It's the ultimate punchline, the killer gag, that a proto-novel that turned into a proto-play that ended up as a movie about the worst musical in history, is now the most popular musical in town.
Comment
10/06/04
The Producers (1968)
93
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:60
Fresh:56
Rotten:4
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: A hilarious satire of the business side of Hollywood, The Producers is one of Mel Brooks' finest, as well as funniest films, featuring standout performances by Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel.
Reviews for The Producers
Top CriticIt is moving to know that a film can be so entertaining, and almost a third of a century after its release, it still stands tall above almost every contemporary comedy and every pretentious twit who moans about films that 'have nothing to say'.
01/01/00
Quite possibly Brooks's finest hour.
08/12/08
Top CriticBrooks' first feature, an absolutely hilarious and tasteless New York Jewish comedy about Broadway.
06/24/06
Top CriticSome of it is shoddy and gross and cruel; the rest is funny in an entirely unexpected way.
05/20/03
Top CriticScathingly hysterical.
12/15/05
Brooks's magnum opus is still a ferocious gale of bulldozing Jewish mockery, dominated by Zero Mostel's comb-over juggernaut.
06/04/02
More than thirty years after its initial release, it's still outrageous as ever and one of the funniest films ever made.
09/26/01
Hilarious and irreverent, Brooks' first film has the good fortune to be graced with the comic genius of Mostel, Wilder, and Shawn.
10/01/03
You don't need to be a WWII vet to feel the glee as the movie invites us to dance on Hitler's grave.
04/06/06
It's childlike in its silliness, adult in its message of how utterly idiotic starting WWII was, and downright brilliant besides.
01/01/00
The one aspect of the original Producers that still stuns is the roaring, over-the-top, in-your-face thereness of its two lead performances.
12/01/02
Wilder's like a baby monkey--you get the feeling he'd cling to your leg if you let him.
01/08/06
For those who haven't yet checked out Brooks' virgin foray into wild screen comedy, give The Producers a look for its pioneering aspects and introduction to a broad new mind.
06/06/02
A cheeky and intelligent look at a more disturbing side of live theatre.
08/24/04
I suppose you could call it a time capsule. Then again, Brooks' Broadway blockbuster may prove that blustery bad taste is timeless ... Ferrell is so ferociously over the top, I hope the other cast members all got rabies shots.
08/25/04
This is one of the funniest movies ever made.
01/01/00
Top CriticHilarious assault on the dubious ethics at work in the business side of the Hollywood movie industry.
06/27/02
The star not only indulges himself gluttonously, but the director seems to be doubled up with laughter at how funny he is being through Mostel; and the film bloats into sogginess.
12/08/01
Everything that can go wrong in an amateur film does go wrong, from the timing to the structure to the pitch of the performances.
08/12/08
Latest News for The Producers
November 03, 2006:
The Weekly Ketchup: RT's Halloween Movie Countdown, Another "Spider-Man" Villain, "Superman" Sequel News, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, Rotten Tomatoes counted down the best reviewed horror films just in time for Halloween, "Spider-Man 3" has another villain onboard, and... More...
September 23, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: The Producers
The smash-hit Broadway musical that was based on a cult-classic Mel Brooks comedy ... is now a movie again! This December sees the release of the all-new "The... More...
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