Silent Movie (Mel Brooks, 1976): USA

Reviewed by Tim Barnes. Viewed on DVD.

A Mel Brooks movie is an event, and part of what makes him such a respected comedic artist is that he constantly takes risks. In The Producers (1968) he dared to have the  films plot revolve around a musical called Spring Time for Hitler! In Blazing Saddles (1974) he dared to involve risque race humour in a Western format. And in 1976, nearly fifty years after the invention of the talkie, Mel Brooks had the utter audacity to make Silent Movie. And you know what? It kinda works!

The lead character is Mel Funn (Mel Brooks), a once big time director who is trying to pitch a new idea after a few years of downtrodden alcoholism. He travels around in a yellow Morgan roadster with his friends Dom Bell (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman), running into celebrities and Felliniesque slapstick situations. Though there obviously wasn’t much thought put into the names of the three wacky characters, the gag humor is some of the best ever put on film. Marty Feldman does some incredible stunt work, and Dom DeLuise plays the perfect side man for Mel. There are also some very low points where jokes drag on for too long and to no avail. Luckily the film as a whole is paced to a brisk 87 minutes.

Because of the lack of dialogue, Sound, Text, and Image, were Brooks’ main tools. The score works often as counterpoint to image, and sound used to enhance the humour of the physical actions taking place, while the text is used to serve both functions whenever needed. Taking into account the fact that anybody watching this movie has to readjust his/her normal senses, it’s remarkable how easy it is to sit still and just let the gags role by.

It’s almost like being a child watching Saturday morning cartoons, some of the major highlights are the celebrity guest appearances (Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman, Liza Minelli, James Caan, Marcel Marceau, and Anne Bancroft, to be exact).  The movie is almost a series of vignettes involving each of them.

Is it gimmicky? Sure. As gimmicky as any of his movies are. And that’s what makes them so great.  Mel Brooks is famous for saying “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die”. Silent Movie definitely puts that logic into effect.