The ProducersB

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Rachelle Thomas

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FACTS~ “THE PRODUCERS” • The directors first movie.

• The Producers was the first movie for Mel Brooks

• Brooks also worked on two real-life Broadway musical flops

• Movie is banned in Germany

• Brooks wanted original title of movie to be “Springtime for Hitler”, but

the studio didn’t approve

• The movie takes place in New York

• DISHONESTY is the cornerstone of the movie

• Was remade

• In 2001 as a Broadway musical

• Won 2001 Tony Award for Best Musical

• Again in 2005 as a musical film

• Starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Uma Thurman and many

others

~MOVIE SUMMARY~

A film set in the late 1960’s that brings together a struggling theatrical

producer and an accountant. Max the theatrical producer was once

considered the top producer on Broadway; now living in his office,

wearing a cardboard belt, and scrounging money from wealthy old

ladies just to get by. Leo, his accountant comes over to check on Max’s

books, and tries to talk Max into producing a big hit to recoup all of his

losses, Max believes it is too late for that. Jokingly Leo offers up that if

Max were to produce a flop, he could legally keep all the money from

the investors….

They come together and decide that they want to produce the next

Broadway big…. FLOP! They conspire to pick the worst play, worst

director, and worst actor, to guarantee a giant flop…, but in the end in

becomes a HIT!

www.theguardian.com

*CAST *

Zero Mostel as... Max

Bialystock (the Producer)

Director based Max on a REAL

broadway producer

Gene Wilder as... Leo Bloom

(the Accountant)

Wrote half of his own monologue for

the courtroom scene

Dick Shawn as... 'L.S.D.' - Lorenzo

St. DuBois (the “worst actor”)

Kenneth Mars as... Franz

Liebkind (author of the “worst

playwright”)

Lee Meredith

as... Ulla

(Max’s

assistant)

Ethical Theories

(movie related)

Honesty Loyalty Sexism

ETHICAL THEORY #1: HONESTY

● Both the main characters Max and Leo were dishonest.

Examples

1. Leo

a. Altered Max’s books

b. Selling false ownership of production

2. Max

a. Asking Leo to alter his numbers

b. Selling false ownership of production

● They both lied to multiple people in the process of the fraud

classic-movie-

night.com

RESOLUTION #1: HONESTY

Resolution 1: Max and Leo should not have lied.

● Come clean and confess

● Money should be repaid to the debtors immediately

● Accountability

● Regain trust

www.shaanig.com

www.ign.com

ETHICAL THEORY #2: LOYALTY

● Bialystock and Bloom had an obligation of loyalty to their investors.

○ When the investors trusted them with their money they expected

them to use it responsibly.

● They violated this trust by selling false shares of the show and

attempting to create a “flop.”

● Reimbursement to investors

● Sincere apology

● Regain trust by following through and acting different in the future.

RESOLUTION #2: LOYALTY

Sexism

There was a significant amount of female exploitation in The Producers.

● The way in which Bialystock collected money from his “investors” was

by flirting, dating, and “fooling around” with “little old ladies” and then

taking their money.

● If the roles were reversed; Bialystock being a female and selling

herself for money, this would be considered prostitution and no longer

be viewed as a humoristic aspect of the plot.

http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/to-make-or-remake-the-producers-

part-1/

Sexism continued...

Another instance of sexism in The Producers was the sexual harassment

that Ulla experienced as Max’s new assistant.

● There was a language barrier which caused a major communication

gap and the only phrase that Max used with her was “work”. Ulla

would instantly turn on music, strip down into skimpy clothing and

dance around the office as the men enjoyed the entertainment.

● According to The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, It

would be difficult to determine if Ulla’s situation is considered sexual

harassment because Bialystock never straight-forwardly asked for

sexual favors or threatened her job based on her sex and actions.

Based on the language barrier, the interpretation of what Ulla

considered her dancing to be, her job title, and contract legalities,

there would have to be a more indepth analysis of whether or not her

treatment in the workplace is considered to be sexual harassment.

● None the less, hiring her as an assistant and having her do tasks

which are not typical assistant duties is considered unethical.

especially since he is taking advantage of the language barrier.

RESOLUTION #3:

The resolution of the issue of sexism in the movie is as follows:

● The “investors” are to be given their money back and Mr. Bialystock

needs to fully explain what their money was actually going towards

and the truth behind his scheme.

● Unfortunately, you cannot not “undo” treating somebody a certain

way, but Bialystock has the opportunity to be honest.

● Ulla is to be spoken to and explained that she is being wronged in her

job title as his “assistant”. They are to pay her what she legally

deserves and release her from the position.

Ethical Theories(non-movie related)

CHEATING

(IN SPORTS)INTEGRITY HUMANITY

OTHER ETHICAL THEORY #1: CHEATING IN SPORTS● Cheating is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as:

: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something

: to take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule

: to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get

● Sports have been corrupted by scandals throughout history, from teams and coaches

cheating and fixing matches to athletes taking the competition too far or using

performance enhancing drugs. To become a professional athlete takes drive,

dedication and a strong will to succeed. Some of the same traits that go into making a

great athlete are the same traits that can make them take it too far. Athletes are taking

performance enhancing drugs at an all time level, and going to any extent to remain

competitive in their respective sports. Despite the various sports rules and drug testing,

athletes are finding new and better ways to get around the rules, allowing it to continue.

