Silent Movie (1976)

89% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(12,037 ratings)

Silent Movie is just that: a totally nonverbal comedy, save for one single line. Director Mel Brooks stars as a once-famous comedy director, who with his faithful assistants Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman return to Hollywood with plans for a comeback. Brooks wants to return to the good old days by… More Silent Movie is just that: a totally nonverbal comedy, save for one single line. Director Mel Brooks stars as a once-famous comedy director, who with his faithful assistants Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman return to Hollywood with plans for a comeback. Brooks wants to return to the good old days by producing a silent movie (he explains this via subtitle). Producer Sid Caesar is agreeable, provided Brooks can line up top stars. In a series of vignettes better seen than described, Brooks persuades Burt Reynolds, Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, James Caan and Anne Bancroft (Brooks' real-life wife) to star in his project. The only holdout is mime Marcel Marceau, who after a few moments of walking against the wind shouts the film's solitary line: "No!" Meanwhile, the crooked executives of the Engulf and Devour conglomerate want to take over Caesar's studio and are worried that Brooks' film might be so huge a hit that Caesar won't be interested in selling. To prevent this, the conglomerate dispatches sexy Bernadette Peters to lure Brooks into drink and ruination. The film's climax is lifted from the 1943 Olsen and Johnson film Crazy House). Featured in brief comic cameos are Harry Ritz as the man with half a suit, Charlie Callas as the blind man, Dom DeLuise's wife, Carol Arthur, as the incredibly pregnant woman, Fritz Feld as the headwaiter (whose trademarked "Pop" is conveyed on a subtitle) and Henny Youngman as the diner with a fly in his soup. Co-writers Ron Clark, Rudy DeLuca and Barry Levinson also show up on screen as three of the Engulf & Devour minions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Mel Brooks
Genres: Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 16, 1976 Wide
On DVD: Apr 4, 2006

Critic Reviews

Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly
Not Brooks' best, but still funny
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
While Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein stride across the land with seven-league boots, Silent Movie glides on tip-toe like Bugs Bunny in ballet slippers.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Mel Brooks has never known when a joke is worthy of a five-minute bit and when it's something you can flesh out into a full length feature.
Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com
Largely a success due to some very funny sight gags, but even at a brief 87 minutes, Brooks seems to be stretching things to feature-film length in the last half-hour.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
Low end of Mel Brooks' films.
Michael A. Smith, Nolan's Pop Culture Review
Mel Brooks was THE comic master of the 70's
Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
Brooks' tribute to silent cinema has its drawbacks, but his obvious affection for pre-talkies saves the day.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Nearly everything is done in that special Mel Brooks brand of broad comedy that quickly palls for all but the faithful.
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat
One of the funniest movies from my childhood.

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Alexander D

Mel Brooks strikes again in his ingeniously original, fast-paced 1976 comedy SILENT MOVIE. Like the title hints (or should hint--it's not one of those misleading titles, for sure), this film is made in full silence, just like a film before the use of "talkie"… More
Mel Brooks strikes again in his ingeniously original, fast-paced 1976 comedy SILENT MOVIE. Like the title hints (or should hint--it's not one of those misleading titles, for sure), this film is made in full silence, just like a film before the use of "talkie" technology, and it shows a title card after a mouth or two moves (which gets a bit annoying after about an hour, but the title cards are part of what establishes the humor). It seems Mel Brooks has some talented, homaging tricks up his sleeve: a few brief years before SILENT MOVIE, he directed YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN in black-and-white; and for this, he only lets us hear the corny sound effects and cheesy music, a la that used in THE THREE STOOGES. But besides his creativity, this is somewhat a funny movie (though not quite a classic) and it was quite enjoyable.
AJ V

