Catch some sketchy comedy with ‘The Producers’

Comedy — or attempts at making comedy — is a tricky process. Just ask Daniel Tosh. Or Anthony Jeselnik. Or, most recently, Roseanne Barr.

One guy who knows something about comedy is Mel Brooks. And long before the current crop of comics came along, especially those who like to push the boundaries of comedy, Brooks was shaking things up on stage, on television and on the movie screen.

Take his original film "The Producers," which Brooks both wrote and directed. Starring two great comic talents, Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, the film tells the story of two Broadway producers who seek to make money by putting on what they consider to be a sure-fire failure. So they agree to produce the musical "Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden."

Yeah, a Broadway musical that is a love letter to the world's most reviled dictator. And to the shock of both our protagonists, the play is a rousing success. So, too, was Brooks' film.

Not that everybody loved it. Writing in the New Republic, Stanley Kauffman opined, "The star not only indulges himself gluttonously, but the director seems to be doubled up with laughter at how funny he is being through Mostel; and the film bloats into sogginess."

But Kauffman was part of a tiny minority. Many more critics echoed the sentiments of Susan Stark writing for the Detroit News: "This shamelessly low-brow, fearlessly satirical Brooks movie may just be Hollywood's ultimate satire, a furiously witty 'reductio ad absurdum' worthy of the great Augustans like Pope and Swift." Writing some two decades after the film's premiere, Roger Ebert had a more succinct view: "This is one of the funniest movies ever made."

Brooks' satirical film has endured, experiencing revivals both on Broadway and on the big screen. Now, however, the original is being re-released in honor of its 50th anniversary. And those of us living in this part of the Inland Northwest will be lucky enough to experience it.

"The Producers" will screen at 2 and 7 p.m. on June 3 and 6 at Regal Cinemas theaters at Northtown Mall and Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Stadium.

Comedy isn't always comfortable. But the best of it tends to live on, making life that much more bearable — especially in hard times such as the ones occurring right now.