Fun Size Review: Silent Movie (1976)

Director Mel Brooks makes a silent movie about a director named Mel making a silent movie. You have to admit that’s pretty meta.

Your enjoyment pretty much depends on your devotion to the Brooks brand of humor. Tons of A-list seventies-era cameos like Burt Reynolds, Anne Bancroft, James Caan and Liza Minnelli but the picture tends to fall down on the basics of pantomime, oddly enough. Still, it has fun parts.


Mel gets his silent movie made and it is an enormous hit, possibly reviving the genre. In real life, the movie did not spur a silent rebirth. Sigh.

Read my full-length review here.

If it were a dessert it would be: Cheat’s Chocolate Fudge. It tries to capture the feel of the original. Doesn’t really succeed but is tasty enough.

AvailabilitySilent Movie is available on DVD solo and on Blu-ray as part of The Mel Brooks Collection box set.


