The Producers (1967 film) 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, 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." Brooks renamed it "The Producers," considering it ironic as "these guys are anything but producers." As Brooks "couldn't think of anybody to direct it," eventually he decided to take the task for himself, even though
The Producers (1967 film) consensus reads, "A hilarious satire of the business side of Hollywood, "The Producers" is one of Mel Brooks' finest, as well as funniest films, featuring standout performances by Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 97 out of 100, based on critics, making it one of the highest-rated films on the site, as well as the second-highest-rated comedy (behind "The Wizard of Oz"). In his review decades later, Roger Ebert claimed, "this is one of the funniest movies ever made." Ebert wrote, "I remember finding myself in an elevator with Brooks and