Prisoner of Love for The Producers

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2014)

This is the film I would take to a desert island. It was a love affair from the first time I saw "The Producers" in the theater. I bought it on VHS when it came out, and now have it on CD. My kids grew up on it and can quote entire scenes. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel were inspired, brilliant. No others are Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock. Off the top of my head, some of the irresistible lines, and as quotable as Shakespeare:
"Flaunt it, baby, flaunt it!" "Yes, Prince Mishkin. They all come here. How do they find me?" "My blanket, my little blue blanket!" "I'm in pain. I'm wet. "I'm hysterical." "You used to be able to sit on the stoop like a person." "White, white, white, the color of our carpeting." "Max, he's wearing a dress." "Get car! Get car! Go to motel?" "Actors are not people. Did you ever eat with one?" "Congrat-u-lations! Hitler will run for years."
Mel crammed everything into this film--the creative accounting of show business, Hitler, the counterculture of the 60s, the fun and sadness of old age, success and failure, con men and innocents, and even references to great works of literature. Call it Yiddishkeit because that's what it is. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. What could have been the competition?
Another reviewer said to check your pulse if you don't laugh because it means you're dead. I couldn't agree more.