Acclaimed Flop: The film only played in art cinemas and barely made its money back. That didn't stop it from winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
By most accounts, Zero Mostel is more or less playing himself in the original. Bialystock's bombastic personality and Hair-Trigger Temper were near-identical to Mostel's.
Gene Wilder really was terrified of Zero Mostel when they first met similar to how Leo is of Max.
It was Kenneth Mars' idea to have Liebkind's helmet spattered with pigeon shit.
Andréas Voutsinas did his own makeup.
Banned in China: The film was initially banned in Germany, as the No Swastikas rule is so Serious Business there, it doubles as Comically Missing the Point on many levels. It wasn't shown until it was included in a film festival featuring the works of Jewish filmmakers. The musical was also almost barred from a theatrical run until the creative team struck upon the idea of replacing the swastikas with pretzels and came to think that it actually made the play even funnier.
Breakthrough Hit: Mel Brooks was still best-known for the "2,000-Year-Old Man" routines with Carl Reiner at the time, so the film's acclaim opened up a new career for him as a writer-director.
Corpsing: The still inexperienced with comedy Gene Wilder has declared he was struggling not to laugh, usually repressing it by reacting with shocked expressions (most noticeable at Roger De Bris' home).
Creator Backlash: The subject of sort of a meta-example (in addition to the obvious in-universe example). In season 4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mel casts Larry David as Max on Broadway, knowing he's a terrible actor, in the hopes that The Producers will finally die because he's sick of it (see?). The season finale covers the debut performance with Larry in the role.
In case you didn't get the joke, there's a scene that takes place during Larry's performance, in a bar across the street from the theater, where Mel Brooks and wife Anne Bancroft are gleefully awaiting the lousy response for the show. Yes, just like the similar scene in The Producers itself.
And although Larry starts to falter, he manages to turn it around, ensuring the show's continued longevity (to Brooks' horror).
Darkhorse Casting: Gene Wilder was primarily a stage actor whose only film role had been as a One-Scene Wonder in Bonnie and Clyde. At the first reading of the script, he excused himself to leave for a dentist appointment he could not miss, when in fact he had to go to the unemployment office to collect a check for $55 he desperately needed at the time.
Lorenzo St. DuBois seems to be a 50 year old hippie, not recent college graduate. (Of course, that could be the point. Dick Shawn was in his mid-40s at the time of filming.)
Estelle Winwood lied about her age to get cast in the film. She was 85, portraying a 70 year old woman.
Descended Creator: In all three versions, the dancer who sings "Don't be stupid, be a smartie/Come and join the Nazi party!" is dubbed by Mel Brooks.
None of the cast members knew one another prior to filming, so most of their characters' reactions to one another are genuine. Gene Wilder was genuinely frightened of Zero Mostel, who had introduced himself to Wilder by grabbing him by the arm and kissing him on the mouth, and never knew what he was going to do next – although like the characters, they eventually became friends, with Wilder stating that Mostel "looked after me as if I were a baby sparrow." He was also terrified of Kenny Mars, who never broke character.
Zero Mostel was still recovering from a hit-and-run accident that had broken his leg, and was in constant pain through much of the shoot, hence why he looks to be suffering much more than he should when Estelle Winwood (Hold Me, Touch Me) is throwing him around.
The original title was Springtime for Hitler. The studio only accepted to do if it was changed, given lots of theaters would refuse to put Hitler's name on the marquee. Thus Mel Brooks came up with The Producers, if only because they're anything but. Ironically though, when Germany finally did allow the movie to be released it was given the "Springtime for Hitler" title despite (although it wasn't carried to later versions).
The original film was so offbeat and provocative it almost didn't get released - until Peter Sellers saw an early cut at a private gathering and pressured Avco-Embassy to support it, taking out an ad in Variety. (Ironically, Brooks had initially wanted Sellers for a role in the film but he turned it down.)
In a looser sense, this is the entire plot of the film—Bialystock and Bloom are meddling with their product, albeit to make it fail rather than succeed.
