Rating: 
Summary: Classic Funny Men enliven this trip to the FORUM
Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM is one of those shows that you just have to let go of all disbelief, in order to accept the broad and wacky humor. Using the 2 stars from the original cast (Zero Mostel & Jack Gilford), this film is a fun and silly romp for everyone to enjoy. Mostel leads the pack as the crafty slave plotting his way to freedom, while Gilford is perfect as his VERY nervous cohort. Buster Keaton is a gem as the befuddled, blind-as-a-bat, old man searching for his long-lost children, while Phil Silvers is oily perfection as Lycus, the buyer & seller of the flesh of beautiful women. Leon Greene is vanity personified as the roman soldier, Miles Gloriosus. Richard Lester directs using his trademark quick-cuts and cinema tricks, and while they don't always work, they keep the film from dragging too much. Fans of the stage show will be disappointed to see some of the musical numbers cut, as well as the liberties with the script. (The part of Lycus is expanded in the film to accomodate Silvers.) However, the chance to see these old pros of burlesque humor strut their stuff makes this trip well worth taking. Be aware, however, that this film is NOT for the PC inclined. This is a "Comedy, Tonight" worth recommending.
Rating: 
Summary: Everybody ought to have this movie!
Review: This film is fall out of your chair hilarious!! If you've seen THE PRODUCERS, this film is definately your cup of tea! First of all, it's a classic preformance by Zero Mostel as Pseudolus, who's zany antics through Rome is just a riot. The whole cast is just brillianty laugh-out-loud humourous--Phil Silvers as Marcus Lycus, & Jack Gilford as Hysterium has FABULOUS chemistry with Zero Mostel! The young Michael Crawford [Broadway's Phantom of the Opera] is beyond words hysertical as Hero! Buster Keaton is the cherry on the top of this marvelous cast!Now the music and lyrics, even if you aren't too keen on Soundhiem [like myself] you will be busting your guts at these ultimately cheesy lyrics and find your self humming the tunes after you watch it! It's LOVELY..WINSOME..as in some dream come true! This film truly has something for everyone, and during the chariot chase scene, you'll find yourself rolling on the floor cracking up! The plot is the craziest and zaniest you'll ever see in a musical! Zero's facial expression has he hatches the plan on Hysterium is one of THE funniest things I've ever seen on film to date! Just watch this film...it redefines the term "TOGA PARTY"! SEE IT! :D
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Easily one the most memorable musicals to date. Hilarious script, great songs, and an all star cast make this one a must have for any home.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced hilarity makes for non-stop laughs
Review: This film has the same effect on me as when I watch any of the Three Stooges comedies (with Curly, of course) - I can view it 100 times, and never get bored with it. The insanely fast pace of this picture keeps you moving from one scene to another, gag after gag, joke after joke, so your sides have little time to rest beteen a constant stream of hilarity. Richard Lester, probably best known for directing the Beatles' farces in the mid-sixties, carried the same light-hearted, good-natured, and clever execution of camera work to "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Zero Mostel is at his best in his starring role as the quick-tonged, lying, deceiving Roman slave working constantly to gain his freedom. The much under-utilized Jack Gifford is in top form as the top slave of his Mistresses household; always being outwitted by the Mostel character. The only negative I can attribute to this movie, and it is a very small negative, is the character played by Phil Silvers. Silvers, in his role as Sgt. Bilko (later "The Phil Silvers Show") was everything and more the character played by Mostel, but in this film, he appears very tired in certain scenes, almost disinterested. As a huge fan off Silvers, his portrayal of a "peddler of flesh," is sadly bittersweet, where it should have been an opportunity for him to showcase his zany antics. I was absolutely thrilled to finally purchase this film in the DVD format. Buy it - you won't regret it; you can even watch it with your kids!
Rating:
Summary: Many Songs are missing...but still great
Review: Ok, when a movie stars Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford and Buster Keaton, you know it is going to be an outrageously funny movie. As is the case with "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." "Forum" was adapted from the highly sucessful, extremely comical Broadway musical of the same name. The show, the first show featuring the music AND lyrics of now legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, was a huge hit. When it was made into this movie version, many of Sondheim's songs were dropped. In fact, at some points it doesn't even seem like a musical. However, the movie is still extremely hilarious. Mostel played the role of Pseudolous, which he originated on Broadway. When filming began, he was just done wih a little musical called "Fiddler on the Roof". Mostel is great in this , as is the great Phil Silvers. This movie is highly comical, seeming almost like a Monty Python movie. If your a fan of wild antics and very funny songs including "Comedy Tonight" and "Everybody Ought To Have a Maid", than you'll love this movie. By the way, it also features a very young Michael Crawford, who many years later would win a Best Actor Tony as The Phantom of the Opera.
Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: I've never cared for Richard Lester's direction. My initial reaction to AFTHotWttF when it premiered almost 40 years ago (can it be _that_ long?) was similar to Pauline Kael's -- it was irritatingly -- even embarrassingly -- frenetic and unfocused. Times change. Lester's brisk pace and quick cutting can now be seen as ushering in a new style that's not only acceptable, but appropriate. * When Zero Mostel blackmails Jack Gilford by threatening to reveal his collection of obscene pottery, he goes through a jump-cut sequence of the poses and postures that appear on the pottery (alliteration intentional). Each is only a few frames, and they whip by in less than two seconds. It's funny, in a way it could never be if it were done in real time. Only five of the original songs remain, but they're well-integrated. Neither the story nor the camera come to a stop when people start singing. And is it just my imagination, or does Marni Nixon sing "I'm Lovely" for Philia? It sure sounds like her. An entertaining bit of fluff. Doctor Who fans should note Jon Pertwee as Crassus. * Though it sometimes seems out of place in a film that tries to be historically accurate in every detail, even to showing older women in heavy white makeup. I'd have let Phil Silvers wear his trademark glasses as a comic anachronism. After all, Miles Glorious demands that his bride be delivered in two minutes -- and minutes weren't defined for another 1600 years.
Rating:
Summary: Zero no zero
Review: If you want to know where many of the current movie gags come from, buy this film (and It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World). It's repeat viewability is excellent, and though musical moments may turn off some younger viewers, the lyrics tied to the visual will crack you up. I have always been a Zero Mostel fan. His facial expressions punctuate his every word (you've GOT to see The Producers). Every big comedian from early comedy is in this film. Phil Silvers reprises his usual shady character role, and this was Buster Keaton's final performance. Other than his silents, this was his best as the father searching for his lost family, all recognizable by the rings they were gifted at birth. Now, who would put a gaggle of geese on a ring as a family crest? Only Keaton. There is a refined Stoogesesque quality about the `G' rated orgy scene, as well as the search for a cup of mare sweat, and the whole film is performed with dignified lunacy. Buy it, own, and giggle about it in your sleep.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall not great, but has its good isolated moments
Review: I do not claim to have a broad knowledge of Broadway musicals, and so this, Richard Lester's film version of Stephen Sondheim's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, was my first experience with this musical. Mr. Sondheim is certainly something, isn't he? In such classic musicals as GYPSY or WEST SIDE STORY, his lyrics always seem to sparkle with such exhilarating wit. It's the same here, at least in the few numbers the filmmakers retained from the Broadway show in the film, particularly with the catchy opening tune "Comedy Tonight" (a tune that's still stuck in my mind right now). As for the stretches without music---well, for me it's a mixed bag. Having not seen Richard Lester's more famous previous films (like A HARD DAY'S NIGHT), I can't say whether the frantic editing style he employs here is a trademark of his or not. Mostly it works here, giving the material a welcome screwball farcical edge. Lester, though, pursues this chaotic style at the expense of clarifying the story, resulting in a movie that eventually becomes a mess in terms of plot (since so much seems to be going on at once). Perhaps the climactic chase scene towards the end is the prime example of this fault: Lester and his editor John Victor-Smith hardly bother to clarify at certain points who's chasing whom---it's simply chariots and horses flying by, in a visceral whizz of fast motion. That's basically the problem with the storytelling overall. In short, the style is mostly effective but self-conscious (although perhaps it is a forbear of the blitzkrieg comedy style of later movies like AIRPLANE!). Still, the movie has its moments, although most of those moments come in the witty songs and Zero Mostel's likably over-the-top performance as Pseudolus (a good precursor to his classic portrayal of Max Bialystock in THE PRODUCERS). It's not a great film, but for the most part, it's good entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: Schizophrenic; and hardly a MUSICal
Review: This movie is schizophrenic. It is not funny. It is just half-funny slapstick gags delivered as if by a schizophrenic on drugs. Example: the Chariot race... What the hell is going on during that scene? It looks like everyone is just chasing everyone else and has no idea where they themselves are going. It's frightening. Another example: choreography for "Everybody's Gotta Have a Maid"... what the hell is going on during that scene? Rapid cuts from totally different settings and really random choreography make this one of the most bewildering stagings I have ever seen. I've seen this stage musical, and it is far funnier than the film. Firstly, because it retains the music. Sondheim's music is absolutely hilarious, in many ways funnier than the book. Songs like "That'll Show Him", "Dirty Old Man," "Pretty Little Picture", "Love I Hear", and of course, the fabulous "I'm Free" are all missing. Why? For the love of God, why? And secondly, because the director did not replicate the good pacing of the musical. The musical itself is fast-paced but funny. Apparently, while making the transition to film, the director figured "I can do even more with a film" and thus WAY overdid it. Seriously, this film could give you a heart attack. Also, other than Zero Mostel (who arguably is not at his best) the performers are not very good, except for the "Lovely (Reprise)" which was the highlight of the film. And the Captain has a good voice too.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly Dated
Review: With apparently no faith in the pretty strong material, the filmmakers decided to do away with most of the aspects that made the musical charming in the first place (like, oh, most of the music!) and replace it with groovy 60's trickery that looks like something right out of Benny Hill (look, the action is sped up to make everyone look like they're running really, really fast...isn't that funny?) Zero Mostel does what he can, but he can't salvage this. No one else even registers. I saw this on stage, and that version blows the film version out of the water. Grade: D
|
