Don’t Be Stupid, Be A Smarty, Come And Join The Nazi Party
Finally caught The Producers musical on DVD this morning. I’d never seen the stage production and never really wanted to; frankly, while it had its moments, I was never that big a fan of the original movie and, worse, I generally cannot stand Nathan Lane. He’s so annoying I just want to slap him most of the time. Also, I’ve felt for some time now that Mel Brooks was played out and hadn’t really made anything decent in many years.
So I was pleasantly surprised by how very enjoyable the movie musical was. I really liked it quite a bit, and was even a little mystified at some of the mixed reviews it got. I found it very funny, I found the music catchy and well-crafted, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the dance numbers. Really, it was quite good.
Putting a broadway show onto the silver screen is always difficult. Stage actors are always more over the top–by necessity–than movie actors. Director Susan Strohman basically didn’t try much to tone anything down for the movie production. So I suppose if you’re not used to bombastic and loud, maybe the movie will seem over the top to you. I thought it was great myself.
I’ve also known for a long time that Matthew Broderick fancied himself a song and dance man. But you don’t see him do much of that in movies. But he’s very good, actually. Having seen him in a quite credible version of The Music Man, I was still impressed; he really can sing and dance.
And, oddly enough, this was the first movie I ever saw Nathan Lane in where he did not annoy me. Perhaps it’s because he put his usual flaming queer personality on hold and played it straight, but I really liked him as Max Bialystock.
It was also a treat to see Will Ferrel and Uma Thurman singing and dancing. I never thought I’d see that out of either of them. And they were also quite good.
I was further shocked right at the end: it was only while watching the credits that I learned that Mel Brooks wrote all the music and lyrics himself. All of it. I was impressed, because the music is all very good. I knew he had a little background as a musician, but had no idea he had that kind of songwriting talent in him. I liked it better than almost any broadway music I’ve heard in the last 20 or 30 years.
I can tell that the stage production was probably even better, although I’ll probably never see it. In any case, I’d give this movie a solid four out of five.
*Update*: Here’s the best scene from the original.
Update 2*: If you look at this clip from the current musical, notice the very blond aryan tenor in the SS uniform who sings the opening solo lines? Who the hell is that? It’s driving me crazy. I know I’ve seen him somewhere but I don’t know where.
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The only movie rental in the last year I did not finish watching. My wife and I watched about 1/3 of it. We said WTF and ejected the disk. That is very rare for us (we paid for it, we have to watch it).
And I like Nathan Lane
I was about 30 minutes into the movie before I could decide whether I liked it or not.
By the end I’d decided I liked it quite well.
It’s probably the very blond hair that’s throwing you off. According to IMDB, it’s John Barrowman, whom you likely recognized as Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who.
So far, I’ve only caught the last bit, starting with the curtain rising. I’m a huge fan of the original and a huge fan of Matthew Broderick. I look forward to seeing the whole thing.
Martin: How the f**k did you do that, having not even seen the movie???
I looked the IMDB entry (the same one you linked) up and down and I just could not figure it out. I tried looking for “Nazi” and “trooper” and “singer” and a bunch of other stuff. He has no name in the movie so I kept guessing, looking for this or that unnamed “nazi” or whatever, and I couldn’t find it. Then you zoomed right in on it.
Although now as I write this I suddenly see that I probably gave you the clue that I was too stupid to think of: I called him a “tenor.” Which he is, obviously. I was just not smart enough to search for “tenor.” Apparently, you were smart enough to look for that. Or, maybe, you recognized his face better than I did. Heh. Whatever. 1,000 points are hereby awarded to you.
I had NO IDEA that Captain Jack Harkness could sing and dance, did you? He looks pretty cool with his hair bleached and Paul Newman-style contact lenses, doesn’t he? Plus that smart SS uniform!
:-) 
(Random Hollywood trivia observation: It shocks most people to learn this, but Paul Newman has brown eyes. He’s just worn bright blue contacts his entire career. Isn’t that funny?)
Yes, that is Captain Jack Harkness, of Dr. Who and Torchwood fame! LOL!
We’re marching to a faster pace
Look out here comes the master race!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Rhineland’s a fine land once more
Springtime for Hitler and Germany!
Watch out Europe, we’re going on tour!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany!
Winter for Poland and France!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany!
Come on Germans, go into your dance!
I can’t stop laughing.
Irony is lost on some people. So sad…
(Martin, you’ll love this movie.)
