Mel Brooks' directorial debut!

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2005)

The Producers (1968) was the first film that Mel Brooks directed. It was a critical smash as well. Gene Wilder stars as a accountant to a Broadway producer (Zero Mostel). Whilst going over his books, he noticed that his productions that bombed actually made money instead of the successful ones. Mostel has an idea, what if he makes a Broadway play that is such a disaster that it only receives one run. He needs two things in order for this plan to go into effect. One, he has to sway Wilder to his side and two, he needs to have a huge amount of investors.
Whilst Wilder fixes the numbers, Mostel goes out to all of his elderly female clients whom he swoons with his charm as they write out checks for him to invest in his play. He over sells shares into the play, so when it bombs he doesn't have to pay them back and pockets the money. Now only one question remains, what kind of production will they do that'll be so awful that it'll play once and never again? How will these "Producers" be able to pull off this ingenious scheme? To find out you'll just have to watch THE PRODUCERS!!! Co-stars Kenneth Mars and Dick Shawn as Lionel Saint Du Bois (L.S.D.).
Highly recommended.