This is my favorite Mel Brooks which I recently re-watched. It takes place in contemporary (mid-70s then, of course) Los Angeles/Hollywood. However the main gimmick of the film is that it's "silent" without any dialogue. Retro "title cards" are used throughout.Watch the trailer:
The simple plot: has-been director Mel Funn (Brooks) trying to make a comeback with a new idea for a film: modern-day SILENT MOVIE. He pitches it to a studio boss (Sid Caesar) who is a little skeptical until Funn gets major Hollywood stars to sign up (leading to hilarious results). Among them: Burt Reynolds, Anne Bancroft, Liza Minelli, and James Caan. He even tries to get legendary French mime Marcel Marceau to sign up; in one humorous scene, he calls him in Paris to ask if he'd like to be a part. Marcel responds, "No!" in the only spoken word of dialogue in the film.
Everyone hopes the film will be a hit except for a rival studio who wants the film to fail. The rival studio even sends out a sexpot nightclub dancer/singer (Bernadette Peters) to distract Mel Funn and his bumbling associates (Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman). The hilarious film is filled with sight gags that will remind you of the classic slapstick comedy you enjoyed in silent movies of an earlier era.
Even making an appearance is Paul Newman, playing (and mocking) himself. When we first see him in the film, he is in a hospital recovering from a broken leg after one of his famous car races, and we see him in a motorized wheelchair. Mel & Co. sneakily track him down, and this leads to a hilarious wheelchair chase, complete with a little Ben-Hur homage. I could also mention several more scenes, but I don't want to spoil it all. See the movie! I highly recommend it.
POSTSCRIPT:
Mel Brooks was chosen to be one of the 2009 Kennedy Center honorees. The ceremony is an annual gala where 5 American showbusiness legends are awarded lifetime achievement medals from the Kennedy Center, a performing arts center in Washington DC. The President attends, and it's always a grand affair. A well-deserved honor for the Oscar-winning filmmaker. No less than three of his films are usually regarded among the funniest of all time : The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles. Watch a clip from the Kennedy Center tribute: