The Producers is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks, and starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars. The film is about a mild-mannered accountant and a con artist theater producer who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a stage musical designed to fail. To this end, they find a playscript celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and bring it to the stage. Because of this theme, The Producers was controversial from the start and received mixed reviews. It became a cult film, and found a more positive critical reception later.