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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 50 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Producers, The
| Shortly after the movie opens, timid accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) walks in on Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) as he is entertaining one of his little old lady paramours, "Hold me-touch me", who is obsessed with erotic role-playing. What distinguished British actress plays this role? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Estelle Winwood. Winwood, known for her saucer-like eyes, began acting at age five and continued well into her nineties (she died at age 101). She starred in the very first Broadway play to win the Pulitzer prize: "Why Marry?" (1918) and acted with particular distinction in the plays of Shaw, Maugham, and Noel Coward. Her movie credits include "Quality Street", "Dead Ringer", "The Misfits", "The Swan", and "Murder by Death" (as well as "The Producers").
| It is Leo who initially suggests that they should collaborate on the worst musical ever written in order to get rich? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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f. Leo does initially pose the theory that a flop could make more money than a hit; he then proceeds, at Max's prompting, to explain how he could do this if he were an unscrupulous, dishonest person. But he is horrified when Max actually decides to do it; even more so when he suggests that they should go into it together.
| At one point Max complains that the window in his office os so filthy that he can't tell whether it's day or night. How does he clean it? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Throws coffee on it and wipes it with his cravat.. Mostel's timing and delivery makes this bit hilariously funny.
| Eventually, Max convinces Leo to go along with his scheme and the two men do a triumphant dance on this famous NYC landmark: ____________ ? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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The Lincoln Center Fountain.. This is the culmination of a sequence in which Max invites Leo to lunch "al fresco" (he buys him a hot dog from a stand), takes him on a carousel, a boat ride in the lake, and shows him the city from the top of the Empire State Building, all to "seduce" him into collaborating with him in his plan. The water in the fountain goes on just as Leo cries "I want everything I ever saw in the movies! I'll do it! By God, I'll do it!"
| Having discovered the perfect bad play, "Springtime for Hitler", the men go to visit the author, Franz Liebkind, at his apartment building. They are directed to go up on the roof by an elderly woman in curlers and a hair net (Madlyn Cates) who, apparently, spends the day leaning out of the window screening visitors. What does she describe herself as? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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The concierge. She pronounces it "con-see-urge". Her husband had previously been the "concierge", but he died.
Birds. They are pigeons, though she doesn't specify this. She just says that "He keeps boids. Dirty, disgusting, filthy, lice-ridden boids. Ya usta be able to sit out on the stoop, like a poysin. Not anymore! No, sir!"
| When they first approach Franz (Kenneth Mars), he thinks they are government agents who have come to arrest him as an ex-Nazi. What patriotic song does he burst into to assure them that he loves America? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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America the Beautiful. "'Oh beautiful fur spacious skies, fur amber vaves of'... Vat do you vant!." When they assure him that they are there because they want to produce his play, he breaks into a joyful rendition of "Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles". When Leo warns him that people are listening, he switches to "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and quietly suggests that they go inside and talk over a glass of Schnapps.
That he was a great dancer. "Not many people know zis, but ze Fuhrer vas a terrific dancer!"
Churchill. "Churchill, vis his cigars und his rotten painting...Hitler vas better looking zan Churchill, he dressed better zan Churchill, he had more hair, told funnier jokes, he could dance ze pants off Churchill!"
| Having secured the rights to the worst play ever written, Max takes Leo to see the worst director on Broadway- one Roger de Bris. What future sitcom star plays this flamboyant character? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Christopher Hewett ( "Mister Belvedere" ). The English-born Hewett, like Estelle Winwood, began acting at an early age (7, in a production of "Midsummer Nights Dream"). He was in the original Broadway cast of "My Fair Lady", and appeared in the classic films "The Lavender Hill Mob", "The Fallen Idol", and Mel Brook's "The Elephant Man". In the eighties, he appeared as the title character in the TV sitcom "Mr. Belvedere", as well as "Fantasy Island". Hewett died in 2001.
