The Producers

I’ve always liked Mel Brooks. From the Gene Wilder/Zero Mostel version of The Producers through History of the World: Part I, his movies are very funny.

I had interest in seeing The Producers on Broadway with its original cast. The last time I was in New York, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick had already left the show. I’m not a big fan of musicals to begin with, so I took a pass.

I saw the new Lane/Broderick Producers movie last week and was a bit underwhelmed. It’s a huge example of why some things play better on the stage than they do the screen.

The Producers lacks the grand spectacle of recent movie musicals like Moulin Rouge and Chicago. It doesn’t use the medium to make it more visually appealing like those other films did.

Lane and Broderick are a lot of fun to watch. In these roles, they play off of each other perfectly. I can see why the musical was so huge on Broadway. Unforfunately, the film version is a bit stiff and drags in the middle.

I saw this article online. All I can say is, “Don’t do it, Mel. You have enough money. Leave it alone”.

Posted by chuck at December 9, 2005 1:41 PM

Comments

The “Young Frankenstein” concept, idea, and half of the screenplay was created solely by Gene Wilder. It’s all over the DVD, I hope they don’t do it, but if they do I hope that Wilder gets mad dollars for it. It kind of sounds like he owns more of the property intellectually outside of the studio’s rights. More than Broadway Mel.

I’d take Men in tights 2, over any more musical crap.

Do a movie Mel!

Posted by: Andy at December 9, 2005 2:15 PM