An undiscovered gem in the Mel Brooks catalog

itamarscomix

Silent Movie is often called Mel Brooks' worst film – it's certainly not on par with his masterpieces, Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, but keep in mind that it's also his most ambitious work; the concept of the movie – the story of a film director trying to make a silent movie in the 1970's, told itself as a silent movie – is certainly his boldest, and it wasn't easy to make it work, but it's as good as it should and could have been – as only Brooks could have done it. Even though the real Silent Movie was not a surprise hit like its fictional counterpart – in fact, it bombed in the box office, not quite unexpectedly – it's an essential part of the Mel Brooks classic catalog, and deserves much from attention than it got; it's also unbelievably funny.

Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman and Dom Deluis are Silent Movie's stooges, and they play their parts with every bit of love and respect for the classic silent comedies of the 20's and 30's. Like in Young Frankenstein, Mel's intention was first and foremost to revive the genre, but with self parody and self awareness; therefore Silent Movie is mainly slapstick and physical humor, and these three comedians make it work, especially Feldman who in himself proves to be a natural silent film comic born several decades too late. The humor is often as crude and simplistic as those films really were, but it works in this modern context much better than could be expected. The excellent cast also includes Sid Caesar and Bernadette Peters in excellent and hilarious performances, and a series of the biggest stars of the time playing themselves as the actors Mel is scouting for for his movie – Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft and Paul Newman, each of whom grants an unforgettable scene filled with slapstick and good-natured self parody; the film's most memorable moment, and only spoken word, is granted by pantomime legend Marcel Marceau.

My only complaint for Mr. Brooks is this – as long as he had the balls to make a film as bold as this, one that was almost certainly doomed to be a financial and critical failure, he might as well have gone all the way and made it in black and white – that was, after all, one of Young Frankenstein's most striking features. Other than this, Silent Movie is a very funny movie and an essential to fans of Mel Brooks' early material. It's not his best and it's not perfect, but it's one of a kind.

score 8/10

itamarscomix 16 October 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1194509/