Gene Wilder told this story when he came to my school.<\/p>\n
Gene Wilder, a young actor, was in some show on Broadway, kind of a big break. Forgive me, can’t remember what it was. One night, after the show, a knock came on his dressing room door. He opened it, and there was Mel Brooks, a man he did not know. Chit-chat ensued, and Brooks then told him about a project he had in his mind that he would like to do … and he immediately thought of Gene Wilder for one of the leads. The project was called Springtime for Hitler<\/i>. This is all so amusing, in retrospect because … NOW we know how funny The Producers<\/i> is, NOW “Springtime for Hitler” is recognized as absolutely hilarious … but … then? The way Wilder told the story was so funny. Like: who is this nutty small Hobbit-like man who wants me to star in his movie called SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER?? Still, the two of them hit it off. Gene Wilder told him that he would love to read the script, whenever it was ready.<\/p>\n
THREE YEARS proceeded to go by. Not a word from Brooks. Nothing. Nada. Wilder continued on with his career, doing plays in New York. Life goes on. He didn’t yearn for Springtime for Hitler<\/i> to come to fruition … he basically put it out of his head, and never thought about it.<\/p>\n
Then – Wilder was doing some OTHER play, it had been 3 years since the original encounter, and again, a knock came on his dressing room door one night after the show. Wilder opened the door, and there stood Mel Brooks. Mel said, “You didn’t think I’d forgotten<\/i>, did you??”<\/p>\n
At that point, he had a completed script, and it was now called The Producers<\/i> and the rest is history.<\/p>\n
The other story I like about Mel Brooks, told by Gene Wilder, is this:<\/p>\n
Wilder wrote Young Frankenstein<\/i>, and despite the fact that Brooks only directed stuff that HE wrote, he agreed to take on the project. Apparently, this took some doing. But Wilder and Brooks were very good friends by this point, and finally Brooks said sure, he would direct.<\/p>\n
The two then began to have script conferences at Wilder’s apartment. (They lived only a couple of blocks away from each other). Apparently, these “script conferences” often degenerated into shouting matches. Creative differences.<\/p>\n
There was one particular time when Brooks, disagreeing with Wilder over something, absolutely FLIPPED OUT. Screaming, carrying on, until finally he stormed out of Wilder’s apartment, slamming the door behind him.<\/p>\n
5 minutes later, Wilder’s phone rang. Wilder picked up. “Hello?”<\/p>\n
Mel Brooks said, in a calm quiet voice, “Who on earth was that maniac<\/i> who just left your apartment? I could hear the screaming from down here! What a lunatic<\/i>, sheesh, you need to be more careful about who you let into your home …”<\/p>\n
So it’s Mel Brooks’ birthday today. I would imagine he is going through a rather tough time right now, since the death of his wife, Anne Bancroft.<\/p>\n
It must be a sad time for him. Meanwhile, the movie version of The Producers<\/i> musical is being filmed as we speak, but it cannot be easy to continue on after such a loss.<\/p>\n
So happy birthday, Mel! Thanks for the years and years and years of laughter.<\/p>\n
“Put … the candle … back<\/i>…”<\/p>\n
“Shut up, I’m having a rhetorical conversation.”<\/p>\n
“Not many people know it, but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer.”<\/p>\n
“You have exactly ten seconds to change that look of disgusting pity into one of enormous respect!”<\/p>\n
“How could this happen? I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?”<\/p>\n
“I’m tired of men always coming and going, going and coming and always too soon.”<\/p>\n
“Follow me, faggots!”<\/p>\n
“DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING DEATH FOR ME! DESTINY! DESTINY! NO ESCAPING DEATH FOR ME!”<\/p>\n
“Igor, would you give me a hand with the bags?” “Certainly, you take the blonde and I’ll take the one in the turban.”<\/p>\n
“If science teaches us anything, it teaches us to accept our failures, as well as our successes, with quiet dignity and grace.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gene Wilder told this story when he came to my school. Gene Wilder, a young actor, was in some show on Broadway, kind of a big break. Forgive me, can’t remember what it was. One night, after the show, a … Continue reading