Program Type:
Film ClubAge Group:
AdultsProgram Description
Virtual Film Club
Each month we pick a culturally or historically significant film for library patrons to watch and discuss. Watch the film on your own time, then meet with our virtual film club to discuss the film on Zoom. Registration is required. Zoom Invites will be sent out via email.
Event Details
This month's film is The Producers (1967), directed by Mel Brooks.
Additional Resources:
GENERAL
Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTW2ZSjG5N0
‘The Producers’ page at Turner Classic Movies: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87256/the-producers#overview
REVIEWS
Roger Ebert (2000): https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-producers-1968
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (o8-01-2018): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/01/the-producers-review-mel-brooks-comedy-gene-wilder
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews (11-30-2013): https://reelfilm.com/mbrooks.htm#prod
Joseph Tomastik, Loud and Clear (04-30-2022): https://loudandclearreviews.com/the-producers-1967-review-film/
Dennis Schwartz (02-11-2004): https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/producers/
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic (04-13-1968): https://web.archive.org/web/20011105015328/http://www.tnr.com/classic/kauffmann04131968.html
Georg Rockall-Smith (~8 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1wYIR_KyxY
Tengy Talks… (~4 ½ minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VvoGbirqSY
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR (Mel Brooks)
Biography: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/melvin-kaminsky-2333.php
Biography by James Robert Parish, Alt Film Guide (2007, updated 2024): https://www.altfg.com/mel-brooks-biography/
Interview with Studs Terkel about ‘The Producers’ (~42 minutes): https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/mel-brooks-discusses-his-new-movie-producers
Timeline: https://timepath.org/mel-brooks
MISCELLANEOUS
Brian Scott Mednick essay on ’The Producers’ at National Film Registry: https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/producers.pdf
The Official Mel Brooks Channel at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MelBrooksOfficial
Materials at BAPL
Books:
B BROOKS Brooks, Mel. All about me! My remarkable life in show business (Ballantine Books, c2021)
B BROOKS McGilligan, Patrick. Funny man: Mel Brooks (Harper, c2019)
792.792 Sacks, Mike. Poking a dead frog: conversations with today’s top comedy writers (Penguin Books, c2014)
791.43 De Forest, Sloan. The essential directors: the art and impact of cinema’s most influential filmmakers (Running Press, c2021)
DVDs:
791.43 Mel Brooks: Make a noise
B WILDER Remembering Gene Wilder
CD:
CD SOUNDTRACK PRODUCERS
The Producers: original motion picture soundtrack