‘Inglourious Basterds’ and the lighter side of Nazis

First there was the 1968 movie: Hitler is a beatnik. And what did Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan decide was funnier than that? Turn it into a musical and keep him gay. The movie, musical and subsequent movie musical’s storm trooper swastikas kept most of Bialystock and Bloom’s audience rolling in the aisles. But once again Brooks got the last laugh over the Nazis: The musical comedy opened at Berlin’s Admiralspalast theater in May (and is pictured here) -- at a theater once frequented by the Fuhrer.  (Maya Hitij / Associated Press)