There has never been a funnier film made...ever!

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2015)

The premise is perfect for a hilarious comedy: produce a play praising Hitler in order to have a flop and make a million dollars; except that the actor playing Hitler turns the play into a farce about Hitler, causing it to be the biggest hit on Broadway.
But the comedy would not have reached the limits of outer space of hilarity without the casting of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as the producer and finance guru, respectively, along with Kenneth Mars as the Nazi writer of the play. Mostel and Wilder give performances that were the best of their entire careers, with Wilder periodically screaming for his blue blanket, and Mostel yelling "flaunt it". And who can forget Mars arguing that Hitler was a better dancer than Churchill, as well as a great artistic painter, able to give two coats of paint to an apartment in one afternoon.
There is only one component of the film that could have been improved upon: Dick Shawn's character as LSD. Although an essential character of the play, it misses the bull's eye of perfection like the other characters and performances, particularly with his introduction and singing of the song, "Love Power": it doesn't measure up to the humor of the other songs in the movie. Sorry, Mel.
I read that many were offended by this film because it was deemed anti-Semitic by them. I did not see that at all while watching the film. Quite the contrary: how can a satire on Hitler, making him and the whole ideology of a master race appear ridiculous, be anything but anti-Naziism, rather than anti-Semitic?
My favorite scene, although there were many, is the first act of the Broadway play. The showgirls dressed as stormtroopers singing "Springtime in Germany", with the sound of machine guns in the background, and all on stage ducking bullets, had me rolling on the floor in convulsions of laughter. Folks, it doesn't get funnier than that scene.
This is certainly the BEST film that Mel Brooks ever made. In fact, I would have to agree with that comic genius, Peter Sellers, who stated that "This is the funniest and the best picture ever made." It is indeed. I'd give it more than 10 stars if I could.