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For Mel Brooks, the original idea for “The Producers” wasn’t to make a big statement film, but to fashion a tribute to a bombastic stage producer he knew early in his career. In Fact, he wasn’t even thinking of a film when he germinated the concept in his fertile comic mind. Originally, he tried to write the story that became” The Producers” as a book titled “Springtime for Hitler,” but found he couldn’t make it work. Next, he tried rewriting the story into a stage production. Too many sets. Then someone suggested what he really had was a screenplay. Now, he just had to sell this impossible idea to a studio. For this, he agreed to alter the title – but rejected a demand that he change the name of the show within the movie to “Springtime for Mussolini.” Brooks readily admits that a lot of viewers found the film deeply offensive. They didn’t get the joke. But Brooks’ satirical instincts proved to be right on target. He’d created a classic with an enduring life matched by few other films, including a stage production and remake. But here’s the original in all of its outrageous glory, the one that made audiences gasp in 1967. With Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Lee Meredith, and Kenneth Mars in one of the most uproarious (and speediest) 88 minutes of film ever made.