# Movies with ONLY music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964 "2011-02-03T00:54:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/21 "2011-02-03T14:23:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [The Magic Flute.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute_(1975_film)) Not really. The Magic Flute is a German style opera, and has bits of dialogue (where, in that Bergman version, everyone apparently sounds like the Swedish chef). [Example.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCrSIuj-giA&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/22 "2011-02-03T18:51:55Z")
[Pink Floyd’s The Wall](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084503/) has very, very little dialogue, and some of it I would consider part of the song. “Poems, everybody! The laddie reckons himself a poet!” “Do you remember me? I’m the one from the registry office.” “Pinky! Get off the line, you bloody idiot!” “Wow, this place is bigger than our whole apartment.” Okay, so I guess there’s talking…but not much more than that! ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/23 "2011-02-03T19:20:32Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > [Pink Floyd’s The Wall](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084503/) has very, very little dialogue, and some of it I would consider part of the song. > > “Poems, everybody! The laddie reckons himself a poet!” > “Do you remember me? I’m the one from the registry office.” > “Pinky! Get off the line, you bloody idiot!” > “Wow, this place is bigger than our whole apartment.” > > Okay, so I guess there’s talking…but not much more than that! That raises the issue of concert films, such as Stop Making Sense - was there any talking between songs on that? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/24 "2011-02-03T20:02:49Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > _Fantasia_ has dialog - where Mickey Mouse congratulates Stokowski. Also a narrator explaining what each musical performance will be about. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/25 "2011-02-03T20:07:17Z")
Norman Jewison’s version of “Jesus Christ Superstar”? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/26 "2011-02-03T20:18:29Z")
The entire run of Chuck Jones Roadrunner cartoons (I think they let them speak after he left Warners). Also, his “[High Note](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqaedNnx2nE)” [Rhapsody in Rivets.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTlWMRf4Hjs) ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/27 "2011-02-03T20:59:13Z")
[Allegro non troppo.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074121/) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/28 "2011-02-03T21:39:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Silent Movie** has one line of dialog, so it’s disqualified. IIRC, it has only one _word_ of dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/29 "2011-02-03T21:58:43Z")
This doesn’t quite fit the parameters, but there is an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with almost no dialogue. In the episode Hush, demons magically steal everyone’s voices, so there is very little dialogue throughout the episode. There is a bit a talking at the beginning and the end, and it’s a TV show, so it doesn’t quite meet the guidelines. It’s a great episode though, so I think it’s worth mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/30 "2011-02-03T22:53:09Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > This doesn’t quite fit the parameters, but there is an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with almost no dialogue. In the episode Hush, demons magically steal everyone’s voices, so there is very little dialogue throughout the episode. There is a bit a talking at the beginning and the end, and it’s a TV show, so it doesn’t quite meet the guidelines. It’s a great episode though, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Trivia: the episode “Hush”, with next-to-no dialogue, was nominated for an Emmy in 2000, for “Outstanding Writing.” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/31 "2011-02-03T23:18:09Z")
Thought of another one, with only very minimal dialog in it: Jacques Tati’s famous comedy [Mr. Hulot’s Holiday](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046487/). In his next movie, the Oscar-winning [Mon Oncle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050706//), there is still not much dialog, but more than in Mr. Hulot’s Holiday IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/32 "2011-02-03T23:56:55Z")
I was thinking of Hulot, but there is dialog when he registers at the Hotel de Plage (and he says his name very clearly. There’s less dialog in **Mon Oncle** , and it might fit. His **Playtime** and **Traffic** do have dialog, but it’s not really required and there are long stretches where nothing is said. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/33 "2011-02-04T01:14:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I mentioned **Le Dernier Combat** in the other thread, because I think it’s got no music. Regardless of that, it has even less dialogue than **Silent Movie**. A French Science Fiction film that needs no subtitles. If it _has_ music, despite my recollection, then it can still fit in this thread. If anyone was going to beat me to mentioning this movie, it was going to be you. I don’t remember the music either, but Luv Besson’s usual composer, Eric Serra, is listed in the credits. