# Silent Movie
**Silent Movie** is a 1976 American slapstick comedy directed by [Mel Brooks](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-brooks) and made almost entirely without spoken dialogue; the only word uttered in the film is "non", spoken by the French mime [Marcel Marceau](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcel-marceau) as he declines a role.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) Brooks stars as film director Mel Funn, who pitches the first major silent feature in forty years to a struggling Hollywood studio, and the film was released by Twentieth Century-Fox in June 1976.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075222/) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie) In Spain it was released under the title *La última locura*.[4](https://elpais.com/diario/1976/10/10/cultura/213750022_850215.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Wide release June 25, 1976, by 20th Century Fox; 87 minutes; rated PG[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie) |
| Dialogue | One word of spoken dialogue in the whole film, "non", delivered by Marcel Marceau[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) |
| Starring | Mel Brooks (Mel Funn), Marty Feldman (Marty Eggs), Dom DeLuise (Dom Bell), with Sid Caesar as the studio chief and Bernadette Peters as Vilma Kaplan[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) |
| Writers | Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy DeLuca, and Barry Levinson; produced by Michael Hertzberg for Crossbow Productions[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) |
| Box office | $36,145,695 domestic gross, all of it in the United States[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie) |
| Budget | $6 million according to Esquire (May 1976); The Numbers lists $4,400,000[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie) |
| Recognition | Four Golden Globe nominations in 1977, including Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Mel Funn, a great film director recovering from a drinking problem, arrives at Big Picture Studios with his sidekicks Dom Bell and Marty Eggs to pitch a comeback project: the first major silent feature film in forty years. The desperate studio chief approves, on the condition that Funn secure major stars for the cast.[5](https://thetvdb.com/movies/silent-movie) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_movie) Funn's recruitment tour brings on [Burt Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-reynolds), James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft, and [Paul Newman](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-newman) as themselves; only Marceau refuses, in the film's single spoken word.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography)
Opposition comes from the conglomerate Engulf & Devour, which wants to take over the studio and sabotages the project for fear that a hit would make the studio unsellable.[5](https://thetvdb.com/movies/silent-movie) Roger Ebert, reviewing in the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) on January 1, 1976, identified Engulf & Devour as a parody of the Gulf & Western Corporation and its takeover of [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography)
## Production
Brooks wrote the screenplay with [Ron Clark](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-clark), Rudy DeLuca, and [Barry Levinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-levinson), produced through Crossbow Productions with Michael Hertzberg as producer, and shot the film with cinematographer Paul Lohmann.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) Shooting began on January 5, 1976, and wrapped that March with [Liza Minnelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/liza-minnelli)'s scenes.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) Esquire reported a production cost of $6 million in May 1976, while the box-office database The Numbers lists a budget of $4,400,000.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie)
Although Brooks had appeared onscreen in his earlier directorial efforts such as *Blazing Saddles* (1974), the role of Mel Funn was his first leading role in a theatrical motion picture.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) According to a People news item of August 16, 1976, Brooks claimed that the cameo stars Reynolds, Newman, Caan, and Minnelli were paid $138 per day for their appearances.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography)
## Sound design
Silence applies only to dialogue. A Time review of July 12, 1976, noted that the film features vivid sound effects, music, and a dramatic soundtrack despite its lack of dialogue; the score was composed by John Morris.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie) The film is in color with a stereo sound mix.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_movie)
## Reception and box office
[The Wall Street Journal](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wall-street-journal) reported on July 12, 1976, that the film grossed over $2 million within the first five days of a limited release, and speculated that its success could help Twentieth Century-Fox revive its position with investors after poor first- and second-quarter earnings.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) Its eventual domestic gross was $36,145,695, with no recorded earnings outside the United States.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie)
The film received four Golden Globe nominations in 1977: Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy, Best Motion Picture Actor – Music/Comedy for Brooks, Best Motion Picture Actor in a Supporting Role for Marty Feldman, and Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for Bernadette Peters.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography) On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 80% Tomatometer from 30 critics, with a critics' consensus calling it "stylistically audacious and infectiously nostalgic"; its Metascore is 75 and its IMDb rating 6.7 from about 20,000 users.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_movie) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075222/)
In December 1976 Twentieth Century-Fox canceled $1 screenings of the film at "underbelly" theaters nationwide, reportedly in response to pressure from Brooks, who feared overexposure; the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners forced the studio to reinstate the film in New Jersey and New York for one week.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography)
## Context in film history
By 1976, silent features had been absent from theaters for decades; a retrospective essay notes that the last silent film in theaters dated to the 1930s, so most 1976 moviegoers had never seen one on a cinema screen.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/features/satirizing-and-saluting-mel-brooks-silent-movie-at-50) The film's premise of reviving the silent format, and its use of stars playing themselves, made it a self-referential Hollywood satire as well as an homage to silent-era slapstick.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_movie) It followed Brooks's 1974 successes *Blazing Saddles* and *Young Frankenstein*, and critics have generally ranked it below those two films while noting its commercial success.[8](https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-analysis/filmmakers/mel-brookss-silent-movie-may-stutter-but-it-speaks-volumes/)
## References
1. [Silent Movie (1976), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67157-SILENT-MOVIE?cxt=filmography)
2. [Silent Movie (1976), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075222/)
3. [Silent Movie (1976) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Silent-Movie)
4. [Entrevista con Mel Brooks, El País, 10 October 1976](https://elpais.com/diario/1976/10/10/cultura/213750022_850215.html)
5. [Silent Movie, TheTVDB](https://thetvdb.com/movies/silent-movie)
6. [Silent Movie, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_movie)
7. [Satirizing and Saluting: Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" At 50, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/features/satirizing-and-saluting-mel-brooks-silent-movie-at-50)
8. [Mel Brooks's Silent Movie May Stutter, But It Speaks Volumes, Film Obsessive](https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-analysis/filmmakers/mel-brookss-silent-movie-may-stutter-but-it-speaks-volumes/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1970s › Released 1970 to 1976*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license