White. Carmen Giya, de Bris' bizarre "assistant", asks the men to remove their shoes before coming in because "White, white, white is the color of our carpet!"
| De Bris greets the men wearing a dress, to Leo's great consternation. He is costumed as the Grand Duchess Anastasia for a choreographer's ball that he is attending with Carmen Giya, his assistant. However, looking askance at himself in the mirror, he decides that he looks more like the movie character ____________ ? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Tugboat Annie. He asks the extremely uncomfortable Leo what he thinks, urging him to "...Be cruel, be brutal, because God knows, they will!" Leo, at a loss for what to say, asks "Where do you keep your wallet?"
| In the audition scene, one of the funniest in the film (or any film), all of the hopefuls for the role of Hitler are rejected (some before they have sung a note). At the last minute, a spaced-out "flower child" (Dick Shawn) arrives who wanted to audition for another show ("Boomerang"), but came to the wrong theater. They let him perform his "audition piece", a rambling, incoherent monologue called "Love Power" ("And I give a flower to the garbageman; he put my girl into a garbage can!"); Max triumphantly declares "That's our Hitler!". He says that his friends call him L.S.D. (his initials). What is his actual name? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Lorenzo St. Du Bois. He actually has trouble remembering his name. The expression on de Bris' (Hewett's) face while listening to him "sing" is priceless.
| With some of the money they have raised, Max buys a "toy"- a shapely blonde Swedish "receptionist" named Ulla (Lee Meredith). What arousing task does Max ask her to perform? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Lighting his cigar.. Her other "duties" include answering the phone ("Bialyshtock und Bloom, Bialyshtock und Bloom. Gut tag pur day!"), dancing to music on the phonograph, "getting the car" ("Oooh! Go to motel?!") and reclining seductively on the desk.The "Ulla" scenes are definitely un-P.C (but then the entire movie is!).
Offers a bribe to the New York Times critic. He tries to slip the Times critic a hundred dollars to insure a good review, knowing the man will be highly insulted. The critic throws the money to the ground in disgust, and Max chortles with glee "He'll kill us!"(I wonder, though, was the critic insulted at being offered a bribe at all, or was he upset because it was only a measly hundred bucks?)
| In the famous "Springtime for Hitler" opening number, who says the classic line "Don't be stupid, be a smarty! Come and join the Nazi party!"? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Mel Brooks. A nice Hitchcockian touch (Brooks can also be heard saying this line on the original cast album of the Broadway show). If I am not mistaken, he makes an appearance in the audition scene as well, playing the guy in the Hindenberg getup (wrong war) who sings "Haben sie geheard das Deutsches band? Mit ze Bang! Mit ze Boom! Mit ze bing-bang, bing-bang boom!"
| What well-known actress plays Eva Braun in the first scene (after the opening number) of "Springtime for Hitler" ("Er lieb mir, er lieb mir nicht. Du lieb mir nicht!... Why dontcha pay attention ta me, ya big dictator?") ? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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Renee Taylor. The talented comedienne and character actress began her career as a semi-regular on "The Jack Paar Show". With her husband Joseph Bologna, she has produced and appeared in Broadway shows such as "Lovers and Other Strangers". She is best known to most as the mother of Fran Drescher's character on the TV sitcom "The Nanny". Although her screen time in "The Producers" is extremely short, it is her high-pitched, nasal voice at the beginning of the opening scene of "Springtime for Hitler" that initially catches the attention of the audience, who are beating a hasty retreat after the opening number.
| Ultimately, the show becomes a surprise hit, thanks largely to L.S.D.'s outlandish, unintentionally hilarious performance as Hitler. In desperation, the men, along with Liebkind, decide to blow up the theater, but this, too, backfires (literally). They end up in jail, where they proceed to create a show starring the prison inmates. What number are they seen rehearsing at the end of the film? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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We're Prisoners of Love. While they rehearse, Leo is seen overselling stock in the play to the prison inmates, guards, and the warden!. Some people just never learn!
| This film was a tremendous success when it premiered and made Brooks one of the hottest directors in Hollywood overnight? | Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
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f. The film was actually not very successful, and a discouraged Brooks gave up moviemaking for a while. It has since become a cult classic and, of course, a blockbuster musical. Brooks, needless to say, went on to produce "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", "High Anxiety", "History of the World, Part I", "Robin Hood; Men in Tights", Etc., etc.
