Silent Movie is an American satirical comedy film co-written and directed by and

starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976. The ensemble
cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid Caesar, with
appearances by Anne Bancroft, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Marcel
Marceau, and Paul Newman playing themselves. While indeed silent (except for one
word, music, and numerous sound effects), the film is a parody of the silent film
genre, particularly the slapstick comedies of Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett, and
Buster Keaton. Among the film's most famous gags is the fact that the only audible
word in the film is spoken by Marcel Marceau, a mime. Sound is a big factor in the
film's humor, as when a scene that shows the New York City skyline begins with the
song "San Francisco", only to have it come to a sudden stop as if the musicians
realize they are playing the wrong music. They then go into "I'll Take Manhattan"
instead. The trend of large corporations buying up film studios is parodied by the
attempt of the Engulf and Devour Corporation to take control of a studio (a thinly
veiled reference to Gulf+Western's takeover of Paramount Pictures).

Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Analysis
4 Production notes
5 Reception
6 Awards & Nominations
7 Home media
8 Sources
9 References
10 External links
Plot
In Hollywood, Los Angeles,[4][5] Mel Funn (Mel Brooks), a great film director, is
now recovering from a drinking problem and down on his luck. He sets out for Big
Picture Studios to pitch a new script to the Chief, aided by his ever-present
sidekicks Dom Bell (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs (Marty Feldman). His big idea: the
first silent motion picture in forty years. At first the Chief (Sid Caesar), who is
in danger of losing the studio to the (literally) rabid and greedy New York
conglomerate Engulf & Devour (Harold Gould and Ron Carey), rejects the idea, but
Funn convinces him that if he can get Hollywood's biggest stars to be in the film,
he could save the studio.

Funn, Eggs, and Bell proceed to recruit various people for the film. Their first
target is Burt Reynolds, whom they first surprise in his shower. This does not go
well, but they are able to sign him on by appearing at his house in disguise (and
almost getting him killed by a steamroller). They recruit James Caan despite a
disastrous lunch in his broken trailer, and then torture Liza Minnelli at the
studio commissary (fortunately for them, she already badly wanted to be in the
movie). They then disguise themselves as Flamenco dancers to get close to Anne
Bancroft at a nightclub, and sign her on as well after a comical dance sequence.
News breaks out that the Chief has taken ill and is in the hospital. While there,
Mel phones Marcel Marceau in Paris who apparently declines the offer, saying
audibly, in French: "Non!" When asked by the others what Marceau said, Funn
explains he doesn't understand French. Paul Newman is seen on the hospital grounds.
After leading them on a wild Hollywood-style chase in electric wheelchairs, he asks
to be in the film. Funn and company reply with the typical Hollywood-esque "We'll
get back to you." A newspaper ad indicates that they "ink" Newman to do the movie.

In the process of their search for stars, the trio have a number of brief but funny
misadventures, including a mixup between two German Shepherds (one trained as a
seeing-eye dog, the other most assuredly not), a flying blueberry pie, and several
(mostly unsuccessful) efforts by Marty Eggs to seduce various women. Their most
notable encounter involves a Coca-Cola machine that dispenses cans by launching
them like grenades.

Engulf and Devour, meanwhile, worry that Funn will save Big Picture Studios and
they will be unable to buy it. They attempt to "stop Funn with sex" by sending
voluptuous nightclub sensation Vilma Kaplan (Bernadette Peters) to seduce Funn and
pretend to be in love with him. Funn falls head over heels, but when Eggs and Bell
reveal the truth to him on the day before filming begins, the director returns to
drinking. Moments after this turn of events, Vilma is seen calling Mr. Engulf with
the news that she is quitting: she has fallen for Funn for real. Mel stops by a
liquor store and buys what first appears to be an advertising prop in the store's
window, but is actually a giant bottle of liquor. After a misadventure involving a
Skid Row hotel room and a murphy bed, Funn ends up in an alley where he dispenses
booze from his giant bottle and is proclaimed "King of the Winos". After a few
hours of hitting the local gin mills, Vilma and Funn's associates find the would-be
"King" passed out in a pile of his "subjects", but several hundred cups of coffee
sober him up. Funn's silent movie is completed in record time. However, the only
copy of it is stolen from the theater by Engulf & Devour just before its big
premiere.

Vilma volunteers to stall the movie theater's audience with her nightclub act while
Funn and his associates go out to steal back their film. They succeed, but are
chased by Engulf and Devour's thuggish executives. They are eventually cornered,
but they are near the violent Coke machine, which they use against their foes. Most
of the executives, including Mr. Devour, are disabled by the exploding cans of
Coke, allowing Funn, Eggs, and Bell to escape. They hurry the film to the theater,
where it is shown for the first time. In the meantime, Eggs has gotten himself
tangled up in the film and he is immediately rushed up to the projection booth with
the film wrapped around him.

After the movie is over, the audience applauds wildly and leaps to its feet while
balloons and streamers fill the air. "They seem to like it," Funn says. The
jubilant audience files out of the theater past Funn, Eggs, Bell, Vilma, and the
recovered studio chief.

