"'Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to discover that he had been transformed into a giant cockroach.' Nah, it's too good. "

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2011)

"The Producers" is an exceptional first film for Mel Brooks. His direction is spot-on to what we've come to expect Brooks to do in later films, Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are likable and developed, and Brooks even manages to pull off a few shots I had never seen before in his movies, such as the extreme long shot used when the fountain shoots up. It's a scene that looks so great, that Brooks placed it as the final scene of the end credits. It's really hard to hate a Mel Brooks film, and this is no exception. It's like a pressed lump of gold, flattened paper thin and draped over the projector. He took a great idea with great characters and made it into a great movie. It's that simple.