Iconic Comedy The Producers To Open 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival 
50th Anniversary Screening Celebrates Seminal Filmmaker Mel Brooks
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will kick off the 9th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 26th, with a 50th anniversary world premiere restoration screening of the Mel Brooks groundbreaking comedy The Producers with the legendary director, producer, writer and actor in attendance.
Recognized as one of the funniest movies ever made, The Producers won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Brooks and a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Gene Wilder, it would be the gift that kept on giving. Thirty years after its theatrical release, Brooks turned it into a Tony-Award winning Broadway musical, the subject of the fourth season of HBO’s hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm and another film adaptation in 2005 starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.
“Mel Brooks belongs to an elite group of entertainers, having earned all four major entertainment prizes – a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy and a People’s Choice Award…oh, and an Oscar. From Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein to Spaceballs, Brooks’ uniquely keen eye can both spoof and celebrate classic Hollywood. From the 2000 Year Old Man to The Producers, he has shown an ability to make us laugh as heartily as anyone else in the business.” -Ben Mankiewicz, TCM Primetime Host
Additionally, the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival will honor Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Robert Benton who will be on hand to introduce screenings of the award-winning Kramer vs Kramer(1979) and Places in the Heart(1984) for which Benton won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Also joining the line-up for the 2018 Festival screenings of the following:
- The Black Stallion (1979)
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
- Bullitt (1968)
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- The Set-Up (1949)
- Hamlet (1948)
- To Have and Have Not (1944)
- Woman of the Year (1942)
- The Sea Wolf (1941)
- His Girl Friday (1940)
Click here for video and other information on this year’s festival: filmfestival.tcm.com