The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, January 18-24
The Producers (1968)
Directed by Mel Brooks
Most people are familiar with the story, whether they’re fans of this classic film or the stage musical, or suffered through the musical’s film adaptation… or even watched the Curb Your Enthusiasm arc about a restaging of The Producers with Larry David in the role played here by Zero Mostel. But even those unfamiliar with Mel Brooks’s stroke of genius will trace back to it via references, style and even a kind of humor that has permeated into popular culture. Nowadays the film might seem dated, but just another look is enough for you to start noticing how many people are willing to participate in a play about Nazis and Hitler, or who are actually undercover Nazis who become aware of or revel in their ideology through the production. After all, it seems that Nazis were always there—only this time they manage to be funny. Jaime Grijalba (January 19, 6:15pm as part of the New York Jewish Film Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center)