Synopsis
Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp With Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden is a fictional musical in Mel Brooks’s 1967 film The Producers, [1] as well as the stage musical adaptation of the movie, [2] and the 2005 movie adaptation of the musical. It is a musical about Adolf Hitler, written by Franz Liebkind, an unbalanced ex-Nazi played by Kenneth Mars (then by Brad Oscar and Will Ferrell in the stage musical and the 2005 film respectively).
The play starts with the musical number, “Springtime for Hitler.” Accompanied by dancing stormtroopers, who at one point form a Busby Berkeley-style swastika, [2] the play immediately horrifies everyone in the audience except the author, and one lone viewer who breaks into applause—only for the latter to get pummeled by other disgusted theatergoers. As the audience begins to storm out of the theater, the first scene starts, with L.S.D. dressed up in full Nazi uniform and talking like a beatnik. The remaining audience starts to laugh, thinking that it is a satire, and those that had left return to the theater.
Franz, disgusted, goes behind the stage, unties the cable holding up the curtain and rushes out on stage, confronting the audience and ranting about the treatment of his beloved play. During his diatribe, there is a clank as someone strikes through the curtain, apparently with a pipe or hammer, hitting the steel Wehrmacht helmet that he’s wearing. A moment later, in mid-rant, he exclaims “OW!” and falls over. The play continues, and the audience assumes that his performance was part of the act.
The play gets rave reviews, ensuring its success (and the conviction of the producers when the fraudulent financing is discovered).
My reaction to this movie: the best scene is the dance scene in which the Nazi storm troopers do a dance routine reminiscent of dancing girls in Las Vegas or the Rockettes. They throw flowers and kisses at the audience. The monster tough guys do “girlish things,” which, in the male chauvinist rule book, is verboten, it is humiliating. Of course, that is what makes good satire, good farce and an unusually good spoof. The movie is hilarious and well written and produced.
Some notes on New York City and State
The Stony Point Center is a Presbyterian religious retreat center. I have been there several times without realizing that it was also a center for liberal and pro-gay Christian organizing. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has its headquarters here, and Chris Glaser does lesbian and gay positive Christian retreats here. He leads the gay Presbyterian periodical More Light Update. I wish the West had something similar. MCCR once held a religious retreat weekend at Sisters of Saint Francis. Maybe we could start organizing more gay and Lesbian positive activities there, and equivalent to the Stony Point Center back east in New York.
The pastor of MCC New York is Reverend Pat Bumgardner, Rev. Bumgardner was a Catholic nun formerly. She is religiously zealous, very pro-gay rights and she is a Lesbian. She is also an intelligent organizer. About ten years ago she arranged for Metropolitan Community Church to offer space and time for gay and Lesbian Muslims in New York City to organize. About five years ago, a gay Mosque has come into being. I wonder if this was a “Post hoc ergo propter hoc.”
© 16 April 2018
About the Author
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
