Editing The Producers (1967 film) (section)

=== Writing and development ===
The title ''Springtime for Hitler'' was first coined by Brooks as a joke during the press conference for ''[[All American (musical)|All American]]'' in 1962. Shortly afterwards, he also decided to relate this title to a character named Leo Bloom, an homage to [[Leopold Bloom]], protagonist of [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]].''<ref name=vf>{{cite web|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2004/01/making-the-producers|title=The Making of ''The Producers''|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=January 2004|first=Sam|last=Kashner|access-date=February 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216024853/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2004/01/making-the-producers|archive-date=February 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> It was reused by him years later once he had an idea about "two schnooks on Broadway who set out to produce a flop and swindle the backers".<ref name=pb75 /> The inspiration was some people Brooks met during his early show business days: Benjamin Kutcher, a New York producer who financed his plays by sleeping with elderly women, became the basis for Max Bialystock,<ref>{{cite book|title=It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks|page=52|first=James Robert|last=Parish|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2008|isbn=9780470225264|location=Hoboken}}</ref> and the scheme had origins in two theater producers who had a lavish lifestyle while making various unsuccessful plays. In her 1943 novel ''[[The Fountainhead]]'', [[Ayn Rand]] in fact anticipates Mel Brooks's premise by having a consortium of unscrupulous businessmen sell 200 percent of a planned vacation resort which they intend to be a disaster, to that end hiring the controversial modernist architect Howard Roark, but his buildings are a great success, and the backers are prosecuted.<ref>[[Ayn Rand]], ''[[The Fountainhead]]'', [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] ed., pp.534-5</ref> When imagining what play "would have people packing up and leaving the theatre even before the first act is over", Brooks decided to combine Adolf Hitler and a musical.<ref name=guardian /> Brooks, in a 2001 episode of ''[[60 Minutes]]'', stated that, while serving in the army, he was called "Jew boy", and he lightheartedly admitted that he made ''The Producers'' to "get even" with antisemites, particularly [[Hitler]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shales|first=Tom|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/04/14/on-60-minutes-springtime-for-mel-brooks/3f3f4d56-ff9c-4fdc-aca8-93197f7bd1e8/|title=On '60 Minutes,' Springtime for Mel Brooks|date=2001-04-14|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2020-04-06|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In another interview, he further explained his reasoning, stating,

{{blockquote|More than anything the great Holocaust by the Nazis is probably the great outrage of the 20th century. There is nothing to compare with it. And&nbsp;... so what can I do about it? If I get on the soapbox and wax eloquently, it'll be blown away in the wind, but if I do Springtime for Hitler it'll never be forgotten. I think you can bring down totalitarian governments faster by using ridicule than you can with invective.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1978/4/17/interview|title=Interview |date=April 17, 1978|last=Brooks|first=Mel|website=Maclean's |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>}}

Brooks first envisioned his story as a novel, and changed it to a play when publishers told him it had "too much dialogue. Not enough narrative".{{citation needed|reason=IMDb is [[WP:RS/P|not a reliable source]]|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Mel |date=September 14, 2017 |title=The Comedy Writer: Mel Brooks |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/podcast/comedy-writer-mel-brooks/ |access-date=March 7, 2023 |website=PBS}}</ref><!--<ref name="makingof">{{IMDb title|0425221|The Making of ''The Producers''}}</ref>--> He wrote the script in nine months, with the help of secretary Alfa-Betty Olsen.<ref name=pb75>{{cite news|title=The Playboy Interview: Mel Brooks|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/16/mel-brooks-is-always-funny-and-often-wise-in-this-1975-playboy-interview.html|publisher=[[Playboy]]|access-date=July 11, 2018|last=Belth|first=Alex|date=February 1975|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205184916/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/16/mel-brooks-is-always-funny-and-often-wise-in-this-1975-playboy-interview.html|archive-date=December 5, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> During the process, he mentioned in an October 1966 interview with ''[[Playboy]]'' that he was working on ''Springtime for Hitler,'' "a play within a play, or a play within a film – I haven't decided yet".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Playboy Interview: Mel Brooks|url=http://www.brookslyn.com/print/PlayboyOct1966/PlayboyOct1966.php|magazine=[[Playboy]]|last=Siegel |first=Larry|date=October 1966|access-date=July 11, 2018}}</ref> Then, it evolved into a screenplay to take advantage of various settings, as "it could go places, it wouldn't have to stay in the office".<ref name=vf />

As Brooks sought backers for his 30-page [[film treatment]], both [[major film studios]] and independent filmmakers rejected ''Springtime for Hitler,'' finding the idea of using Hitler for comedy outrageous and tasteless (with some even stating that they would consider the script if Brooks changed it to ''Springtime for [[Mussolini]]'').<ref name=vf /> This changed as Brooks's agent arranged for him to have a meeting with a friend of his, New York producer [[Sidney Glazier]]. Glazier laughed so much at Brooks's performance of the script, he accepted the project by saying, "We're gonna make it! I don't know how, but we're gonna make this movie!"<ref name=billboard>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA87 |title= 'Producers' Producer: The Man Behind a Classic|newspaper= [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|last=White |first=Timothy|date= April 26, 1997|access-date=January 9, 2010|page=87}}</ref>

Glazier budgeted the film at $1 million, and sought financiers. Half the money came from philanthropist [[Louis Wolfson]], who liked the idea of laughing at a dictator,<ref name=guardian /> and the remainder, along with the distribution, was arranged by [[Joseph E. Levine]] of [[Embassy Pictures]]. Levine's only condition was to change the title, as he felt many distributors would not carry a picture named ''Springtime for Hitler.''<ref name=billboard /> Brooks renamed it ''The Producers,'' considering it [[ironic]] as "these guys are anything but producers".<ref name="makingof">{{IMDb title|0425221|The Making of ''The Producers''<nowiki/>}}</ref> As Brooks "couldn't think of anybody to direct it", eventually he decided to take the task for himself, even though he himself had only directed one play before.<ref name=pb75 /> While Levine was insecure in having an inexperienced director, Brooks convinced him by saying it would be cost-effective, and he knew how to do physical comedy after being a [[stage manager]] in ''[[Your Show of Shows]].''<ref name=makingof /><ref name=billboard />