The basic story involves a struggling, has-been
Broadway producer, Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who gets an idea
from an honest accountant with a blanket compulsion, Leo Bloom
(Gene Wilder), on how to make a fortune on a flop Broadway show,
when Bloom comes to check Max's books, and finds some evidence
of fraud. Max and Bloom are soon on the road to laughs, riches,
and serious prison time.
Max takes Leo Bloom's theory that one could make
more money from a flop than from a hit, and runs with it, convincing
Bloom to be his partner in dishonesty. Max sells 25,000 percent
of a play, "Springtime For Hitler," a play Max thinks
would make the perfect Broadway flop, being totally politically
incorrect and socially offensive. If a play closes on the first
night, no one will notice that they oversold shares to the profits.
However, "the best laid plans of mice and men, often go stray."
The combination of the bad script, the wild interpretation of
the script by the director and main actors chosen turns a stinker
of a script into a huge hit.
The vastly talented, zany Mel Brooks wrote and
directed this classic comedy, that won the Oscar for Best Screenplay.
This "ingenious spoof of Broadway Theater" looks at
the process of putting a play together, as experienced by a fraudulent,
con-artist producer, and his gullible partner, and contains many
of Brooks' trademarks, including many Jewish references and jokes,
many instances of making fund of the Nazis, musical numbers, and
great facial reactions, with witty dialogue.
The late Zero Mostel is great as Max Bialystock.
Plump, with sparse hair combed oddly around his head, Mostel is
a hoot as he plays romantic games with old women, such as "Hold
me, Touch me" old lady (Estelle Woodward - 85 yrs. at the
time), to get them to invest in his play.
Gene Wilder, slender and meek, is the perfect
comic foil for Mostel. He makes a delightful transition from frightened,
honest guy to inspired, law breaking accountant, under Mostel's
outlandish mentorship.
My favorite scene with Mostel and Wilder has
to be the sequence of scenes at the beginning when Wilder is at
Mostel's office for the first time to look at Max's books. Wilder
becomes slowly unglued, winding up in a hysterical state, in reaction
to Mostel's hostility. These classic comedic moments between these
two actors fully exposes their combined comedic talent, and a
great example of Brook's genius in writing comedic material.
Kenneth Mars is humorously at his best as the
deranged German author, Franz Liebkind, who wrote the love letter
to Hitler, in the form of a screenplay called "Springtime
For Hitler."
The late Christopher Hewett as the gay, creative
musical director, Roger De Bris, showcases his comedic talent
in one of his few film roles. Hewett was a very successful stage
actor in both the UK and New York. He also had a successful gig
on TV, "Mr. Belvedere."
Dick Shawn, as (Lorenzo Saint DuBois "L.S.D."),
did a great job as the hip Hitler, playing it perfectly, that
really shows his comedic talent, as he and the cast of the play
make this supposedly Broadway flop into a hilarious success, due
to the comedic portrayal of Hitler and his buddies as hippy buffoons,
which deeply offends Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), resulting
in more unplanned hilarity. How they kept a straight face through
it all, testifies to their self-control as actors.
Really funny scenes take place during the performance
of the play, "Springtime for Hitler." While obviously
not as shocking as it was nearly 30 years ago, an opening dance
number totally shocks the audience in the theater, where dancers,
when viewed from above, form a swastika, are still wild and funny
today. Mel Brooks himself has a brief line, and is one of the
dancing Hitlers.
Other Favorite scenes include: Max's fund raising
efforts with little old ladies, the meeting with the German author,
Frans, meeting with the eccentric director, Roger De Bris (Christopher
Hewitt) and the audition scenes.
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