The great Zero Mostel plays down-and-out Broadway producer Max Bialystock, a character of Ben Jonsonian magnitude reduced to making love to elderly widows in an effort to raise financial backing. Gene Wilder is his hyper-nervous accountant who unintentionally comes up with a dubious get-rich-quick scheme requiring a colossal flop. The two agree on the sure-fire disaster Springtime for Hitler, a kitschy musical tribute to Adolf written by a crazed, unassimilated Nazi (Kenneth Mars). Amazingly, the tasteless Busby Berkeley-meets-Leni Riefenstahl musical turns out to be a huge Broadway hit. The hilarious farce, a cult classic, earned Brooks an Oscar for best original screenplay and spawned a Broadway production starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.