Mel Brooks is known for writing clever stuff, and a lot of that cleverness is in the dialogue. So, the question is, can Mel do a silent movie well? I strongly believe that he did. Silent Movie is delightful in every scene, with a fun cast of characters who are performed very well (with perfect timing of course) by Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, and Brooks himself. The cameos are used well, and also add to the delight.
From a technical standpoint, the film is impressive, and ironically, I really liked this movie’s use of sound. The music always fit the scene, as did the sound effects, and the score actually varied in style, but still felt coherent despite its different genres. I liked the way the movie was shot and edited as well, and Mel generally does a good job with that kind of thing I’ve found.
While I thought the writing was very clever (since I laughed a lot throughout) and I thought the story had about the right amount of simplicity that it would need as a silent movie, there were a couple of things about the writing that bothered me. Firstly, the characters were all sort of caricatures, and while the protagonist is somewhat relatable and down-to-earth, even he is too over-the-top to be relatable sometimes. When this happens in a story that essentially is a series of attempts to get celebrities to do the movie, it is easy to stop caring about the story since one eventually grows tired of such a basic and simple plot.
I still think that this is one of Mel’s funniest films, which is why I am surprised that I didn’t hear about it much over the years. I do not have much of a special connection to the film, or at least not like I did with High Anxiety, which is in my top 20 favorite movies. However, I think I probably laughed more while watching this than I did while watching Men in Tightsor High Anxiety. So, because I can guaranty that this movie will get a laugh out of anyone, and because this is probably the most family-friendly film Mel’s done, I highly recommend Silent Movie.