Fake Nationality: American actors Kenneth Mars and Lee Meredith as the German Franz Liebkind and the Swedish Ulla, respectively.
Hostility on the Set: Although Mel Brooks always had Zero Mostel in mind to play Bialystock, they reportedly had clashes of ego on the set, and found it hard to get along. Indeed, they never worked together again.
Jews Playing Nazis: Mel Brooks has a voice cameo in Springtime for Hitler as one of the Nazi dancers who says the line "Don't be stupid, be a smarty/Come and join the Nazi Party!"
At the time of shooting, Gene Wilder's dog was dying, so when Zero Mostel grabbed the blue blanket out of his hands, Wilder imagined him abusing his dog. Wilder was also exhausted from the long day of shooting that was about to wrap, and downed about eight chocolate bars before the cameras rolled to get a big enough sugar rush. (Huh, so that's how he got the part of Willy Wonka)
Kenneth Mars slept in his costume every night and smelled repulsive by the end of the shoot as a result. He also never broke character, which frightened his co-stars.
Mid-Development Genre Shift: Mel Brooks originally conceived the film as a non-musical play, but realized it required too many set changes. He then played with the idea of it as a book, but it had too much dialogue. Eventually, he realized it could only work as a movie.
Zero Mostel was thoroughly embarrassed by how out of control his weight was during the filming and lamented how, for all of the theater, fine art and political work he'd done, he'd be forever remembered as "That fat guy in The Producers."
Throw It In!: Gene Wilder's "Whom Has He Hurt" speech was mostly improvised based on a much shorter speech in Brooks's script. Kenneth Mars also made up some lines on the spot ("Churchill . . . and his rotten paintings. The Fuhrer. Here was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in von afternoon—two coats!").
Troubled Production: While the film managed to see completion both on time and under budget, with Mel Brooks managing to do everything in 40 days for a mere $941,000, it was no easy feat, as this article proves, seeing as Brooks was essentially learning the art of filmmaking as he was going along and the slower pace of production versus the more dynamic pace of television caused him no end of frustration. As a result, both his sleep and his temper suffered and he often butted head with the cast (Zero Mostel) and crew (editor Ralph Rosenblum).
Dustin Hoffman was initially cast as Franz Liebkind in the original film until Mike Nichols cast him as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate instead. According to Mel Brooks, he only let Hoffman audition for The Graduate because Brooks' wife, Anne Bancroft, was playing Mrs. Robinson in that film. Also, since Benjamin was a blond jock in the book, Brooks thought he'd never get the role.
And even then, it was probably due to Batman (1966) that Hoffman wasn't able to take up the role as Liebkind. Mike Nichols originally wanted Burt Ward to play Benjamin, but William Dozier wouldn't give him time off from playing Robin to do the part. Nichols fell back on Hoffman, and the rest is history.
Peter Sellers was the original choice Mel Brooks had for Leo Bloom. Poor Gene Wilder had to wait patiently to be cast, Brooks related.
The original screenplay had Franz Liebkind having Max and Leo swearing on The Siegfried Oath, accompanied by "The Ride of the Valkyries" and promising fealty to Siegfried, Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul von Hindenburg, The Graf Spee, The Blue Max, and Adolph "You know who." This explains Franz's outraged cry when entering Max's office, "You have broken the Siegfried Oath - you must die!" The Oath was restored in the musical version.
The same scene originally began with a longer speech by Liebkind explaining what he did during the war — he was part of Hitler's household staff who used to take him "his hot milk and his opium."
For the pivotal scene in which Max finally convinces Leo to help him with his scheme, Brooks was originally going to shoot it on the parachute jump ride at Coney Island. When he discovered that the ride was out of order awaiting repair, Brooks decided instead to shoot the scene at the fountain in Lincoln Center.
