Review of Silent Movie (1976) by The R — 14 Jul 2009

Mel Brooks' 1976 feature "Silent Movie" is a hilarious film that ranks with his best. This is Brooks at his most creative, packing gags from start to finish and pushing a few in between, in his most tightly paced film after "The Producers".

The plot follows a director (Brooks) attempting to save a studio by making a silent film (hence the title), although this really just works as a clothesline for gags. This is similar to "Young Frankenstein" as Brooks uses the same format as the films he is parodying, leaving dialogue to title cards (for the most part) and even using them as an opportunity for humour.

The film is not silent - it is full of music and sound effects and even one word. What makes this film stand out is that Brooks (like he does in his best work) is incredibly creative with his gags - humour of this variety and calibre is rare outside his work - and fires them off at a machine gun pace, so that if even one fails (although it rarely does - "Silent Movie" has fewer dead spots than most of Brooks' work), there are five more to replace it, and they do make us laugh.

My favourite gags in the film (although they is difficult to choose in a film with so many good ones) are in the Burt Reynolds scene. "Silent Movie" demonstrates why Mel Brooks is a true comic genius.