This is Funny? Not hardly.

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2001)

I BOUGHT this thing on tape because the Broadway revival has obviously gotten it reissued. I looked up and was astonished to see nearly fifty minutes of it had passed. This thing is dull. I'm thinking this is an hour and a half long movie and it has been this boring? I heard the song "Springtime for HItler" on Dr. Demento years ago and thought the rest of the movie would live up to the hilarious parodied song, but no, this is empty. It is watching like 'Laugh-In' and seems to want to satire that period in history, but isn't doing it well. Wilder worked better as the enigmatic Willie Wonka and Mostel worked better with the Muppets. Dick Shawn was funnier in 'Mad World'. But now the most peculiar moment has been in Kenneth Mars as the Nazi author. He was the only one enjoying the play when 'Springtime' was on, but when Shawn starts with the tired hippie Hitler act and the audience laughs, Mars is offended. It would have been funnier if he had enjoyed it as well, or better yet, misunderstood why everyone was enjoying it.
Was there supposed to be humour in the audience laughing at Shawn's Hitler? Or was the humour in Shawn's performance? It was in neither.
I reset the counter when 'Springtime' began because I will never watch that first hour again. And it doesn't seem likely that I will venture beyond the song much either.