A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
BUY HERE!

RRP: $14.98
Our Price: $7.50 (subject to change)

Editorial
Description

Something appealing. Something appalling. Something for everyone a comedy tonight! "One ofthe hottest burlesque shows that ever hit Broadway" (Time) comes to the screen showcasing the enormous talents of Tony AwardÂ(r) winner Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford (Cocoon), Buster Keaton and Michael Crawford (Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera"). Featuring keenly clever tunes like "Comedy Tonight" and "Lovely," this wild Stephen Sondheim musical about a raucous gaggle of ancient Romans is a "flip, glib and sophisticated, yet rump-slapping bawdy and fast-paced look at the seamy underside of classical Rome through hipster's shades" (Variety).When a wily, witty, lying, lazy, cheating slave discovers that his master's son is in love with thegirl next doora virgin courtesanhe promises to help win her heart in exchange for his freedom. But the road to romance is blocked with stunning surprises, cunning disguisesand the wildest chariot race ever!
Editorial
Amazon.com

"Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone: a comedy tonight!" Those words from the opening song pretty much describe the menu in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a frantic adaptation of the stage musical by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove. The wild story, set in ancient Rome, follows a slave named Pseudolus (Zero Mostel, snorting and gibbering) as he tries to extricate himself from an increasingly farcical situation; Mostel and a bevy of inspired clowns, including Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, and Buster Keaton, keep the slapstick and the patter perking. The cast also includes the young Michael Crawford as a love-struck innocent. This project landed in the lap of Richard Lester, then one of the hottest directors in the world after his success with the Beatles' films. Lester telescoped the material through his own joke-a-second sensibility, and also ripped out some of the songs from Stephen Sondheim's Broadway score. The result is a pixilated romp and very close to the vaudeville spirit suggested by the title--though anyone with a low tolerance for Zero Mostel's overbearing buffoonery may be in trouble. Oddly enough, amidst all the frenzy, Lester creates a grungy, earthy Rome that seems closer to the real thing than countless respectable historical films on the subject. --Robert Horton

Reviews


A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Review date: 2010-04-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

besides the fact that the movie was funny, it came in on time, sealed, and in condition. dvd din't skip, jump, or paused. Good product to summarize.

"For us there will never be happiness. We must learn to be happy without it".
Review date: 2010-02-19 Rating: 8 out of 10

A musical from a lovely era when clever jokes were the standard, when music was a slave to the plot, when characters were much simpler than us....Watch and enjoy the good old times!

A funny movie
Review date: 2009-10-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

"A Funny Thing Hapened on the Way to the Forum" was a funny show on Broadway and it is a delightful film. This film, directed by Richard Lester, has the over-the-top mugging of Zero Mostel along with the great Phil Silvers and the marvelous Buster Keaton. It was written by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Can one ask for more?

A joyous and funny ride . . .
Review date: 2009-08-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

My only gripe with the movie is the overdone chariot race scene but this pales against the dialogue which is as sharp as a razor and this, combined with the wonderful comic ensemble of the totally brilliant Zero Mostel as the conniving slave Pseudolus who is matched every celluloid inch by Phil Silvers as the flesh peddler Lycus, makes this movie a collector's item. I mean come on, where today would you be able to put together such a comic ensemble?

Loved it to death when i saw it on its release in the latter 1960s and still love it today - they don't make them like this anymore.

Dudley Ristow
Johannesburg South Africa

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Zero Mostel
Phil Silvers
Buster Keaton
Michael Crawford
Jack Gilford

Creators:
Nicolas Roeg (Cinematographer)
Melvin Frank (Producer)
Melvin Frank (Writer)
Burt Shevelove (Writer)
Larry Gelbart (Writer)
Michael Pertwee (Writer)
Titus Maccius Plautus (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
EAN: 9780792844815
Binding: DVD
ISBN: 0792844815
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2000-04-18
Universal product code (UPC): 027616809124
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region code: 1
Running time: 99 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1966-10-16
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)
Brand: MOSTEL,ZERO

Similar Products

Add to Cart