Good But Rather Flawed And Dated Also

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 2005)

Some people rate THE PRODUCERS as the greatest comedy film ever made . It is a classic bad taste comedy but i do have some reservations about it being " Greatest comedy ever " and I'll tell you why
1 ) It's ratherstagey . The whole plot revolves around a stage play flopping the screenplay and performances also seem to reflect this . watching GeneWilder's performance you honestly believe he's treading the boards and I can't help thinking Mel Brooks had the idea of performing this on the stage rather than making a cinematic movie
2 ) It's rather dated , I mean Nazis as bad guys who sing and dance ? I guess many people watching this in the 1960s and 70s would have first hand experience of Nazi cruelty ( Their reactions of a musical featuring Hitler probably reflect that of the audience watching Springtime For Hitler ) but after spending much of my childhood watching American B movies where the Nazis were bumbeling buffoons who couldn't shoot straight I could easily accept the concept of Hitler and his henchman being a hippy branch
3 ) Be honest , there's not enough time dedicated to LSD's Hitler , instead we're treated to Leo having yet another panic attack
Tasteless and very funny in its day THE PRODUCERS seems rather dated . It is funny but as for it being the greatest comedy of all time it's not even the greatest comedy from Mel Brooks , that would be either YOUNG FRANKENSTIEN or BLAZING SADDLES with this 1968 effort in third place