Part of our ‘It’s Good to be the King! A Mel Brooks Select-rospective’ Film Talk Series!
Now in his 98th year and having recently received an Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, Mel Brooks is recognized virtually everywhere as one of the kings of big-screen farce. This summer, Jeffrey Bender pays homage to comedy royalty by presenting three of the crown jewels in Brooks’ body of work, and how each shaped not only the genre as a whole, but the wider culture as well. Long may he reign!
Down-and-out impresario Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who was once the toast of Broadway, trades sexual favors with old ladies for cash contributions towards his upcoming productions. Max’s new accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), offhandedly muses that if Max found investors for a new production that turned into a flop, he could legally keep all the extra money. The duo begins to put together the worst play possible, titled “Springtime for Hitler”, with a terrible director and a hippie-freak star.
Host: Jeffrey Bender
Jeffrey Bender has hosted a number of in-person and online Film Talks with the Westdale, most recently on a series of films focused on The Lives of Artists in a wide variety of artistic media. He returns this summer to host a ‘It’s Good to be the King! A Mel Brooks Select-rospective’, as well as ‘Whodunnit at the Westdale’, a three-film survey of classic murder-mysteries that redefined the genre.
