The Producers: stage vs screen

The Producers started as a movie. Mel Brooks wrote and directed the 1967 comedy with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and it was not a musical, though it has a few songs. In 2001, Brooks turned it into a Broadway musical, with a book co-written by Thomas Meehan and Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as the leads. Susan Stroman then filmed that stage show in 2005. Here is how the three versions differ.

Stage

Broadway musical (2001)

Screen

The Producers (1967), written and directed by Mel Brooks, and The Producers (2005), directed by Susan Stroman

1. The 1967 film has only a few songs

Brooks's original is a black comedy about a failing producer and a nervous accountant who try to profit from a flop. It is not a musical, but it has a few songs: "Springtime for Hitler," the hippie L.S.D.'s audition number "Love Power," and "Prisoners of Love" from the prison show at the end. For Broadway, Brooks wrote a full score, with songs like "The King of Broadway," "I Wanna Be a Producer," "Keep It Gay," and "That Face."

2. Ulla becomes a main character

In the 1967 film, Lee Meredith plays Ulla as a Swedish receptionist Max hires. On stage, she is still hired for the office, but she becomes a lead: she falls for Leo in "That Face" and runs off with him to Rio. Cady Huffman won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the part. In the 2005 film, Uma Thurman plays her after Nicole Kidman, first cast, dropped out.

3. Leo gets the girl and a trip to Rio

In the 1967 film, Gene Wilder's Leo stays in New York and goes to prison with Max. In the musical, Leo takes the investors' money and elopes with Ulla to Rio de Janeiro, while Max sits in jail. He then comes back just in time to speak up for Max at his trial. None of this romance is in the 1967 film, where Ulla is simply part of Max's office.

4. Roger De Bris plays Hitler

In the 1967 film, Christopher Hewett's Roger De Bris only directs, and the part of Hitler goes to a hippie actor, Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.), played by Dick Shawn. On stage, Franz breaks his leg on opening night, so Roger goes on as Hitler, and his flamboyant performance makes the audience take the show as satire. Gary Beach won a Tony for the role and repeated it in the 2005 film.

5. A very different ending

In the 1967 film, Franz tries to shoot them, the three try to blow up the theater, and they are arrested; the jury finds them "incredibly guilty," and in prison they stage "Prisoners of Love" while Max goes back to overselling shares. In the musical, Max is also found "incredibly guilty," but Leo returns to speak for him, and the judge sends Max, Leo, and Franz to Sing Sing. There they write "Prisoners of Love," win a pardon, and become successful producers.

6. Max and Leo: Mostel and Wilder, then Lane and Broderick

Zero Mostel played Max in the 1967 film, and Gene Wilder's Leo earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick originated the roles on Broadway in 2001, with Lane winning the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, and both repeated them in the 2005 film. Brooks's 1967 script won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

7. Songs cut from the 2005 theatrical release

The 2005 film follows the stage show closely: Stroman directed both, and Brooks and Meehan adapted their own book. Three stage songs, "The King of Broadway," "In Old Bavaria," and "Where Did We Go Right?," were left out of the theatrical release, along with parts of "Along Came Bialy." "The King of Broadway" is a bonus track on the soundtrack album. Will Ferrell plays Franz, a role Brad Oscar originated on Broadway.

8. Three very different receptions

The 1967 film opened to mixed reviews and harsh criticism of its taste, but grew into a sleeper hit and was added to the National Film Registry in 1996. The 2001 musical won a record 12 Tony Awards from 15 nominations. The 2005 movie musical earned mixed reviews and about $38.1 million worldwide on a $45 million budget, and some critics faulted it as little more than a filmed stage show.

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