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/34 "2011-02-04T02:10:17Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The entire run of Chuck Jones Roadrunner cartoons (I think they let them speak after he left Warners). Also, his “[High Note](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqaedNnx2nE)” > > [Rhapsody in Rivets.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTlWMRf4Hjs) Most of the Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner series is completely devoid of spoken dialog (they usually hold up signs, which became one of many classic tropes in the series), but there are a couple of notable exceptions: [ul] [li]In one cartoon Wile E. says “ouch” after he gets caught in a giant bear trap and walks away like an accordion. In another episode he howls when his tail gets buzzed by a spinning blade that is strapped to his back like a jet-pack to enable flight.[/li][li]In [Zip Zip Hooray!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056720/) two boys are watching the cartoons on TV. One of the boys asks the other why the coyote chases the roadrunner. Wile E. then stops to break the fourth wall (to the boys watching TV, and by extension, to us) and explains in excruciating detail-- complete with charts-- what drives coyotes to pursue roadrunners.[/li][li]In [Roadrunner a Go-Go](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056416/) Wile E. Coyote breaks the fourth wall as he analyzes several films of his attempts to capture the roadrunner in hopes of improving his technique (which, of course, he never does).[/li][li]In [Hare-Breadth Hurry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057126/) there is dialog, but it comes from Bugs Bunny, who fills in for the Roadrunner in this one. In all the other Wile E./Bugs Bunny pairings, Bugs is himself and both he and Wile E. have speaking roles.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/35 "2011-02-04T02:13:21Z")
I could be remember incorrectly, but I believe that the **Cremaster Cycle** movies have no dialogue? ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/36 "2011-02-04T02:45:46Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > [Baraka](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103767/) > [@Kolga](#): > > One of my faves. [Samsara](http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/samsara) (a sequel of sorts) could turn up this year. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/37 "2011-02-04T03:56:11Z")
Latcho Drom ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/38 "2011-02-04T18:34:46Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > One of my faves. > > The trilogy [Koyaanisqatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/), [Powaqqatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095895/), and [Naqoyatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145937/) also are visual montages with music. I loved/love K, didn’t rate P too much and was unaware of N. Must get to see it . ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/39 "2011-02-04T19:27:08Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Most of the Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner series is completely devoid of spoken dialog (they usually hold up signs, which became one of many classic tropes in the series), but there are a couple of notable exceptions: > > [ul] > [li]In one cartoon Wile E. says “ouch” after he gets caught in a giant bear trap and walks away like an accordion. In another episode he howls when his tail gets buzzed by a spinning blade that is strapped to his back like a jet-pack to enable flight.[/li][li]In [Zip Zip Hooray!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056720/) two boys are watching the cartoons on TV. One of the boys asks the other why the coyote chases the roadrunner. Wile E. then stops to break the fourth wall (to the boys watching TV, and by extension, to us) and explains in excruciating detail-- complete with charts-- what drives coyotes to pursue roadrunners.[/li][li]In [Roadrunner a Go-Go](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056416/) Wile E. Coyote breaks the fourth wall as he analyzes several films of his attempts to capture the roadrunner in hopes of improving his technique (which, of course, he never does).[/li][li]In [Hare-Breadth Hurry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057126/) there is dialog, but it comes from Bugs Bunny, who fills in for the Roadrunner in this one. In all the other Wile E./Bugs Bunny pairings, Bugs is himself and both he and Wile E. have speaking roles.[/li][/ul] Those were done after Chuck Jones left; Jones adhered the the rule that there be no dialog. The exception were the Coyote/Bugs Bunny cartoons, which weren’t part of the Roadrunner series. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/40 "2011-02-05T08:04:12Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > _Fantasia_ has dialog - where Mickey Mouse congratulates Stokowski. There are several times when a narrator introduces works and there is the time when he calls for the soundtrack to make an appearance on screen and show what various instruments sounds ‘look’ like. EVITA has no dialogue. Directed by Alan Parker who also directed Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Commitments and Bugsy Malone. Jesus Christ Superstar does not have dialogue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964.md?page=3)