I have a great deal of fondness for the works of writer/director/actor Mel Brooks. Many of them, anyway.
I loved the original movie version of The Producers (1967) and found myself roaring with laughter at the scheming of Zero Mostel’s Max Bialystock and the nebbish performance of Gene Wilder. Seven years later in 1974, Mr. Brooks co-wrote and directed not one but two absolutely fantastic comedies: Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. Just those three films alone raise Mr. Brooks -in my humble opinion- to the upper echelons of movie producing comics, even as I have to admit to not being a big fan of the works he did afterwards.
Mind you, I haven’t see them all. I saw both History of the World Part 1 (1981) and Spaceballs (1987) and thought they were decent comedies with some inspired bits but weren’t quite on the level of those earlier works. Of the films he made that remain, I’ve heard enough bad things about Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula Dead and Loving It to know these are probably not for me. If I catch ’em, fine, but if I don’t…
Which leaves the two “in between” films (not counting The Twelve Chairs) that were released between Mr. Brooks’ peak and his later works. I’m referring to Silent Movie (1976) and his parody of Alfred Hitchcock films, High Anxiety (1977). I saw bits and pieces of both films but never quite got to see the whole thing. So when TCM offered a block of Mel Brooks films a couple of weeks ago and those two films were part of it, I set the DVR to record. Thus far, I’ve seen Silent Movie aaaaannnnnndddd…
…it wasn’t my cup of tea.
Mind you, there were some very clever jokes scattered here and there, but overall this film, a homage to the silent comedies of yesterday, fell very flat.
Silent Movie is a silent movie about making a silent movie. Mel Brooks, in his first actual starring role in one of his films, plays Mel Funn, a washed up director who had an alcohol problem but has cleaned up his act and now, with his companions Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman) and Dom Bell (Dom DeLouise) at his side, wants to make a comeback with a (you guessed it) silent movie.
His first step is to convince the head of the movie studio (Sid Ceasar) to go along with his scheme. Naturally, this being 1976 and the last silent film was released an awful long time ago, the Studio Chief is completely against the idea. However, things are tough for the studio and there is a threat they might be taken over by a large conglomorate. After Funn promises to get a bunch of A-List actors to appear in his movie, which may help it be a success, the Studio Chief accepts and we’re off to find the stars.
What follows is the bulk of the film, where our three leads bump into several at that time very big name stars, including Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Marcel Marceau, Anne Bancroft, and Paul Newman. Each star has a humorous encounter with our leads but, frankly, other than a very clever gag involving Marcel Marceau and a more energetic meeting involving Paul Newman, I found the whole thing rather flat.
Perhaps part of the fault lies in the passage of time. Sometimes comedy (and action) is like that. While there are many delightful and hilarious comedies from the silent era, there are others that show their age. In the case of Silent Movie, this now nearly forty year old film simply doesn’t work for me. I found the slapstick lacking and the star appearances, which I’m certain at the time were incredible to see, today don’t have quite the same resonance.
On the plus side and as mentioned before, there are some very clever jokes, particularly the one involving famous mime Marcel Marceau. I also like the meta nature of the film, where Mr. Brooks plays a man who is trying hard to make a silent film, something I’m certain must have been hard to convince the studios to allow him to do despite his previous successes. And how best to sell your silent movie than by having a bunch of stars show up in it?
Despite this, the film just didn’t do all that much for me and I can’t recommend you go see this Silent Movie.