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

A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom.

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Melvin Frank (screenplay), Michael Pertwee (screenplay)

Stars:

Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zero Mostel	...	Pseudolus
Phil Silvers	...	Marcus Lycus
Buster Keaton	...	Erronius
Michael Crawford	...	Hero
Jack Gilford	...	Hysterium
Annette Andre	...	Philia
Michael Hordern	...	Senex
Leon Greene	...	Captain Miles Gloriosus
Roy Kinnear	...	Gladiator Instructor
Alfie Bass	...	Gatekeeper
John Bluthal	...	Roman Chief Guard
Pamela Brown	...	High Priestess
Patricia Jessel	...	Domina
Beatrix Lehmann	...	Domina's Mother
Frank Thornton	...	Roman Sentry

Storyline

Pseudolus (Zero Mostel) is the laziest slave in Rome, and has one wish, to purchase his freedom. When his master and mistress leave for the day, he finds out that the young master has fallen in love with a virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers), a slave dealer specializing in beautiful women. Pseudolus concocts a deal in which he will be freed if he can procure the girl for young Hero (Michael Crawford). Of course, it can't be that simple as everything begins to go wrong.

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Plot Keywords:

child kidnapping | kidnapping | neo screwball comedy | italy | virgin | 

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Taglines:

Something for Everyone!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

While Buster Keaton often used a stunt double due to his illness, he improvised running into a tree branch and falling backwards onto the ground, much to the horror of director Richard Lester and crew.

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Goofs

When Lycus is displaying his goods, a sound man with recorder is seen in the background behind the African dancer.

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Quotes

Pseudolus: Wait!
Hero: Yes?
Pseudolus: A brilliant idea!
Hero: Yes!
Pseudolus: That's what we need, a brilliant idea.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are a sequence of animated Roman frescoes. At the end of the credits, all the frescoes appear together as a gallery with the words "THE END" as a centerpiece.

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Connections

Referenced in Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011)

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Soundtracks

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid
Written by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Zero Mostel, Michael Hordern, Jack Gilford and Phil Silvers

User Reviews

The Good and the Bad

I saw this film when I was a young girl (seven or so) and I adored it. When I was about fourteen, I finally got to see the stage production. When I saw the film again, I realized there were some bad choices made. I think the film has many excellent points and some bad points:

Good:

-For starters, you couldn't have asked for a better cast. I don't just mean Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford (though both are incredible) but casting Buster Keaton was inspired.

-Very accurate portrayal of ancient Rome (up to a point, of course). The only reason I bring it up is because when I took Latin in high school, we studied ancient Rome and I like the research that went into that for the film.

-The chase scene at the end. That's what I remember laughing at the most as a child.

Bad:

-Cutting so many songs, specifically "Free" and Hysterium's number (I must say, Jack Gilford was highly underused in this film).

-The direction of most remaining musical numbers and some scenes.

-Changing the character of Dominia. I don't mind it too much (she does get some good lines in there) but I liked having another strong female character aside from Philia.

Now I have nothing against Richard Lester. In fact, I enjoyed his work in A Hard Day's Night and Help! and I think when it comes to those types of films, he does well. I'm just not completely sure if he was right for this film. He treated the songs like music videos, kind of forgetting that in this case, the songs are being used to tell a story, not just for entertainment. We recently watched parts of the film in my Musical Theater History class, and that was one of the point brought up. He tended toward the fast pace/quick edit direction, which I think worked for "Comedy Tonight", but not much else (especially not "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid"). While I disliked some of his direction on "Lovely", I did like that he repeated (more or less) the same direction in the reprise of the song.

I will say, though, when he's good in the film, he's really good. I can't deny there are parts in the film that are incredibly funny, most notably the chariot chase. I am a bit torn about the film. In the long run, I will probably always love the film and watch it when I get the chance, despite its shortcomings. Still, I wouldn't mind a remake of it. And I think we can safely say this isn't the worst film version of a Sondheim show (A Little Night Music anyone?).

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Melvin Frank Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1