"Roger De Bris" character is based upon Edward D. Wood Jr..
Bill Macy's movie debut.
Andréas Voutsinas did his own makeup.
Gene Wilder imagined his reactions to the madness throughout the film would be the same as the audience's watching it.
Gene Wilder said in an interview on TCM that at the first reading of the script he excused himself to leave for a dentist appointment he could not miss when in fact, he had to go to the unemployment office to collect a check for $55 he desperately needed at the time.
Gene Wilder wondered if Kenneth Mars really was crazy throughout filming and not just acting because of some of his antics.
Mel Brooks based the character of Max Bialystock on a real Broadway producer he knew who used to seduce little old ladies in exchange for checks that were supposedly to produce his latest play, which would usually be called "Cash."
Mel Brooks cannot read music. "Springtime for Hitler" and "Prisoners of Love" (as were all the songs Brooks writes for his films) were hummed into a tape recorder and transcribed by an expert.
Mel Brooks was so surprised to win the Oscar for Best Screenplay, he collected the award without a speech prepared.
Mel Brooks worked on two real-life Broadway musical flops. He did a rewrite on the failed musical "Shinbone Alley" (1957), and wrote the libretto for "All American", which starred Ray Bolger and ran for 80 performances in 1962.
Mel Brooks' voice is dubbed in for a singer in "Springtime for Hitler". Mel only sings: "Don't be stupid, be a smartee, come and join the Nazi Party" for dancer David Evans.
Mel Brooks's original title for the film was "Springtime for Hitler" but the studio wouldn't allow it. They did say that they would allow "Springtime for Mussolini," but Brooks didn't like that and ended up calling it "The Producers".
Dustin Hoffman was set to play Franz Liebkind, but declined when he got the part of Benjamin in The Graduate. Brooks only allowed Hoffman the chance to go off to the audition for the film because his wife (Anne Bancroft) was in it, and Brooks was familiar enough with the role of Benjamin to know Hoffman was utterly wrong for it (as written) and would never be cast.
According to an interview with director and Blue Underground owner William Lustig, the original negative was destroyed because the then-owner decided it wasn't necessary to pay for the storage of its negative library.
Adapted as a Broadway stage musical by Mel Brooks, "The Producers" opened at the St James Theater in April 2001, with Nathan Lane as Bialystock and Matthew Broderick as Bloom. The renowned musical went on to run for 2502 performances and won a record-breaking 12 Tony awards.
Although Mel Brooks always had Zero Mostel in mind to play Bialystock, they reportedly had clashes of ego on the set and found it hard to get along. Indeed, they never worked together again.
Although Peter Sellers was instrumental in prompting the film's release, Mel Brooks claims he offered Sellers the role of Leo Bloom (eventually played by Gene Wilder, but that he turned it down.
Because of the "Springtime For Hitler" musical number, the film was banned in Germany. It wasn't shown in that country until it was included in a film festival featuring the works of Jewish filmmakers.
May contain the first use of the term "creative accounting".