A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY
TO THE FORUM (1966) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Richard Lester
Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, Buster Keaton,
Michael Crawford, Michael Hordern, Annette Andre,
Leon Greene, Roy Kinnear, Peter Butterworth, Alfie Bass
A frantically paced musical farce based on a hit Broadway play based on a comedy by Plautus, about slaves and slave girls, senators and soldiers, virgins and courtesans, all chasing each other around ancient Rome. Farce almost always works better on the stage, where the split-second timing it requires can't be faked. Lester keeps everything moving real fast, but speed alone isn't enough, and gags that might've had a theater audience roaring can seem too broad on the screen, even in something as raucous as this. (The only key player who doesn't overact is Buster Keaton.) Filmed in Spain, on sets left over from "The Fall of the Roman Empire".
