Franz Liebkind

'''"I VAS NEVER A MEMBER OF ZE NAZI PARTY! I ONLY FOLLOWED ORDERS! I HAD NOTHING TO DO VITH ZE WAR! I didn't even even know there vas a war on! We lived in ze back, right across from Swizterland. All we ever heard vas yodeling. (Begins yodeling). WHO ARE YOU?!"

- Franz after seeing Max and Leo come up to his roof, and screaming that he wasn't a Nazi, thinking Max and Leo were from the government. '''

Franz Liebkind is a character from Mel Brooks' master-piece musical comedy The Producers. He is a Neo-Nazi who worships Adolf Hitler almost blindly and will try to kill anyone who makes a fool out of his beloved Fuhrur. He is not so much a villain at the start of the film but later becomes aggressive and tries to kill the main characters Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, and two other characters after they insult Hitler in front of him.

He was portrayed by Kenneth Mars in the 1968 film and by Will Ferrell in the 2005 film.

Personality
Frans Liebkind worships Hitler, even after he became a Neo-Nazi. He has severe anger management problems, as he will aggressively attack anyone who makes fun of Hitler in front of him. He is also very strict on the "scared seigfried oath" which means full allegiance to Adolf Hitler and if anyone breaks the oath then the penalty is death.

Beginnings
Franz Liebkind (also known as Hans Liebkind) was once a Nazi working for Hitler, and after the Fuhrur's death, he went into retirement and became a Neo-Nazi while still worshipping Hitler. As a Nazi he was a Carrier Pigeon keeper and as a Neo, he still keeps his Pigeons. His favourite one he named Adolf. In some earlier versions of the films script, he was Hitler's butler.

In the film
Franz Liebkind is first shown on his roof top where he is talking to his birds. He tells one of them to send a message to a woman in Argentina. After the bird flies off the wrong way he yells " Hilda! Vere are you going?! Argentina's zat vay!" After that, Producers Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom come up to visit him to talk about his play Springtime For Hitler. Scared that they are agents from the Government, he quickly exclaims excuses that he was never a Nazi and just an innocent person who didn't know about WWII. They tell him that hey're not Government agents and that they are producers who want to put his play on Broadway. Franz get overjoyed by the chance and gets eagerly excited. After telling his birds, Max tells him to sign the contract to the play. Franz instead refuses and tells them that before he signs thay have to prove to him that they believe in Hitler as much as he does. He tells them that to prove it, they must join him in dancing to Hitler's favourite tune Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop. They reluctantly do so and once done, Franz tells them that before he signs they have to take the "Scared Seigfried Oath", which is eternal allegiance to Hitler. Leo is not so sure about it as by taking the oath they are slowly becoming Nazi's themselves. Franz gives them swastika armbands with the Nazi symbol on them, and they take they reluctantly take the oath. Franz also reveals Hitlers middle name to be Elizabeth. After they take the oath, Franz signs the contract and as they leave he tells them that the penalty for breaking the seigfried oath is death. They leave the building, with Franz happily exclaiming that he's never been so happy sonce the Nazi's crushed Poland.

He later appears at the auditions for Hitler. After he observes and auditioner playing Hitler like a fool an mocking him, Franz angrily begins screaming and shouting, telling the actor "The Fuhrur vasn't a mousey little mamas-boy, the Fuhrur vas BUTCH!" He then shows the producers the right way to sing the Fuhrur's song ''Haben Sie Guhurt Das Deutsche band. ''After doing a phenomanel job at the song, Max stands up and happily yells "That's our Hitler!!!" to which Franz gives a surprised and shocked look.

On opening night, Franz appears backstage with the flamboyantly gay director of the play, Roger DeBris, with his equally flamboyantly gay partner and assistant, Carmen Ghia. After Leo tells them all good luck, thgey are equally shocked at him, at tell him in a song that it's bad luck to say good luck on opening night and that instead the correct thing to say is "Break a leg!" During the song Max finds different ways of giving them bad luck, including walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror and throwing a black cat in front of them. As the actors are getting ready to perform, Franz Liebkind breaks falls over and breaks his leg, so he couldn't play Hitler. Instead Max gets Roger to fill in for Hitler. The play starts with the song ''Springtime For Hitler. ''The audience is shocked and disgusted by the play that they begin to leave, however after Roger steps out as Hitler looking rather Flamboyant, the audience sees the play as a mockery of Hitler and love it.

Once the play is over, Carmen and Roger come to congratulate Max and Leo for putting on such a great play, but right at that moment Franz Liebkind bursts in wearing a leg cast and crutch and holding a gun in his hand. He becomes severley mad at Max and Leo for breaking the Seigfried Oath and for making a fool out of Hitler. He begins trying to shoot them all while angrily yelling at them and screaming "Stand still! How can I shoot you if you keep moving?!" He tells them that he's shooting at them for making Hitler look like a fool, to which Roger jumps up from behind a couch saying "And he didn't need any help with that". Enranged at the insult, Franz goes even more crazy. Max and Leo hide under a table while Roger and Carmen hide in the closet. Franz finds Max and Leo holding eachother in fright under the table and yells "You sniveling cowards! Cringing under a desk. Clinging on for life like baby butterflies. Franz Liebkind will show you how to die like a man!" He holds his gun to his own head in an attempt to kill himself, but ultimatley fails after failing to get the bullet out. Unsucessful he sadly throws his gun onto the couch and it finally shoots a bullet. Franz sadly slouches down onto the couch alongside his gun. Max gets the gun and hands it to Franz and tells him that he shouldn't kill them but to kill the actors instead. Franz angrily agrees, but leo just slaps him on his arm and stops Max from giving him the gun. The police are then heard at the door after hearing the gunshots and demand it be opened. Max and Leo quickly run out of the room and the police break in attempting to find Franz. Franz then begins exclaiming once again that he was never a member of the Nazi party. They then attempt to arrest him but Franz begins escaping with a cop chasing after him, but then Franz accidentally falls down a flight of stairs. The lead officer yells down to him "What happened?" with Franz replying "I broke... ze other leg!"

Franz is later seen in prison with both legs in casts playing the piano to the tune of the final song in the film Prisoners Of Love.

Once the end credits finishes Franz appears in his own advertisement saying "Don't forget to buy Mein Kampf in paper back. Available near you... at Borders Books... or Barnes and Noble... und Amazon.com."