{"id":37828,"date":"2016-10-06T12:51:09","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T19:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37828"},"modified":"2020-12-07T18:07:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:07:30","slug":"funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum-a-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37828","title":{"rendered":"Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Poor little moth &#8212; she fluttered too near my flame.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Poster-189x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"189\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-37830\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Poster-189x300.jpg 189w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Poster-81x128.jpg 81w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Poster.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 189px) 100vw, 189px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn ancient Rome, a slave (Zero Mostel) desperate to escape from his brutish owners (Patricia Jessel and Michael Hordern) convinces his young master (Michael Crawford) to trade his freedom for a young virgin (Annette Andre) recently purchased by the owner of a courtesan-house &#8212; but matters become more complicated when he learns Andre has just been sold to a soldier (Leon Greene), and Hordern mistakenly believes he has been given &#8220;access&#8221; to Andre himself.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Ancient Greece and Rome<\/li>\n<li>Buster Keaton Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Richard Lester Films<\/li>\n<li>Slavery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary refers to this screen adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibdb.com\/broadway-show\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum-1102\"> Larry Gelbart, Burt Shevelove, and Stephen Sondheim&#8217;s popular Broadway hit<\/a> as a &#8220;spirited, tremendously underrated musical comedy&#8221;. He calls out director Richard Lester&#8217;s &#8220;wild cutting and frantic camera work (handled by Nicolas Roeg)&#8221; as setting &#8220;the anarchical tone for the slam-bang mix of slapstick, satire, burlesque-vaudeville, farce, and absurd humor&#8221;, and he notes that while &#8220;not all the gags work and the pacing falters on occasion&#8221;, there are &#8220;a surprising number of hilarious moments&#8221;. He writes that &#8220;Lester captures period flavor and finds <a href=\"http:\/\/johnhartstudios.com\/wizardofid\/\"><em>Wizard of Id<\/em><\/a>-like humor in the brutality the strong and powerful dish out and the weak and powerless endure&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>With all that said, I&#8217;ll admit to not being a fan of this beloved cult favorite &#8212; primarily due to my distaste over how objectified, sexualized, and\/or demonized every single female character is. Could Jessel&#8217;s pasty make-up:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel-490x270.png 490w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Funny-Thing-Happened-Jessel.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p> &#8212; or that of her mother (Beatrix Lehmann) &#8212; be any more garishly witch-like? Could beautiful women&#8217;s bodies be any more fondled, used as dining tables, or assumed to be merely objects for male pleasure (or reproduction)? However, things become more enjoyable (for me) once Greene (giving &#8220;a funny performance&#8221;) arrives on the scene; his narcissistic rhetoric is consistently laugh-out-loud humorous:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n<strong>Miles Gloriosus:<\/strong> What is she like?<br \/>\n<strong>Pseudolus:<\/strong> A face so fair, a heart so pure &#8211; Sir, if you had been born a woman, you would have been she!<br \/>\n<strong>Miles Gloriosus:<\/strong> As magnificent as that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Buster Keaton, in his final role before dying of cancer, seems literally lost during most of the film (for good reason), but has a nice moment at the end when his character suddenly becomes a pivotal part of the storyline. All film fanatics should check this film out at least once, and more often if it tickles your particular fancy. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Zero Mostel as Pseudolus<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37831\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Mostel.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Leon Greene as Captain Miles Gloriosus<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Greene.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Nicolas Roeg&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37832\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Cinematography.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Williams&#8217; closing credits<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"353\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-37833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/FTHOTWTTF-Closing.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult comedy favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0060438\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/65031\/funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum-a\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9F07E1D91430E43BBC4F52DFB667838D679EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/75846\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum#articles-reviews?articleId=24030\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Poor little moth &#8212; she fluttered too near my flame.&#8221; Synopsis: In ancient Rome, a slave (Zero Mostel) desperate to escape from his brutish owners (Patricia Jessel and Michael Hordern) convinces his young master (Michael Crawford) to trade his freedom for a young virgin (Annette Andre) recently purchased by the owner of a courtesan-house &#8212; but matters become more complicated when he learns Andre has just been sold to a soldier (Leon Greene), and Hordern mistakenly believes he has been&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37828\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37828"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56458,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37828\/revisions\/56458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}