THE PRODUCERS (1967) | Movie Reaction | A Sure-Fire Flop

[@gggooding]

Unsurprisingly Zero Mostel (Max) was one of the *greatest* hosts of The Muppet Show.

[@Madbandit77]

That was his last acting gig.

[@kalekain3521]

That thumbnail: No way out, no way out, no way out. . .

[@randysmith7045]

this film is easily in my top 10 of all time favs

[@vapors4villains]

It hits my top comedy for sure!

[@vincentsaia6545]

The "inebriate" at the bar was played by veteran character actor/acting teacher William Hickey who would later be nominated for an Oscar for PRIZZI'S HONOR.

[@wpl955g9]

I always remember him as Uncle Lewis in Christmas Vacation...

[@vincentsaia6545]

I guess my favorite scene is the beginning when Max and Leo are driving each other crazy. The Campbell Soup necklace Dick Shawn wears at his audition was a reference to avant garde artist Andy Warhol's painting of a can of Campbell Soup which caused a sensation in bohemian circles.

[@henryellow]

Ah, the antics of Max and Leo 😂 after they met. Oh, I didn't realize the Campbell Soup necklace was actually a reference to something. Thanks for sharing! 😊

[@halcromwell9030]

I think this was Gene Wilders second film. He had a bit part in "Bonnie and Clyde" and I belive it was shot before "The Producers"

[@fredklein3829]

I read Kafka's Metamorphosis and it's a classic well worth reading. Thanks to Kafka's best friend Max Brod for publishing all Kafka's works after Kafka's death, against Kafka's wishes.

[@henryellow]

Nice, one more book to add to my list 😊 I didn't know the book was published against Kafka's wishes. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@gammaanteria]

@@henryellow There's a great book on this subject (i.e., going against the creator/artist's intent with regards to their work) called "Testaments Betrayed: an Essay in Nine Parts" by the Czech author Milan Kundera. He talks in the book about Kafka and Brod.

[@melenatorr]

@@henryellow I stopped the video precisely to say that, yes indeed, there is such a story, and it's a classic. (by the way, Max in that blanket always makes me think of him as a caterpillar).

[@brandonflorida1092]

Franz Kafka was a Czech-German novelist and short-story writer, who is widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His works are renowned for their examination of human alienation, guilt, and absurdity in bureaucratic societies. Oh, also, "Wilder" is pronounced like the word "wild."

[@henryellow]

The Metamorphosis is shorter than I expected. Though it has a bit of absurdity, the message it implies is quite clear.

[@ink-cow]

You've seen Kenneth Mars before. Besides shooting at Gene Wilder as the Nazi playwright, he played darts with Gene Wilder as Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein. He did a lot of voice work late in life, and his most high-profile project before his death was probably voicing King Triton in Disney's original Little Mermaid.

[@henryellow]

Oh, so he played darts in Young Frankenstein 😂 I didn't recognize him.

[@Jsspres]

Mel Brooks won an Oscar for The Producers and a Tony for the Broadway version. Which was made into the 2005 remake. Also, the fish without eyes joke was used in Ghostbusters Afterlife.

[@yournamehere6002]

When something weird and paranoia inducing happened in a movie or even in life, people used to call it "kafka-esque"

[@henryellow]

Kafkaesque: - characteristic or reminiscent of the oppressive or nightmarish qualities of Franz Kafka's fictional world. I can't believe this is actually a thing 😂👍

[@polferiferus1938]

If not universally beloved, Kafka is extremely famous, but less well-known to younger generations. In my youth and the crowd I hung with, he was always being brought up. If you like the truly disturbing and depressing, Kafka’s your author, and his works WILL affect you. “The Penal Colony”, in particular, I would reckon.

[@melenatorr]

Zero Mostel (Max) was not only "not bad", he was a musical theater star of the first rank: the first Broadway Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof", among other highlights, including Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum": here's the intro number from the movie version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qX7Vm5ibn9J2pqs. And here he is as Tevye, in one of the more famous numbers from "Fiddler": kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJOtdqOZqcp-nZY

[@salsonny]

Dick Shawn as Lorenzo. Hilarious. Another monumental Hollywood comedy classic It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World Stars all of Hollywood's top comedians at that time, everyone wanted to be in it, they had to turn down alot of top people, Dick Shawn is also in it. Its a lot of fun.