The scene where they blow up the theater originally ran longer, but was cut from the final film, likely for pacing purposes. Franz manages to douse the quick fuse and decides to detonate the dynamite remotely. When that fails, the trio go to check out what went wrong. Meanwhile, the drunk from the bar mistakes the detonator for a shoeshine stand and props his feet up, blowing up the theater.
Write Who You Know: Mel Brooks used to work for a similarly unscrupulous producer who would court older women into giving him money for his new show, the title of which was usually "Cash."
Acting for Two: Most productions of the musical call for a sparse cast for a cast of twenty, with each member of the ensemble playing at least four swing roles. This carried over to the 2005 movies, where Jim Borstelmann plays Scott the choreographer, Donald Dinsmore ("The Little Wooden Boy"), one of the little old ladies and a Bavarian peasant during the Springtime for Hitler number.
Irony as She Is Cast: Doubling as an example for the 2005 film. At one point, the Jewish Max Bialystock pretends to be Irish in an attempt to bluff the Irish cops he comes across. The role on Broadway was originated by Nathan Lane, who isn't Jewish but is Irish-American.
Recursive Adaptation: The film was supposed to have been a Broadway play originally, but Mel Brooks was turned down by the theatre companies he took it to. So he adapted his play into a feature film, which he then was able to adapt into a successful Broadway musical three decades later.
What Could Have Been: Martin Short was originally offered the part of Leo. However, doing so would have forced him to either be away from his family for longer than he felt comfortable or uproot them to New York, so he declined. Though, Short did get to play the character in the Los Angeles production in 2003.
Theater legend Jerry Herman was initially asked to write the songs, but Herman ultimately suggested Brooks write the songs himself.
2005 version
Box Office Bomb: Ironically, despite the theater version being one of the most successful Broadway plays of all time, the 2005 adaptation didn't do nearly as well: A $38 million profit versus a $45 million budget. The film is often used as an example of what "the medium is the message" means. The film was directed by the musical's director, Susan Stroman. Being her film debut, she shot it like it was a musical, but what works in the musical definitely would not work in the film. Whatever magic there was in a Tony-winning play was lost in translation. Mel Brooks makes no mention of the film in his memoir despite devoting an entire chapter to the making of the musical.
Gary Beach in the 2001 Broadway tryouts either did this out of character or in-character when Roger DeBris strikes his first Hitler pose.
When Roger DeBris appears as Hitler, the entire cast's grins become much wider and they look like they're trying not to laugh mid-performance, especially when in-character as Hitler he hits on them. It's Truth in Television that actors try to mess each other up onstage to break character.
Deleted Role: Ernie Sabella appeared in a number that was cut out where Bialystock and Bloom go to the bar during intermission to celebrate their flop: "Barkeep, drinks all around!" This would have Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa on-screen together.
Dyeing for Your Art: Nathan Lane shaved the top of his head in order to create a realistic comb-over.
Recursive Adaptation: The film is based on the musical based on the 1968 original. Brooks himself Lampshaded this during an interview, saying "It hasn't been done in claymation yet!"
Role Reprise: The film adaptation brought back quite a large number of the ensemble cast, and four of the leads: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their roles as Bialystock and Bloom, as do Roger Bart as Carmen Ghia and Gary Beach as Roger de Bris.
Self-Adaptation: Mel Brooks again produced and wrote the screenplay after working on the previous versions.
Nicole Kidman was going to play Ulla. Matthew Broderick allegedly offered her the role while they were filming The Stepford Wives together, to which she immediately said yes without seeing so much as a first draft of the script. Kidman subsequently backed out of the project, feeling she was working too much.
Ernie Sabella was originally set make a cameo in the remake, thus adding one more Lion King reunion to Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. Unfortunately, all of Sabella's scenes were cut from the final product.
, seeing as Brooks was essentially learning the art of filmmaking as he was going along and the slower pace of production versus the more dynamic pace of television caused him no end of frustration. As a result, both his sleep and his temper suffered and he often butted head with the cast (Zero Mostel) and crew (editor Ralph Rosenblum).