1968 comedy Rating: 6/10
Plot: An accountant and a theater promoter come up with a can’t-miss plan to swindle their way into riches by getting people to invest in a show guaranteed to be a flop—Springtime for Hitler. The plan does not go as expected. It’s Gene Wilder in the unhinged character hollering competition of his life! Good ol’ Gene can get frantic, upset, and angry with the best of them, but flabby Zero Mostel as the producer and unlikely ladies’ man, Kenneth Mars as the play’s writer, and Dick Shawn as the titular dictator in the musical-within-a-movie all give him a run for his money.
Watch Wilder go bonkers over his blue blanket, however, and you’ll want to hand him an award of some kind. There are some classic moments and a lot of stuff that seems dated, but it’s hard for me to see a room full of Hitlers practicing their saluting and not want to laugh. And remember, the driver never said baby. That’s all I have to say about this movie.