In case you're wonder, yes this movie is silent! Brooks brings us nostalgia of the old silents, and it is hilarious. If you like his films, I highly recommend seeing this one too.
moon r

so bad it's good, brooks, as usual ("if it works, don't fix it") mugs his way thru this movie about the very movie yer watchin' ("a brilliant idea!!!"), the promised homage to silent films is trampled somewhere, raped in an alley and left for dead.… More
so bad it's good, brooks, as usual ("if it works, don't fix it") mugs his way thru this movie about the very movie yer watchin' ("a brilliant idea!!!"), the promised homage to silent films is trampled somewhere, raped in an alley and left for dead. what's left is bits and pieces. the women steal the show here, bancroft and peters turning in the only valid performances. the best part is unintended, wherein "the stars" pose for cameos in the credits "as themselves" and we get to see their apparent discomfort playing that part. it was made in the seventies, and mere nostalgia prompted me give this film one more star than it deserved, and maybe a star and a half.
Jennifer D

I think the mimicking of silent era acting was funny even if the story was so so. Still, the slapstick and physical comedy made it worth it. "Ars es pecunia" was the greatest line of the whole movie, for any of you with an ounce of Latin.
Tim S

Bless you Mel Brooks. Even when your movies weren't perfect, they're still a hell of a lotta fun.
Mike N

Shine on me luminous today, and shine on past the tops of my shoulders Show my feet the step ahead, stay hope on the gilded road to dawn All the world must forget me now, as scattering ravens its memory flown And bury my years in bone and ash, please spare not yesterday its tomb Take… More
Shine on me luminous today, and shine on past the tops of my shoulders Show my feet the step ahead, stay hope on the gilded road to dawn All the world must forget me now, as scattering ravens its memory flown And bury my years in bone and ash, please spare not yesterday its tomb Take me where the song needs singing, take me to the time I'm gone Where dust of higher things float free, and boughs of ancient forests yawn Of quiet excite in empty theaters, that merry shadow dance is mine The truth of dreams is morrow's words, a verse away from being known So as one concedes Imagine's game, its buoyant laughter wise and long I leave my eyes and better lives, embalming pulse of showers loom To walk this path of blinding summits, a thousand kings away from golden
Christopher O

A film completely dependent on sight gags and features Mel Brooks as Mel Funn who wants to make the first silent film in 40 years he has Dom Deluise and Marty Feldman to aid him and the film is funny and has only one spoken line. Many famous actors have cameos and the film is… More
A film completely dependent on sight gags and features Mel Brooks as Mel Funn who wants to make the first silent film in 40 years he has Dom Deluise and Marty Feldman to aid him and the film is funny and has only one spoken line. Many famous actors have cameos and the film is inventive and creative and probaly the least offensive Mel Brooks film, with minimal inneuendo.
Doctor S

Best gag is actually the one speaking line! Or rather, the person who says it.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Mel Brooks as Mel Funn

            Marty Feldman as Marty Eggs

            Dom DeLuise as Dom Bell

            Bernadette Peters as Vilma Kaplan

            Sid Caesar as Studio Chief

            Harold Gould as Engulf

            Ron Carey as Devour

            Carol Arthur as Pregnant Lady

            Fritz Feld as Maitre d'

            Patrick Campbell as Motel Bellhop

            Charlie Callas as Blind Man

            Henny Youngman as Fly-In-Soup Man

            Eddie Ryder as British Officer

            Al Hopson as Executive

            Rudy De Luca as Executive

            Barry Levinson as Executive

            Howard Hesseman as Executive

            Lee Delano as Executive

            Jack Riley as Executive

            Sivi Aberg as Beautiful Blonde

            Erica Hagen as Beautiful Blonde

            Robert Lussier as Projectionist

            Liam Dunn as Newspaper Vendor

            Marcel Marceau as Himself

            Chuck McCann as Studio Gate Guard

            Liza Minnelli as Herself

            Harry Ritz as Man from Tailor Shop

            Arnold Soboloff as Acupuncture Patient

            Yvonne Wilder as Studio Chief's Secretary

            Anne Bancroft as Herself

            James Caan as Himself

            Valerie Curtin as Intensive Care Nurse

            Paul Newman as Himself

            Burt Reynolds as Himself

            Inga Neilsen as Beautiful Blonde
See full cast

Silent Movie (1976)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Cast

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