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Arguably the most outrageously funny film ever made, The Producers was inspired by a real-life scandal involving a Broadway producer who had produced a play that closed after only one performance, and who was subsequently arrested for fraud. Mel Brooks conceived the idea for the film while working as a comedy writer for TV, using this real-life story as the premise for a hilarious satire of the excesses of the entertainment industry. Brooks wrote the script himself and shopped it around to various studios, but it was rejected multiple times before finally being picked up by Embassy Pictures. The main reason for it being treated like a hot potato was its taboo subjects of Nazism, homosexuality and the Holocaust.
To cast the film, Brooks held auditions for the role of Leo Bloom (a name inspired by James Joyce's legendary Jewish main character in Ulysses) and Gene Wilder was one of the actors who showed up. Brooks was immediately struck by Wilder's comedic timing and energy, and he cast him in the role on the spot. Zero Mostel was also cast in the film, and he and Wilder formed a great on-screen partnership, with Mostel playing the larger-than-life Max to Wilder's meek and mild Leo. 1967 was the year Gene Wilder came to fame with starring roles in Bonnie & Clyde and The Producers, and the Brooks-Wilder partnership would flourish with further collaborations on Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), but for me nothing will ever match the daring and comedy of their first film together.
Brooks enjoyed poking fun at the 1960s flower power movement by having a hippie play the role of Hitler in the movie, and Dick Shawn's performance as Lorenzo Saint DuBois (LSD) is one of the great comic turns in cinematic history. Playing the lead role in the production of Springtime for Hitler, Shawn's over-the-top performance and exaggerated mannerisms add to the absurdity of the situation and push the boundaries of comedy like never before. Max and Leo's scheme to raise money for a musical that is so abhorrent that it’s guaranteed to close on opening night, allowing them to make off with the investment money, is completely foiled by the brilliance of DuBois' performance. The rest of the film follows the fallout from their failed plan, as they try to cover up their fraud and evade the authorities.
Brooks scored a surprise Academy Award nomination in 1969 for Best Original Screenplay for the film, but its chances of winning seemed slim against critically-acclaimed classics like John Cassavetes’ Faces, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. To the astonishment of presenter Frank Sinatra and the audience, Brooks actually won for his brilliant script, and as a result of the Oscar win, his career then blossomed, providing him with enough clout to make Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. And on top of that, Wilder earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
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