[@flarrfan]

Much of the comedy in 4Mad World is dependent on knowing something about the actors and the many cameos by famous comedians. For those growing up in the 50s and 60s, they were all familiar faces. I think there is one millennial reaction to it, where the poor girl knew almost none of them (she recognized the Three Stooges, but I think that was it) and barely smiled much less laughed at anything. I love the movie because I get the jokes, but is there anyone left who understands why the would-be good Samaritan in the Maxwell saying "Well!" is so funny? A few of us boomers know, but anybody else? ETA I just re-watched Ashleigh's 4Mad World reaction, and she did laugh a few times before she got bored. The first and biggest came when Jimmy Durante "kicked the bucket".

[@henryellow]

Considering flarrfan's comment, if the movie jokes mostly rely on "knowing something about the actors and the many cameos by famous comedians", then I feel most jokes would go over my head. If it's a great movie even not knowing the references, then I could consider watching Mad(x4) World. Still, thanks for your suggestion salsonny 😉

[@nellgwenn]

He was also in the movie Evil Roy Slade. If you've never heard of it check it out. It's free on KZbin.

[@henryellow]

I'll add it to my list then 😊

[@immortalsofar5314]

The scam works because 25,000% of zero is zero. Came across a similar scam in an engineering company - so long as it goes bust, none of the investors notice anything was wrong beforehand.

[@vapoet]

I've wondered if that is the Disney strategy concerning Marvel and Star Wars. Everyone gets rich but the investors.

[@vapors4villains]

I love when people react to this movie! One of my favorites! Thank you so much for sharing (and clearly having so much fun with it)!

[@henryellow]

I'm glad you enjoyed my reaction 😊

[@philpaine3068]

Franz Kafka is considered to be one of the great writers of the early twentieth century. "The Metamorphis", written in 1915, is a superb story, but it is very, very dark and disturbing.

[@henryellow]

I've read it. It sends a very real message about the reality we live in. It's sad, but also true. People move on...

[@mysterychuck]

Metamorphasis is a great read.

[@fredrodnick2881]

I like how the fountain went on when they were outside in the middle of the night when the people who operate it must have been home fast asleep.

[@mikeduplessis8069]

In 2016 I was comparing Max Bialystock to D. Trump unexpectedly winning the presidency. Except Bialystock is less corrupt.

[@b54b32]

Just wondering, since you couldn't resist somehow drawing a political parallel between Bialystock and populist candidate Trump, while completely ignoring the fact that Clinton, a career politician, had to resort to personal attacks against at least tens of millions of those who disagreed with her politics in order to try and win the election, rather than just simply running on her record, how do you think the upcoming election will shake out, when Biden and his handlers for more than a year now have decided to employ the exact same strategy as Clinton, by name-calling, by lying, and by trying to gaslight the American voters regarding both his physical, and most certainly his cognitive abilities? In the last week for example, the excuses for Biden's abysmal debate performance have ranged from "a cold" to "he was "over-prepared" to "jet lag" from foreign trips taken a full ten days before the debate. In summary, do you think that Biden's angrily lashing out with the name-calling tactic against anyone who disagrees with him politically, rather than just simply running on his record, is going to be any more successful for him,. than the same losing tactic was for Clinton, back in 2016?

[@p.z.arnott2329]

I've read The Metamorphosis and I do recommend it.

[@iKvetch558]

Wow...a lot of really interesting films coming up on this channel...I think I will have to subscribe. 💯 Some folks will say not to bother, but I think you should absolutely watch the newer version of The Producers that Mel Brooks made based on the Broadway musical show. The cast is terrific, and make a great contrast/compare to the cast of this original, and there are enough differences between the specifics of the musical and the original that the musical really does have a character all its own.😎

[@henryellow]

Welcome aboard! 🤗 I see, I'll consider it then 👍 thanks for sharing your thoughts! 😊

[@iKvetch558]

@@henryellow Just to give you an idea, in the part of Franz Liebkind for the 2005 movie...you get Will Ferrell. So yeah...the newer version is definitely worth reacting to...the big decision is whether you watch it sooner so you can compare it to the original you just watched, or whether you wait a while so the material seems fresher to you. LOL

[@Christopher-Baltimore]

Thank you for reacting to my favorite Mel Brooks movie!

[@henryellow]

My pleasure. Hope you enjoyed the reaction 😊

[@Christopher-Baltimore]

@@henryellow I did. It was I think my first or second of your channel. I had a great time. Thanks 😊

[@EPShockley]

Now… You need to watch/react to, my personal favorite Brooks flick, “The Twelve Chairs”! 😁

[@henryellow]

Oh yes, that one is on my list. Thanks for your suggestion 😊

[@HuntingViolets]

There was no _Star Wars_ when this movie was made.