Just an old Fascist love song,
Coming down in three part harmony…
Tenor was one clue. Another was that I knew that the listing was in billed order, and that billed order very likely was order of appearance. (This film seems slavishly true to Broadway traditions.) So when I saw the listings for Officers O’Toole, O’Reilly, and O’Rourke (who were in the part I saw), I knew that was as far down the list as I had to look. Looking up, I guessed Ticket Taker was the before start of the show. So that left only ten lines to search, and most of those were clearly audience or workers. That left me with Lead, Stormtrooper Rolf/Auditioner, and Stormtrooper Mel. From there, it was easy.
Sometimes it seems I do my best mental work when I’m ill. I once won a state-wide math competition with a 100 degree fever.
FYI: As is pretty natural these days, Mr. Barrowman has a Web site.
I happen to know that Dean’s World has a number of German readers.
I hope you guys know that this entire thing is just a dark satire of an evil moment in European history. Yes, Germany went through a horrible psychotic episode some 60-70 years ago. The average German today, who was born well after the Nazi era, should not feel belittled. Neither should any Germans who were alive in that era who did not support the Nazis. It should be something we all look at with a little shame, and be happy to mock as unbelievably stupid and psychotic.
Evil is not best confronted with outrage. Evil is best confronted with mocking and derision.
Martin: Well you still won a well-deserved 1,000 points.
Barrowman’s got a quite beautiful tenor voice on him, doesn’t he? I never would have suspected. Plus he can dance!
I LOVE Nathan Lane, and I may be the only straight Mexican man who does. I also enjoyed this movie, even though it is not one of his best.
I saw the stage show, and it was much better than the movie version of the same. It had a better energy to it. The movie I thought was dull compared. But liked both just the same. Brooks is and shall remain brilliant.
I like Nathan Lane, too, though watching him always annoys me because I’m quite sure that as an actor (which I have not been since college days) I could absolutely do what he does (and maybe a little more manfully, too, Dean!). In fact remind me to tell you the story one day of that moment where I was almost — almost — suggested as a replacement for him in the Broadway show when Lane left it!
No, really! It was a fleeting moment… but I digress.
I can’t get past the idea that this show launches on the idea of Nazism being a laughing matter. It just isn’t, even though “Springtime for Hitler” is funny. But there is something called taste, which beckons us not to descend everywhere a muse bids us go.
Dean, you wrote, “Evil is not best confronted with outrage. Evil is best confronted with mocking and derision.” I don’t think mocking and derision would have done anyone in the Warsaw Ghetto or Treblinka any good. You don’t even really believe what you wrote — you don’t apply it to Iraq war, even. Of course, it posits a false dichotomy: Outrage has its place but as a way to “confront” evil it is decidedly minor-league. Evil is best confronted by commitment to fight for good, I would say. Mocking and derision may very well be part of the arsenal of that fight (as may outrage at some stage).
But this is just an enterntainment! Okay, then tell me you disagree with my point about good taste. De gustibus non est disputandum. But don’t call throwing moral sensibilities to the wind and enjoying a good belly laugh about how “silly” genocide and mass murder a “confrontation with evil,” guys. It’s more like an accomodation.
Ron: Like you, in my youth I was known to engage in random acts of thespianism. I competed at the state level in Illinois among High School drama kids, and I’ve done community theater too. I gave it up but I learned a lot about drama and fiction in the process.
You’re right about one thing: mocking and satire are not always the best way to respond to evil. I said that, but, I was being too glib.
But it can be a good response. I imagine that a Hitler would be far more upset at being portrayed as a bumbling clown than he would be if portrayed as satanic. He would rather have been portrayed as an evil king than as a buffoon.
Still, what was he but a punk loser who rose to power by telling people what they wanted to hear?
That does not look like Barrowman at all to me — I cannot for the life of me imagine how you recognized him, Dean.
Well I initially thought he looked just like Tom Cruise with a bleach job and contact lenses.
But I knew it was not Tom Cruise. So I was driven crazy: “I know that guy, but where do I know that guy from?? Who is that???”
Jerry, did you think that Barrowman could sing and dance like that?
By the way, one of the best films in my personal library is Triumph of the Will. I happen to know that JRogge has seen it too.
It’s patently obvious to me that Mel Brooks saw it too. And that just makes it funnier.
I’m not terribly surprised he could sing and dance like that. A lot of actors have musical talent (Hugh Laurie is another one). I don’t really know that much about him, except that he often overacts hammily in Torchwood. However, it doesn’t look to me like him at all. Of course, changing a person’s hair color or style often makes them look unlike themselves to me, since that’s a major part of how I recognize people.
But there is something called taste, which beckons us not to descend everywhere a muse bids us go.
The Chicago Reader’s brief listing for Blazing Saddles (my favorite Brooks work) proclaims that it offers “something to offend everyone in the audience”.
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