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| Special Features: |
Widescreen anamorphic and Full-screen formats
Chapter selection
Documentary: "Making of The Producers"
Sketch gallery
Playhouse outtake
Photo gallery (40 still photos)
Peter Sellers' statement read by Paul Mazursky
Trailers
Soundtrack spot
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| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Full frame Pan and Scan (1.33:1)
[DS-RSDL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French.
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) is an over the hill Broadway producer who stays afloat by seducing elderly women for investment money. Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) is a babe-in-the-woods accountant doing a small job for Max. Leo tells Max that a dishonest man could actually make more money from a play that flopped than one that were to be successful. Max seduces Leo and the men set out to find investors and a terrible play to put on. 
Mel Brooks made his feature film debut in 1968 with "The Producers." The film still packs a punch today. Although certain scenes seem a bit dated, "The Producers" is still one of the funniest films ever made. I haven't been fortunate enough to see the hit Broadway version of "The Producers," but I believe that play's success owes a lot of its success to the strength of Brooks' original film script.
 The cast is perfect. Zero Mostel could make a person laugh with one look more than most other actors could with 20 pages of dialogue. Gene Wilder is great as the nebbish Leo Bloom, professional victim. Leo is seduced by Max's charm and gruff. Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars, Lee Meredith, Christopher Hewitt, Estelle Winwood and Andreas Voutsinas round out a great cast. The musical numbers in the play-within-a-movie "Spingtime For Hitler" will keep you laughing out loud. "The Producers" is a classic of American comedy. Don't miss this DVD.
Great movie, sound and picture. Outstanding extras. The only thing that would have made this DVD better would have been a commentary track by Mel Brooks and the surviving cast members.
 Picture Quality: 10/10
MGM restored the film for this DVD. The remastered transfer is excellent. I didn't notice any artifacts in the form of scratches or grain. Nice rich colors. The "Springtime For Hitler" scenes are a perfect example of how deep the colors are. I noticed a few glitches on some of the special features, but not in the movie itself.
Sound Quality: 10/10
The DVD contains two sound tracks. There is the original mono soundtrack, and an enhanced 5.1 track. I preferred the enhanced soundtrack. The music is great. No distortion. nice balance between the hi and low ranges. No loss of dialogue.
Menu: 10/10
Great design based on the film. Easy to navigate. Animated chapter selection.
 Extra Features: 10/10
The documentary "The Making of The Producers" is great. It is broken into chapters as if it were a Broadway play. It includes an intermission in which Lee Meredith proves she still has IT. She recreates her dance scene; shaking what she's got, and boy does she still have it.
The documentary includes interviews with Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Lee Meredith and other crewmembers. There are some great stories. Turns our that Dustin Hoffman was originally signed to play the Kenneth Mars role, but a little film called "The Graduate" came along.
 The 'Sketch Gallery' is an animated musical montage of production design sketches. There is a photo gallery, which includes 40 stills from the movie. There is a trailer for this film and four other MGM DVDs.
There is one deleted scene involving Mostel, Wilder, Mars and character actor William Hickey. It appears that the boys are trying to blow up the theater with dynamite after it turns out that "Springtime For Hitler" was a hit instead of a flop.
Director Paul Mazursky reads a letter written by actor Peter Sellers after the actor saw "The Producers."
The Final Word:
"The Producers" is a must have DVD. One of Mel Brooks’s best works. Still funny after all these years.
Rusty White
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