A legendary actor, renowned for his “art of silence” technique, broke it with a single word in one major film.
Marcel Marceau, the iconic French mime artist known for his character Bip the Clown, graced the silver screen throughout the 60s and 70s. He had roles in films like Barbarella and Shanks, where he played characters that were deaf, mute, or even mad scientists, but throughout the lot he remained silent.
However, everything changed when he featured in Mel Brooks’ comedy, Silent Movie. Released in 1976, the film is unique as it features no dialogue, paying homage to the silent movie era of the 1920s, with characters expressing themselves through title cards instead.
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Comic genius Brooks managed to coax a solitary word from Marceau in this hilarious hit, sparking fan theories about the “perfect” moment, with some speculating that Marceau’s cameo was the inspiration behind the whole movie.
In the film, Marceau is seen hilariously battling a gusty wind that keeps pushing him back as he tries to answer a persistently ringing phone.
When he finally manages to close the windows and pick up the receiver, the audience hears the only spoken line in the movie. On the other end, Brooks, Marty Feldman, and the gang ask: “Allo… Marcel? … Je suis Funn. How would you like to be in the first silent movie made in over forty years…?”
(Image: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
To which Marceau famously replies in French: “Non! “.
Fans are still chuckling over the iconic joke today, with plenty of chatter surfacing on X (previously known as Twitter). One lively user shared: “There’s a theory that the entire movie is set up for this one joke, which is even funnier.”
It’s worth noting that this isn’t Marceau’s only venture into verbal acting in the 1974 surreal horror flick Shanks, although one of his characters remained silent, he pulled off a speaking role for another character.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
