Rating PG
Length 1h28
Release 09.10.1969
Director Mel Brooks
About A Broadway producer decides to get rich by creating the biggest flop of his career.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: BBC IPlayer
Trailer:
The Good
Gene Wilder is incredible. From his opening hysterics to the closing captive audience, he’s outstanding with his comic timing.
It’s a lean 85 minutes and it’s technically not a musical. Having seen the 2005 outing first, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the original is much lighter on the songs.
The Bad
The Nazi play within a film can be misinterpreted. What you have to remember is; this is created by Mel Brooks famous for two things. Mainly the satirical comedy, but the other is that he’s Jewish.
So while there are many at the time of release, and perhaps even now upon a first watch, who saw this film as offensive and missed the point it truly is an amazing feat to take a hated figure and reduce him to a punch line.
The Ugly
I don’t know what it was about the 60s, but it was way too comfortable with its misrepresentation of rape. The Knack … and How to Get It (1965) has a main character running around screaming rape, for anyone she comes across to laugh at her.
The Producers has one of the old broads ask for sex play with Bialystock that is the ‘rape of …’ someone or other. Thankfully, I Think we’ve done away with this trope, much like using asbestos in our buildings. However, it really threw me and I felt like being slapped. No one, and I mean no one, wants to be raped. In fact the phrase is non-sensical.
Final Thoughts
a
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