Cast
Mel Brooks as Mel Funn
Dom DeLuise as Dom Bell
Marty Feldman as Marty Eggs
Bernadette Peters as Vilma Kaplan
Sid Caesar as the Chief
Harold Gould as Engulf
Ron Carey as Devour
Burt Reynolds as Himself
James Caan as Himself
Liza Minnelli as Herself
Anne Bancroft as Herself
Paul Newman as Himself
Marcel Marceau as Himself
Harry Ritz as Man in Tailor Shop
Liam Dunn as the Newspaper Vendor
Carol Arthur as the Incredibly Pregnant Woman
Yvonne Wilder as the Studio Chief's Secretary
Charlie Callas as the Blind Man
Fritz Feld as the Rio Bomba Maitre d'
Valerie Curtin as the Intensive care Nurse
Henny Youngman as the Man With The Fly In His Soup
Phil Leeds as the Rio Bomba Waiter (Uncredited)
Analysis
Mel Brooks enjoyed success with the release of Blazing Saddles and Young
Frankenstein in 1974, both being parody films spoofing entire genres. He followed
this success with Silent Movie, an affectionate parody of the slapstick films of
the silent film era. The film feels like a throwback to this earlier era, despite
using color and other up to date techniques.[4] As a film about filmmaking, Silent
Movie also parodies "Hollywood deal-making".[4] Co-writer Ron Clark was previously
the producer of The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970), while Rudy De Luca and Barry
Levinson were writers for The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978). Unsurprisingly, the
humor of Silent Movie would not be out of place in a sketch comedy.[4] Henry
Jenkins points out that for Brooks the decision to make a silent comedy represents
an allusion to an earlier era of his career. He used to be a writer for Your Show
of Shows (1950–1954), a show which included pantomime segments and parodies of
silent films. Television audiences of the 1950s were familiar with the silents
through their broadcast on late night television.[6]

The film features an unflattering portrayal of the film industry. Big Picture
Studios' front gate sign boasts of the multimillion-dollar scope of their films,
never mentioning their quality. The film project is green-lit not on the merits of
its script, but solely on the drawing power of the movie stars attached. Executives
cannot tell good film footage apart from bad, while the 'Current Studio Chief' is
one box office bomb away from losing his position. The studio itself is under
threat of a takeover by a "soulless" conglomerate. The movie stars are portrayed as
vain figures who flaunt their wealth. The film audience is portrayed as fickle and
unpredictable.[4]

The villainous conglomerate 'Engulf & Devour' is a parody of real-life conglomerate

The logo of Big Picture Studios is a parody of the MGM lion. It depicts the Studio
Chief (Sid Caesar) as a braying donkey.[4] Liza Minnelli features in a scene which
makes no use of her dancing talents. Robert Alan Crick points out that the part
could be easily played by any well-known actress of the 1970s, with no apparent
difference.[4] The film was the first notable acting role for Brooks, who was
previously limited to off-screen voiceovers and short cameos.[4]

One joke makes use of the difference between the expressive gestures of silent
cinema and those used in guessing games, such as charades. A secretary attempts to
explain to the Studio Chief that Funn has a drinking problem, by pantomiming an
uplifted bottle. Her boss misunderstands, figuring that Funn sucks his thumb.[6]
Another scene with the Boss pays homage to slapstick. The boss proclaims slapstick
to be dead. Then he flips his chair backwards, and goes sliding across the room. He
slams his head, with the sound of a bell ringing. The humor of the scene derives
from the combination of the image and the unlikely sound.[6] Many of the gags of
the film actually depend on careful synchronizations of sound and image. For
example, a sequence has Feldman tossed about between elevator doors. It is set to
the sounds of a pinball machine.[6]

Other gags are delivered through intertitles. For example, in a meeting of 'Engulf
& Devour', an underling whispers something in the ears of his boss. The intertitles
report: "whisper...whisper...whisper". The boss fails to understand, forcing the
man to shout. In response the intertitle is written in all caps: "YOUR FLY IS
OPEN".[6]

Marcel Marceau reprises his "walking into the wind" routine while trying to lift a
phone. He then shouts the only spoken word of the film: "non". Mel Funn does not
apparently understand the reply, since he does not speak French.[6]
Production notes

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Silent Movie" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May
2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Brooks initially envisioned the film without even a musical soundtrack. But the
idea made 20th Century Fox executives nervous, so Brooks added John Morris's score,
"like a rug from beginning to end, just to be on the safe side."
Even though the film was shot without sound, Brooks was initially frustrated when
he could not get the film crew to laugh, as they were afraid their laughter would
spoil a take.
Brooks biographer James Robert Parish says that Brooks based the Eggs and Bell
characters on his relationship with his three brothers.
This was Brooks's first starring role in a film; referring to himself as actor-
director, Brooks said, "I'm not going to tell myself how much I like me or I'll ask
for more money."
The pregnant woman in the first scene is Carol Arthur, Dom DeLuise's wife.
Reynolds later described how his cameo came about:

Mel is one of the first directors in town who said, "God, you're funny." Originally
I was going to do another segment in the film, but at the time I had this house up
on the hill. I had gotten a big "R" from Republic Studios and put it on the gate.
The décor was Early Gauche. I had my initials everywhere - "BR" on the rugs, the
ashtrays, everywhere. It was a joke; it made me laugh; it made people who came
there laugh. It's the kind of joke I like to play on myself. At parties I used to
put lights around the "R." Mel took that and ran with it for the part I played.[7]