[@joshuah9109]

I'm sorry, I know he's young but when he said that I....😆😆😆died!!! No offense to this young man btw, it was just too funny.😆😆

[@gammaanteria]

Er liebt mich nicht: '...He loves me not.' (though I hear her saying 'Er liebt mir nicht').

[@Scsibut]

Love the reaction...great movie

[@henryellow]

Glad you enjoyed the reaction! 😊

[@melenatorr]

"A Wandering Minstrel" is from "The Mikado", a comic operetta by the 19th century British team of Gilbert and Sullivan. it's a satire on English politics and ethics using a fictionalized and fantasized Japan as a setting. Here's the song, from a 1960s production by the official G&S theater, the D'Oyley Carte theater: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h56uZYmXirh0isk (A fun movie about how this operetta came to be is "Topsy Turvey". You might like it).

[@henryellow]

You're referring to Topsy Turvy movie in 1999, right? I'll add it to my list 👍🏻 Thanks for sharing! 😉

[@melenatorr]

@@henryellow I do mean Topsy Turvy! I hope you get a chance to see it.

[@Otokichi786]

Ahh, "Springtime For Hitler," er, "The Producers" (1967), where it all began for Mel Brooks.;) 6:03 As a fan of "Peanuts," I wondered if Linus Van Pelt would become accountant Leo Bloom? 6:56 This is how the "Walt Disney" company keeps turning out sub-par movies and losing enough money to support The Third World! Kenneth Mars (Franz Liebkind) and Dick Shawn (Lorenzo St. Dubois) outshine the 2005 "re-make." (Then there's "Star Trek IV," where Mr. Spock "did too much LDS.")

[@henryellow]

I get what you mean 😉 The film title was supposed to be "Springtime For Hitler" but it was changed to "The Producers". I had to search up Linus Van Pelt. I've seen some "Peanuts" comic strips, but not familiar with it. Didn't realize he also has a blue blanky 😂

[@Otokichi786]

@@henryellow Yep, Charlie Brown's friend/classmate had a "baby blue security blanket" and sucked his thumb when he held it. Lucy, his older sister, kept trying to wean him off it, Snoopy kept trying to steal it, and Linus once said that he might turn it into a sport coat.;)

[@fredrodnick2881]

I thought the auditions were funny as well as the actual play, but always feel guilty liking this movie that made fun of the holocost even though mel brooks is jewish himself, however i used to take this movie as just a bunch of funny jokes in a funny plot. I noticed that you're very analytical and perceptive which is normally a good thing ,but to me to analyze everything sort of kills the comedy. I feel like telling people, just take the jokes and events at face value but then if you did that there wouldn't be a reason to make these videos. I am glad that you came to the right conclusions at the end and that you understand the morals of the movie.

[@henryellow]

Mel Brooks made this movie like that for a reason 😉 This is what he said 👇🏻 ===== Brooks jokes he received 1,100 letters “from every rabbi that ever saw it.” Still, he says he never aimed to offend, but rather to champion the power of comedy and humor. “I didn’t think I was sinful in any way,” he says. “I thought it was making a point: You get up on a soapbox and you argue with a Nazi, you’re going to lose. But if you can ridicule him and make people laugh, then you win. It’s as simple as that.” ===== Sometimes I just voice out my thoughts. I still enjoy comedy in my own way 😂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 😊

[@iKvetch558]

YT deleting comments about words that you used in this video. Did you turn up the moderation settings? See my post in your Community tab to find out what YT does not want me to say.

[@henryellow]

Nope, I didn't block anything or restrict the comments 🤔 It's quite strange, because this has happened to someone else in another video (and he didn't say anything offensive). It only happened for that particular video. I suggested him to comment on my community post if his comment gets deleted. Of course, you went to my community post right away 😂 It's not a problem, I'll read it there~

[@vincentsaia6545]

Pronounced "Gene Wiylder."

[@henryellow]

As in "wild"-er, right? I keep forgetting 😂 I just pronounce "wield"-er so naturally when I say his name...

[@vincentsaia6545]

@@henryellow Correct.

[@HuntingViolets]

@@henryellow Yes, like the word "wilder." Wild, wilder, wildest. Long "i" as in "smile."