Podcast | The Producers (1967) and Fierce Creatures (1997)

The Producers 1967
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Two comedies. Two difficult productions. One flat-out classic. The stories of The Producers and Fierce Creatures are explored in this episode.


When it comes to making your feature directorial debut, The Producers isnā€™t a bad way to get off the mark! But Mel Brooksā€™ now much-loved comedy faced a bumpy path to the screen, not least the struggle to write it in the first place. That, and the kind of subject matter that Hollywood studios didnā€™t have much desire to go near.

Plus, it turned out that the fate of the film owed a bit of a debt to Peter Sellers.

After the success of A Fish Called Wanda meanwhile, the question was asked: would John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline come back for a sequel? Well, not quite: and despite Fierce Creatures being billed as an ā€˜equal not a sequelā€™, the comedy had a very, very difficult production.

Stories of both are told in this episodeā€¦

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