The Producers

"Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour!"

1968 1h 29m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 940🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●96Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 63,624

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A conniving Broadway producer and his meek accountant plan to profit from charming wealthy old biddies to invest in an overbudget production, and then put on a sure-fire disaster, so nobody will ask for their money back — and what's more disastrous than a tasteless musical celebrating Adolf Hitler.

“Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Zero Mostel
Max Bialystock
Gene Wilder
Leo Bloom
Dick Shawn
Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.)
Kenneth Mars
Franz Liebkind
Estelle Winwood
"Hold Me Touch Me"
Christopher Hewett
Roger De Bris
Andréas Voutsinas
Carmen Ghia
Lee Meredith
Ulla

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mel Brooks
Writers: Mel Brooks
Languages: German, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mel Brooks, shot by Joseph F. Coffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Morris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph Rosenblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder and Dick Shawn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mel Brooks directs. Joseph F. Coffey behind the camera. John Morris scores. Ralph Rosenblum cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
358 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.
5Directed by Mel Brooks, shot by Joseph F. Coffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by John Morris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Ralph Rosenblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder and Dick Shawn carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Hollywood Never Faced a Zanier Zero Hour!".
10IMDB entry: tt0063462 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "nazi", "cheating", "dark comedy", "musical".
12Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph F. Coffey
Original score: John Morris
Editing: Ralph Rosenblum
Production design: Charles Rosen
Costume design: Gene Coffin
Makeup / hair: Irving Buchman
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $947,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Producers (1968)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 96/100
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 63,624 votes
MPAA: PG
US box office: $328,673

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 5 nominations total

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mel Brooks

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Jeff_342017-02-10
★ 10/10
Greatest of all Time - GOAT - Best comedies. Easily my number one. This film can be rewatched over and over again - always just as hilarious and timeless.
adorablepanic2020-04-10
★ 9/10
THE PRODUCERS (1967) - Mel Brooks' first feature film starts with the funniest opening credits sequence I've ever seen - a monetarily motivated rendezvous between a serial Broadway failure and a sexually insatiable octogenarian - and then proceeds to get even more hilarious as it progresses. The fabulous Zero Mostel somehow manages to chew scenery for breakfast, lunch and dinner while never overshadowing any of the other players (whose performances are all also appropriately broad, to be honest). Interestingly, were it not for a little known film by the name of THE GRADUATE (1967) casting while this film was going into production, we would have had Dustin Hoffman as the starry-eyed Nazi playwright. So Dustin went on to fame in another picture; Kenneth Mars ended up with a juicy role in just his second feature film; and Mel got to skewer the Third Reich and win an Academy Award for writing while doing it. Sometimes things just work out.