Silent Movie
The Mel Brooks Collection
Silent Movie is director Mel Brooks's comic tribute to the golden days of the silent screen. A movie within a movie, Silent Movie stars Brooks as Mel Funn, a filmmaker who has seen better days - for one thing, he's just come out of a bout with the bottle. When his best friends (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise) rescue him from despair and convince him to make another attempt at moviemaking, Mel comes up with an idea - a silent picture. Alas, this is the 1970s, and in order to get backing from wacky, frazzled studio chief Sid Caesar, the three pals have to get lots of celebrities to agree to be in their silent picture.
Member Reviews
Funny! - ShawnConnery
Don't get me wrong, a lot of it's cheesy, a lot of the jokes fall flat, and some of it is a bit forced...but for some reason, it has this charm and certain sequences were just really funny...and some of the lines comedic bits of genius. All the actors generally likeable, good touches of irony and wit, and even some of the slapstick...you couldn't help but like it. Mel Brooks, you've done it again!Meh Brooks... - JwilTheThrill
Mel Brooks is a master of oddball comedy. He skewers traditional stories with great effort and usually humourous results. Like most comediens, it is a largely subjective matter and Silent Movie will be no different.
Much of what appears on screen works. The sequences are lifted stylistically from the days of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin but with the same dry wit that can be found in Brooks' work like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. The problem is that it is a one note joke that goes on far too long - this could have worked better as a five minute short on a variety show.
Silent Movie is exactly what it says it is and even points out that no one this day and age would want to watch a movie without spoken words (ironically, mime Marcel Marceau is the only person to audibly speak). The other jab is that anyone would watch anything as long as big name celebrities are in it. Most of the film is spent wooing top Hollywood stars (of that era) to star in their silent film. These sequences range from a hilarious shower scene with Burt Reynolds to an absurd slapstick sequence with Liza Minnelli to a dull seduction of Ann Bancroft.
Overall it misses the mark as much as it hits, but like most comedies, especially Mel Brooks, this is entirely subjective. When it comes to the end of it, I smiled a bit, but I barely laughed. Silent Movie was silent on both ends.Silent Movie - itstheit
A masterpiece in juvenalia that does wonders with its one-joke premise, and if it isn't the funniest film of the 1970s, it sure ranks among them.
Brooks, Feldman, and DeLuise have probably never been better in front of the camera than they are, here, and the contributing cameos (including one from Marcel Marceau) are a riot.
My only minor qualm is the ending, which sort of derailed the momentum, but given everything that'd preceded, their painting themselves into a corner is forgivable.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Funny! - ShawnConnery
Don't get me wrong, a lot of it's cheesy, a lot of the jokes fall flat, and some of it is a bit forced...but for some reason, it has this charm and certain sequences were just really funny...and some of the lines comedic bits of genius. All the actors generally ...Meh Brooks... - JwilTheThrill
Mel Brooks is a master of oddball comedy. He skewers traditional stories with great effort and usually humourous results. Like most comediens, it is a largely subjective matter and Silent Movie will be no different.
Much of what appears on screen works. ...Silent Movie - itstheit
A masterpiece in juvenalia that does wonders with its one-joke premise, and if it isn't the funniest film of the 1970s, it sure ranks among them.
Brooks, Feldman, and DeLuise have probably never been better in front of the camera than they are, here, ...