing about the documentary is how good
actress Lee Meredith looks more than three decades later- I think this
woman may be even more gorgeous now than when she made the film.
Also
included on the DVD is a Sketch Gallery that offers a look at the original
designs for the film's sets. The Playhouse Outtake is a
deleted scene from the movie, which is rather amusing but would have
slowed the film's pacing in the final act. The Photo Gallery
offers a nice number of black and white production and publicity stills. Peter
Sellers Statement Read By Paul Mazursky offers the actor/director
telling the story of how the late comic genius had taken out full-page ads
in the trades heralding THE PRODUCERS as one of the greatest screen
comedies of all time. A Soundtrack Spot for the Broadway
Cast album for the Tony Award winning musical version of the film is also
provided. The film's theatrical trailer and bonus trailers for other MGM
special edition DVDs close out the extras.
THE
PRODUCERS is a hilarious cinematic
gem that has been given the royal treatment by the folks at MGM. The DVD
looks fantastic and offers a terrific supplemental section. If you are a
fan of the movie, you will want to own this DVD. If you are a fan of the
Broadway show, you'll want to own this DVD, so you can see where it all
began. If you never seen either, you'll want to own this DVD because THE
PRODUCERS is truly one of the funniest movies of all time. Absolutely
recommended.
