Springtime for Hitler!
"The
Producers," a Golden Globe Nominee for Best
Movie-Musical or Comedy, is one of the few films
to work in Hollywood's recent apparent effort to
remake every film known to man.
It's a credit to writer/producer (and original
director) Mel Brooks that many of the ideas,
much of the dialogue, and even a significant
amount of the plot continues to be relevant,
interesting and funny almost forty years after
the original film, which served as Brooks'
directorial debut.
By now, nearly everyone is aware that the
original film, which achieved modest critical
praise but significant box-office in 1968, was
turned into a Tony winning Broadway play
starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as
Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom.
Both actors have significant film backgrounds
along with their stage work, and thus they
largely succeed in transferring what is a very
"stage" oriented show to the big screen. Lane
has a field day as Bialystock, a formerly
successful Broadway producer who now resorts to
sexual encounters with a garden variety of
geriatric benefactors to finance films that are
largely critically panned. It is after yet
another Broadway bomb that he encounters the
inhibited, socially inept Leo Bloom. Bloom, as
played by Broderick, is a sniveling, whiny and
insecure man who still carries around a piece of
his baby blanket for use during one of his many
anxiety attacks.
During a post-show audit of the books, Bloom
stumbles upon the knowledge that it would, with
creative accounting, be possible to make more
money on a show that bombs than on one that
succeeds (which could explain the entire Uwe
Boll phenomenon). Together, they concoct a plain
to produce the worst Broadway ever on their $2
million from investors, have the show close
after one night and then pocket the remaining
funds.
They find the play, "Springtime for Hitler,"
basically a love song to the Third Reich penned
by Franz Liebkind, played by a hilariously
over-the-top Will Ferrell. They then hire the
worst director possible, Roger De Bris (Gary
Beach), played as an over-the-top queen with his
endearingly campy common law assistant Carmen
Ghia (Roger Bart).
Recipe for disaster? Well, you'll just have to
see how it all plays out for yourself if you've
never seen the original film.
Fans of the original film will have much to
nitpick here, most notably the fact that Lane
and Broderick are definitely not Gene Wilder and
Zero Mostel. With a few minor adjustments, it's
rather amazing how faithful this film is to the
original production. While in many ways that
works marvelously, in other ways it plays old
and tired. It is nearly impossible to watch the
film without comparing the roles of Leo and Max
between the 1968 film and this one because so
many of the scenes play out similarly
(especially early on). I found myself, on more
than one occasion, thinking to myself "Wilder
was much better in that scene." Having these
thoughts not only made me enjoy the film less,
but they distracted me from the film's action.
While Lane is a marvelous Bialystock, he doesn't
have the all encompassing presence of Mostel.
Mostel literally owned the screen and absolutely
commanded your attention...Lane certainly
inhabits his character, but his presence is
simply weaker than that of Mostel.
Likewise, in 1968, much of the humor of "The
Producers" could be found in the hilariously
offensive nature of "Springtime for Hitler."
Fast forward 40 years, and this material simply
isn't as cutting edge, dark, insightful or
hilarious. While new, edgier jokes have
certainly been added and certainly edgier, more
sexual material added, the film ends up feeling
very tame considering it centers on a stage show
that "shocks" audiences (though the film is set
back to the original time period).
The real find of "The Producers" lies in the
role of Ulla, featuring a hilariously campy,
pretty darn good singer in Uma Thurman. Watching
Thurman sing "If you've got it, flaunt it" is
funny, exciting and, well, arousing.
The film is directed by Susan Stroman, who
choreographed the Broadway show and took over
for Brooks following the death of his wife.
Stroman stages the film well, though it does
often feel the a stage production. The film will
play best with fans of Mel Brooks, fans of
musical theatre and those who've been around
plays. It will likely feel very stagey to the
typical "comedy" audience, and may not have
distraction to attract a large audience.
"The Producers" also features strong, though
brief, supporting performances from Jon Lovitz,
Debra Monk and Andrea Martin along with cameo
appearances by Michael Mckean and Richard Kind.
"The Producers", ultimately, works considerably
more often than not with a unique humor that has
long been a trademark of Mel Brooks. The film is
blessed with cast members who have lived with
these characters for awhile, and it shows
throughout the film. Lane and Broderick have a
wonderful comic chemistry and clearly trust each
other enough to really let go. This allows for
moderately funny material to often become
hilariously funny. Likewise, Roger Bart and Gary
Beach also re-create roles from Broadway and
steal nearly every scene they are in with an
over-the-top campy giddiness that is joyful and
even a tad heartwarming.
In a season of intense dramas and lengthy epics,
"The Producers" shines as an alternative for
audiences weary of the dark, intense and topical
films vying for Oscar attention. For lack of a
better way to say it, "The Producers,", well, it
produces laughs and hilarity in abundance.
©
Written by Richard Propes
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
