Painfully, jaw-dropping-ly hysterical

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2000)

Mel Brooks' genius has rarely shown as brightly as it did in this 1968 film that was roasted by the critics, and later won two Oscars and would be lauded for the masterpiece it is.
Zero Mostel (in one of his finest comic performances ever) plays a crooked Broadway producer, and Gene Wilder his mousey, high-strung accountant. After going over the books of several plays, they realize the best way to make money is to oversell investment of a play that is destined to flop.
The play chosen is a musical comedy entitled "Springtime For Hitler", written by a wanted Nazi on the run (played over the hilt by Kenneth Mars). The play is cast with the worst possable actors (Dick Shawn, playing a very bad Jim Morrison wanna-be, is cast as Hitler), the worst costumers are hired, and the rest of the play is staffed by the worst talent money can buy.
On opening night, the play is so bad (the Busby Berkley-style musical number that opens the play, complete with dancers goose-stepping to form a swastika, is so kitchy as to boggle the mind...and the expressions on the faces of the audience are priceless) that everyone thinks it's a farce...and, horror of horrors, becomes a monumental hit!
Now, how do you repay the investors after you've sold 25,000% of the play?
There are lines in this film that are priceless, and the film never lowers to the level of slapstick or profanity. Just surreal situations, incredible writing, and a scathing lampoon of the most evil man in history (Mel Brooks deserves accolades for presenting Adolf Hitler, a man who nearly ended civilization, as a half-crazed beatnik).
Highly, highly recommended!