Old Buzzard. The picture opens with the silhouettes of two old homo sapiens enjoined in a compromising position, doing God-doesn't-want-to-know-what. When the old lady gives him the check, he says goodbye to her, and as she leaves, his disposition changes to a grumpy snarl, and he mutters, "Old Buzzard".
Cardboard. In the middle of Max Bialystock's eloquent soliloquy, when he is talking about his current lifestyle, he suddenly bursts out, "I'm wearing a cardboard belt!" and tears it up in pieces.
Leo Bloom. Max Bialystock, after his Shakespearean tirade, went to lie down on the couch, leaving Leo Bloom to doctor his books. While Max was falling asleep, Leo Bloom formulated the scheme out loud, and Max jumped on the opportunity.
The worst play ever written. The correct answer is the worst play ever written. What else would a comic genius like Mel Brooks think to use?
Franz Liebkind. Max Bialystock's a producer, not a playwright. Wagner wrote operas, and while the concept of using Arthur Miller would have been funny, common sense will prevail when you simply analyze Mel Brook's humour, there is no other choice that seems plausible.
The Duchess Anastasia. When Bialystock & Bloom first meet the potential director, he is getting dressed for a costume ball. He says that he is going as the Duchess Anastasia, and that this year he is not sure he will win.
25,000 %. Leo says to Max, "Max, you can only sell 100% of anything." Max says, "And how much of Springtime for Hitler have we sold?"
Leo says, "25,000 percent". Voila, your answer!
| What is the name of Max's show that has just flopped at the start of the film? | The Producers
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Funny Boy. This is right at the start of the film. Everybody seems to hate the show. The crowd at one point sings, "What a disaster."
Later on Roger and Carman both seemed to enjoy it. Roger says "Max darling, we loved "Funny Boy", didn't we Carman?"
Because he caught him feeling up the old lady. Leo: 'I'm terribly sorry I caught you feeling up the old lady'.
Max: 'Feeling up the old lady. Thank you, Mr. Tack'.
This is just before the 'blue blanket' scene. Hold me Touch me had been in, wanting to play her 'dirty little games'.
| "The penalty for breaking the Siegfried Oath is Dess?" Is this exactly how it was said in the movie? | The Producers
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True. Max: “Dess? Is that anything like death?”
Franz: “Yeth!”
This is after Max and Leo have taken the Siegfried Oath, which is the pledge of total allegiance to Hitler. Because of Franz's accent, he pronounces death as "Dess". This makes the scene funnier.
| In the Keep it Gay scene, what is Roger's excuse for not wanting to be the director of Springtime for Hitler? | The Producers
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Too dark, too depressing. "Too dark, too depressing
The theater's so obsessed
With dramas so depressed
It's hard to sell a ticket on Broadway
Shows should be more pretty
Shows should be more witty
Shows should be more...
What's the word?"
Leo:
"Gay?"
This is the beginning of the "Keep it Gay" song. It is a very funny scene which even includes Max and Leo dancing around.
Eat big Swedish Breakfast. "Well, Ulla wake up every morning at five AM.
From five to seven, Ulla like to exercise.
From seven to eight Ulla take long shower.
From eight to nine Ulla likes to eat big Swedish breakfast. Many different herrings.
From nine to eleven, Ulla like to practice her singing and her dancing.
And at eleven, Ulla like to have sex.
So, what time should I get here?"
Max and Leo have just offered Ulla a job and quickly reply "Eleven" after this speech.
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