Movies

It's been decades since silent movies were regularly made. Mel Brooks took a bold step in conceiving a modern silent for his classic "Silent Movie." He seems to understand the classic slapstick of the old silents, and it shows in his movie. And who can forget Marcel Marceau's line, "Non!" (especially since it's the only line of dialogue)?

Greetings from Lithuania."Silent Movie" (1976) surely has it's moments, and the whole idea was great, although this is not very funny movie. Acting was, OK i guess for this material, and there were some cameos from very famous starts, but they almost felt flat. At running time 1 h 25 min movie dragged a lot, i almost managed to watch it in like 4 days. Overall, i really wanted to like this satire on of movies and studio system, and "talkies", but this movie is just silly to me. It has some laughs, but most of them aren't really funny or smart. All in all this is not a good movie. Disappointing picture.

I first saw "Silent Movie" in the theater (Glen Oaks, NY). I've seen it a bunch of times since. It's okay. It has more smiles than laughs but it's pleasant enough. It does seem longer than its short running time (88 minutes). The cast is good. The star cameos are mostly worth it. Nothing about "Silent Movie" really knocks my socks off but I'm sure I'll keep watching it every once in a while. Honorable mention: Paul Newman's scene.