"The only way that Mel Brooks got away with it was having half the cast be homosexual. This movie would have been picketed by the 'gay rights' lobby otherwise."
Hunh? Have you seen this picture?
The way he got 'away with it' was by pushing the (true) stereotype of the flamboyant theatrical male homosexual to a ridiculously funny -- but not untrue and not unkind -- extreme.
Gary Beach DID look exactly like the Chrysler Building in that dress and tiara in the 'Keep it Gay' number. What's to picket about?
OK, the lesbians should still hate Mel for 'Shirley Markowitz'. That was mean. BWAHAHAHAAHA
This incarnation of the Producers (more than the original Mostel/Wilder piece) has always been a big ol' love letter to the musical theatre. And like it or not, anything that promotes the musical theatre is good for gay people.
If you never get to see it onstage (and preferably in New York), you can see this movie and get a tiny inkling of what all the cheering was about.
Yes. I saw it on X-mas afternoon. Hilarious. But would have been picketed as an anti-gay movie if not for the cast. The 'gay rights' lobby is as sensitive as CAIR to perceived slights and injustices. You can be damn sure that if the cast had been all heterosexual, the movie would have been picketed.
I was fortunate enough to see it on the stage in NYC, albeit without Lane and Broderick. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. One of the best parts of THE PRODUCERS was its retro non-PC take on homosexuality.