A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Has its moments but mostly quite silly. A farcical comedy, set in Roman times. Has some good one-liners but is mostly quite silly. Almost every plot development is merely an excuse for some pointless, mostly unfunny slapstick. It gets quite predictable after a while: you get some random detour and you can imagine how it is going to end up.To compound the misery, the movie is partly a musical! Yeah, you know, people randomly breaking into campy tunes. Not a recipe for a good movie.Zero Mostel is reasonably good in the lead role. His clowning around gives the movie some of its best moments. Cast also features Buster Keaton, though his performance is fairly subdued.

It's ironic that just as Stephen Sondheim was establishing himself as both composer and lyricist on Broadway, musicals just stopped being made except on rare occasions. As a result most of Sondheim's work is sadly not filmed. In any event we don't have the musical stars on screen to do the roles justice.So in his first effort at writing both music and lyrics we're lucky indeed to have A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum on the big screen. A cut down version to be sure in terms of songs, but still a tribute to Sondheim in a fashion.The accent is more on comedy however and you cannot give enough praise to both Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford who were the only two from the Broadway cast to repeat their roles. In fact I can't conceive of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum being made without Mostel. He dominates the proceedings and that's not easy considering his main co-star is Phil Silvers. Phil Silvers was supposed to be on Broadway, but would not do the part on stage because he could not wear his glasses. Those were not just a comic prop, the man was terribly nearsighted. As a result his part was played by John Carradine. Who'd have ever thought those two would have been up for the same part?Another movie veteran the garrulous Raymond Walburn played the wandering Erronius and his part was played by the great stone face Buster Keaton in what turned out to be his farewell performance.Richard Lester the director comes in for a lot praise as well. The way he maximized the use of the screen you can hardly tell the stage origins of this show. Certainly that wild and crazy chariot race at the end could not have been done on stage. It's a great sequence even if the idea originated in the Eddie Cantor film, Roman Scandals.This movie was also the return of Zero Mostel to the screen after the blacklist. Mostel previously had done some really nice character parts, he stands out in those two Humphrey Bogart films, The Enforcer and Sirocco and was really good as Jack Palance's lapdog companion in Panic In The Streets. But when he could not get work in Hollywood, he returned to nightclubs and the theater where he obtained real stardom. One of the many Tony Awards A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum won was for Zero Mostel as Best Actor.On Broadway the show ran for 964 performances from 1962-1964 and also won a Tony for Best Musical. I haven't even described the plot because it's impossible. It revolves essentially around young Hiero, played by Michael Crawford to get the woman he loves who happens to work over at Phil Silvers's pleasure house and his family slave Zero Mostel to obtain his freedom. That's as far as I can go.As another movie icon expressed, fasten your seatbelts, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is a wild and bumpy ride.

As the popularity of big budget Broadway musicals grew over the course of the 1960s, it was inevitable that a series of corresponding film adaptations would follow - a more affordable and easily mass marketed alternative. As such, while it may not have been one of the most well known stage musicals, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum had proved a sufficient hit to make an intelligent transfer to the big screen. And while fans of the live show may find the film somewhat lacking in scope or creative vision, the resulting zany, energetic comic romp is sufficiently cheerful and endearing to easily entertain nonetheless.While Sondheim's musical numbers seem scarce (the majority of the Broadway show's numbers are noticeably excluded cut from the film) and lacking in the energetic zest which would bring them to life with the same engaging spark as a live show or other efforts in the genre, the few tunes prove sufficiently catchy and executed with enough endearing charm to make up for their somewhat lacklustre quality. However, the film truly reaches its potential on the irreverent comedy front, never presuming to take itself overly seriously with breaches of the fourth wall, (including the number "Comedy Tonight", an amusing prologue where Mostel introduces the principle locations and characters, one of the film's highlights) and a madcap final chase sequence which visibly takes influence from the similarly bawdy What's New Pussycat. Director Richard Lester, his musical credentials seasoned by numerous film adaptations of The Beatles, experiments with several similar sequences of blindingly fast editing and cartoon backgrounds, used to suitably comedic effect. Of course the cunning script's requisite slew of slapstick gags and witty repartee proves the film's real highlight, though the period sets and costumes prove comparatively expansive and impressive given the period in which the film was made, suitably immersing the viewer within the realm of ancient Rome. The film's inspired casting lend comedic credulity to the film, bringing the script's cheerful irreverence to life with enthusiastic silliness and charm to spare. Reprising his starring role from the Broadway production, Zero Mostel is nothing less than a scream as cunning slave Pseudolus, a bundle of comedic energy and hysterical mannerisms whose mere presence lights up the screen and makes the movie immediately more enjoyable. Jack Gilford similarly raises many a laugh as bewildered and constantly put upon slave Hysterium, as does Phil Silvers as a quirky brothel owner. Buster Keaton, tragically in his last screen performance is delightfully hysterical in a tiny role as a doddering old man prone to superstitious laps around the city, and while Keaton is given little character to work with, his mere persona and tremendous presence make him hilarious regardless. While bestowed with little character, the lovely Annette Andre adds class and distinction to the film while making quality use of her few comedic lines as ethical virgin Philia, and Michael Crawford is just silly enough without quite going overboard as the young noble who becomes smitten with her. While lacking the profundity of some of Sondheim's later musical efforts and the vivacious splendour of other such musical adaptations, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum offers unapologetic entertainment to a nearly unprecedented degree, excelling as a comedy if not as a movie musical. With delightful performances aplenty, (especially Zero Mostel's dynamo of a performance) the film may have little particularly memorable about it, but proves a suitably joyful and charming diversion, easily worth experiencing for those seeking a warm smile on their face above all else. -7/10

Whenever I feel down, whenever the world is getting on top of me, whenever I just need some light-hearted fun, I turn to 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.The cast is superb: Zero Mostel ("Was 1 a good year?"); Jack Gilford ("I live to grovel"); Phil Silvers ("I know that sound - and I love it!"); even classical actor Michael Hordern enters into the spirit of things ("All that flesh... just next door.") Above all, my man of the movie award goes to Buster Keaton. Nearly seventy and making his last film he steals every scene he appears in and the line "My daughter a eunuch?" kills me every time. He even manages an old-style 'hundred-and-eight' slapstick fall. The animated end titles provide a lovely tribute as a little Erronius goes running to-and-fro among the credits.The plot is a wonderfully complex farce but "there's a happy ending, of course", plenty of laughs along the way, and a chariot chase that's not quite like the one in 'Fall of the Roman Empire'.The production design is worth noting, too. Not much Roman grandeur here, but narrow streets full of people and animals, a city that really looks lived in.A terrific film that restores your zest for life!