“The Producers”

Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in "The Producers" (Embassy Pictures, 1968)

“The Producers” (Embassy Pictures, 1968). Zero Mostel (with the world’s best combover) plays Max Bialystock, a down on his luck Broadway producer. Gene Wilder plays Leo Bloom, his neurotic accountant. Together, Bialystock and Bloom hatch a plan to produce surefire flop of a play that will open and close in one night, allowing them to run off to Rio with all of the money. The play’s name? “Springtime for Hitler.” Written and directed by Mel Brooks, the film is filled with crazy characters, crazy humor and one of the craziest (and funniest) musical production numbers you’ll ever see. Brooks turned this film into an actual Broadway musical that was a huge hit in 2001; a subsequent film version of the musical was made in 2005. “Not many people know it, but the Führer was a terrific dancer.”