Leopold "Leo" Bloom is a timid and mild-mannered accountant,[1] prone to panic attacks and who keeps a fragment of his childhood blue blanket in his pocket to calm himself.
Wilder's costar Zero Mostel had portrayed Joyce's Bloom on stage in the play Ulysses in Nighttown.
Max Bialystock is described as selfish, arrogant, fiery, impatient, bullying, charismatic, intimidating, and fast-talking - a man who is only interested in making quick money.
Apparently without scruples, he is willing to do anything to make money (including "shtupping every little old lady in New York") and is often motivated, duplicitous and unwilling to cooperate diplomatically.
In the original 1967 film, Ulla is introduced as a "toy" that Max found in the local library, and is a symbol of his newfound affluence.
She also constantly says "God dag på dig", which means "good day to you" in Swedish (with a faux-Swedish accent), and provides a sexier counterpoint to Max's much older girlfriends.
Ulla introduces herself as a Swedish actress looking for a part in Max and Leo's production of Springtime for Hitler, performing a song she wrote called "When You Got It, Flaunt It".
"Roger" is a euphemism for intercourse, and a "bris" is the Jewish circumcision ceremony, while the surname is also a pun on the word "debris".
The two protagonists, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, purchase and produce this "worst play ever written" as part of a plot to defraud investors by overselling and staging a sure-fire flop.
Instead, Hoffman was cast as the lead of the film directed by Mike Nichols and Brooks thus had to recast the Liebkind role.
When Bialystock and Bloom go up to his roof to ask about acquiring the rights to Springtime for Hitler, Liebkind thinks they are from the US government and says 'I vos never a member of ze Nazi Party!
When in the original he blows up the theatre with Max and Leo, he is hurt the most because he uses a quick-fuse and doesn't escape quickly enough, and is next shown in court in an all-body cast.
In the opening performance of Springtime for Hitler, the audience is initially horrified by the tasteless musical play and begins to leave, but L.S.D.
's beatnik-like portrayal of Hitler (and misunderstanding of the story) is found to be hilarious, causing the audience to misinterpret the production as a satire.