Silent Movie Movie

Silent Movie
Rating:
Run Time: 86 min
MPAA Rating: PG
Released: 1976
Directors: Mel Brooks
Genre/Type: Comedy
Absurd Comedy
Slapstick
Parody/Spoof
Producers: Michael Hertzberg
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
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.

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Zero Kazama was in Invincible Scripture, Dark Island, Wasteland, Fast Lane, The Killing Of John Lennon,and stunt in Tropic Thunder
The first silent movie was titled, Roundhay Garden Scene, in 1888 by Louis Le Prince. The film was actually only a couple of seconds in length and featured two people walking in a garden. Silent films flourished until "talkies" to...
The very first movies did not have sound tracks. You've probably seen clips of some of these black and white movies. During these movies, frames would appear that would give a clip of significant dialogue, or a short summary of the story at...
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Mel Brooks Mel Funn Jun 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Marty Feldman Marty Eggs Jul 8, 1933 in London, England
Dom DeLuise Dom Bell Aug 1, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Bernadette Peters Vilma Kaplan Feb 28, 1948 in Queens, New York City, NY
Sid Caesar Studio Chief Sep 8, 1922 in Yonkers, New York City, NY
Harold Gould Engulf Dec 10, 1923 in Schenectady, NY
Ron Carey Devour Dec 11, 1935 in Newark, NJ
Carol Arthur Pregnant Lady Aug 4, 1935 in Hackensack, NJ
Fritz Feld Maitre d' Oct 15, 1900 in Berlin, Germany
Patrick Campbell Motel Bellhop
Charlie Callas Blind Man
Henny Youngman Fly-In-Soup Man Jan 12, 1906 in Liverpool, England
Eddie Ryder British Officer
Al Hopson Executive
Rudy de Luca Executive
Barry Levinson Executive Apr 6, 1942 in Baltimore, MD
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Back to the topReview

Review by Craig Butler
Silent Movie is not Mel Brooks's best film, but it may be his sweetest. There's a touching innocence about most of this film, as well as a sense of playfulness that's rather endearing. The trio of characters at the core of the film are essentially childlike in nature, and with no "dialogue" to speak of, there's little room for the raunchiness or crassness that is often found in other Brooks films. (One notable, and hysterical, exception, is the reaction of the Engulf & Devour Board of Directors to Bernadette Peters' Vilma Kaplan. Brooks uses the title cards to good effect, as when Marcel Marceau's ringing phone is accompanied by a "Sonnez" title card or when some clearly off-color remarks are translated in a bowdlerized version. And, of course, there are a plethora of sight gags, some of which work, some of which do not. (The ping-pong game on the life support screen being a good example of the former.) On the down side, too many of the gags are a bit predictable, and the episodic nature of the piece makes it drag somewhat. The very sweetness of the film also seems to water down the humor somewhat; there are not as many laughs as one would expect from a silent movie comedy, especially with this cast. Still, it's always enjoyable, and Brooks deserves credit for trying something as different as a silent movie in the first place.

Silent Movie on TV

Zip Code: 10010 · Provider: Verizon Fios Freehold NY Plus-Digital (Jersey City) Edit
Mon , 5:00 PM ET · Silent Movie  · Channel 232 · FMC · Duration: 90 min.
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