● The research regarding cheating in sports, came from prior knowledge, and the article titled “Ethics in Sports”,

article written by Jones & Bartlett Learning. ( http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763743840/43844_CH01_Thornton.pdf)

MLB● Pete Rose- betting

on baseball

● Barry Bonds, Alex

Rodriguez, many

others, using

STEROIDS to gain

advantage

● Pitchers doctoring

baseball to throw off

the hitter

NBA● “losing” on purpose,

in order to gain a

better position in the

upcoming draft

● Referees fixing the

games, and betting

on the games

NCAA● College athletes

getting paid to play

● Colleges making up

classes for the

athletes, so they

can get easy “A”,

and continue

playing

● Reggie Bush

receiving money

and gifts from

agents while still in

school

NFL● Players taking

performance

enhancing drugs

● Offensive linemen

greasing up their

arms, so other team

couldn't grab ahold

of them

● “Spygate”- where

teams were

recording other

teams practices

● Colts “adding crowd

noise” to the

stadium, to gain

advantage

Other● Lance Armstrong-

doping scandal

● Mike Tyson- biting

the ear of Evander

Holyfield

● Marion Jones-

performance

enhancing drugs

● Rosie Ruiz- used

motorized vehicle to

help win Boston

Marathon

www.totalprosports.com

blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com

www.sportsrubbish.com

espn.go.com

Occurrences of Cheating in Sports

Following in the theme with Max and Leo, and trying to produce the biggest flop to

gain an financial advantage, A new age way of cheating in sports is now to “flop”, to

gain an advantage and get calls, last year ESPN’s sportscenter program put together

10 of their favorite flops, take a look...

OTHER ETHICAL THEORY #2: INTEGRITY

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods,

measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes.

● Though similar to honesty, integrity deals with a person’s behavior

and actions.

● Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody is watching.

Example of poor integrity in business

Kenneth Lay-Enron● Was mainly responsible for the scandal that led to the collapse of

Enron.

● To this day is identified with corporate abuse and accounting fraud.

● The investigation of the scandal resulted in Congress passing the

Sarbanes-Oxley Act to improve corporate accountability.

ETHICAL THEORY #3: HUMANITY

● Child labor laws in foreign countries

● Affects 168 million children

○ Largest in Asia and the Pacific

○ Growing in Sub Saharan Africa

● Children subject to work long hours, bad work environments,

and unfair pay

● International Labor Organization

RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO COST/LEGALITIES

Per the first Ethical conflict resolution:

Cost Wise, in order to pay back all of the investors, not only will a lawyer

and accountant need to be hired, but Leo and Bialystock will have to find a

way to get back all of the money that they so carelessly spent. Max and

Leo are legally at fault for committing fraud and need to face the

repercussions.

Ways to handle the fraud legally:

● Process - Trial and verdict

● Fines

● Damages

Example: Enron filed bankruptcy and were tried at the court level for their

wrong doing. New precedents formulated such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

followed with new regulations.

The same process will need to be carried out involving the other two ethical

issues. Since Max and Leo were the only two involved in their company,

we can assume they have no one higher to go to for help or advice and that

more likely than not, Max never implemented an ethical code.

Final Recommendation

For Max and Leo, a final resolution for all of their ethical issues is

going to be a tough one to find. Since they have already spent

all of their money, they probably don’t have enough to

reimburse their investors. The two of them can do their best to

sell back or return everything that they used their unethically-

earned money to be able to repay everyone who is at a loss.

Also, they should turn around all of the revenue from the show

back to the investors.

After financially attempting to make everything right, they need to

start to gain back trust from people. Sincere apologies are in

order. Leo and Max should immediately begin to change how

they run their business (after they get out of jail) and build

their integrity back.

Discussion Questions

Outside Resources

● "About the ILO." About the ILO. International Labour Organization, n.d.

Web. 24 July 2014. <http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--

en/index.htm>.

● "Enron Scandal." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 July 2014. Web.

23 July 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal>.

● "Sexual Harassment." Sexual Harassment. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July

2014.http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

● "The Producers (1968) : Classic Movie Hub (CMH)." Classic Movie Hub.

N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014. <http://www.classicmoviehub.com/film/the-

producers-1968/>.

Outside Resources

"5 Most Publicized Ethics Violations By CEOs." Forbes Magazine. N.p.,

5 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 July 2014.

<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Finvestopedia%2F2

013%2F02%2F05%2F5-most-publicized-ethics-violations-by-

ceos%2F>.

"Integrity vs. honesty-what's the Difference?" Nouns. N.p., n.d. Web. 26

July 2014.

<http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/41001/integrity-vs-

honesty-whats-the-difference>.