Roman Scandals (1933)

A kind-hearted young man is thrown out of his corrupt home town of West Rome, Oklahoma. He falls asleep and dreams that he is back in the days of olden Rome, where he gets mixed up with court intrigue and a murder plot against the Emperor.

Director:

Frank Tuttle

Writers:

George S. Kaufman (original story), Robert E. Sherwood (original story)

Stars:

Eddie Cantor, The Goldwyn Girls, Ruth Etting

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Eddie Cantor	...	Eddie / Oedipus
The Goldwyn Girls	...	Slave Girls
Ruth Etting	...	Olga
Gloria Stuart	...	Princess Sylvia
Edward Arnold	...	Emperor Valerius
David Manners	...	Josephus
Verree Teasdale	...	Empress Agrippa
Alan Mowbray	...	Majordomo
Jack Rutherford	...	Manius (as John Rutherford)
Willard Robertson	...	Warren Finley Cooper
Lee Kohlmar	...	Storekeeper

Storyline

A kind-hearted young man is thrown out of his corrupt home town of West Rome, Oklahoma. He falls asleep and dreams that he is back in the days of olden Rome, where he gets mixed up with court intrigue and a murder plot against the Emperor.

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Plot Keywords:

screwball comedy | emperor | unfair taxes | town mayor | steam bath | 

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Taglines:

HE ROLLED HIS EYES and RUINED an EMPRESS (Print Ad-Philadelphia Inquirer,((Philadelphia, Penna.)) 16 January 1934)

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 December 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escândalos Romanos

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 85 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to' Lucille Ball''s autobiography, often the slave girls were left chained up high in the rotunda in between shots and retakes. One day while feeling ill, Lucille fainted, her fake chains gave way and she fell, almost hitting and getting burned by the lights. Another extra playing a slave driver caught her, and she was unharmed.

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Goofs

On commonly available reissue prints of this film all the cast and credits are reprinted, with the following spelling errors: Songwriter Al Dubin's surname is spelled Dublin. Chariot sequence director Ralph Ceder's surname is spelled Cedar. Actress Verree Teasdale's first name is spelled Veree.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mayor of West Rome: As mayor of West Rome, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you and to introduce our first citizen, Warren Fenwick Cooper!
Warren F. Cooper: Thank you, mayor. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. Heh, heh, you see I know my Roman history.

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Connections

Featured in The Dick Cavett Show: Episode dated 7 March 1974 (1974)

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Soundtracks

Put a Tax on Love
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin and L. Wolfe Gilbert
Sung by Eddie Cantor

User Reviews

Building A Little Home in Rome

I recently read an account of the creation of Roman Scandals and the miracle is the film got made at all. A whole lot of creative minds butted creative heads.

Sam Goldwyn had it in mind to make a film version of Androcles and the Lion starring Eddie Cantor and I think Cantor would have been perfect in the title role. Unfortunately George Bernard Shaw thought there would be more Cantor than Shaw in the finished product and he nixed that idea with Goldwyn quick.

The idea of a story in ancient Rome had really taken hold with Goldwyn so he then hired George S. Kaufman and Robert Sherwood to write a screenplay. They did come up with the story outline you see on films, but got into problems with Cantor who insisted he wanted the lead role more personalized along with the gags that went with it. Kaufman and Sherwood quit on Goldwyn.

Sam got a few more writers and gave Cantor more creative input into the film and the result is Roman Scandals. Admittedly Roman Scandals is one of the best showcases for the talents of Eddie Cantor.

Eddie plays one of his usual meek little schnooks who turns the tables on those oppressing him. He's the curator of a small museum in West Rome, Oklahoma and uncovers evidence of corruption by the local bigwigs who give him the bum's rush out of town. He soon finds himself walking on a road leading out of ancient Rome and gets involved in the political situation there.

Co-starring with Cantor are Gloria Stuart, David Manners, and as the Emperor Edward Arnold who is playing one of his early villains. Cantor uses both Arnold and his chief henchmen Alan Mowbray to great effect in several gags. My two favorite scenes are his avoiding the Emperor's poisoned food by feeding it to the royal crocodile and Cantor being sold at the slave market with the bidding done by people who want him for all kinds of purposes.

Ruth Etting who co-starred on Broadway with Cantor in Whoopee has a part and a real good torch song number No More Love. Busby Berkeley gave it and other songs sung by Cantor a big production number. Etting of course was the subject of bio film Love Me or Leave Me with Doris Day playing her. Roman Scandals is your opportunity to see the real deal and what a talent she was.

Gloria Stuart who was on loan from Universal could not believe the lavishness of a Sam Goldwyn film, she was used to more cost conscious operations at her home studio. But if you hire Busby Berkeley lavish comes with the territory. Two of Cantor's numbers Build a Little Home and Keep Young and Beautiful got the lavish treatment and they were good.

Eddie Cantor an entertainer of amazing talent should be seen and studied today. I can't think of anything better to start with than Roman Scandals.