.gif)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)
Encyclopedia
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a 1966 farce
musical comedy film, based on the stage musical
.
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus
(251-183 B.C.) – specifically Pseudolus
, Miles Gloriosus
and Mostellaria
– it tells the bawdy story of a slave
named Pseudolus
and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door.
The film was directed by Richard Lester
, with Zero Mostel
and Jack Gilford
re-creating their stage roles. It also features Buster Keaton
in his last motion picture role, Phil Silvers
, and Lester favorites Michael Crawford
, Michael Hordern
and Roy Kinnear
.
The musical was adapted for the screen by Melvin Frank
and Michael Pertwee
from the stage musical
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
and a book by Burt Shevelove
and Larry Gelbart
. They rearranged the plot and cut most of the songs. The movie was not well-received when first released, and, although it did turn a profit, the creators of the musical have frequently expressed their dissatisfaction with it.
) is "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome", whose only wish is to buy his freedom from his master's parents, the henpecked Senex (Michael Hordern
) and his dominating wife Domina (Patricia Jessel
). When he finds out that his master, Senex's handsome but dim son Hero (Michael Crawford
), has fallen in love with Philia (Annette Andre
), a beautiful virgin courtesan from the house of Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers
), buyer and seller of beautiful women. next door, Pseudolus makes a deal: he will get the girl for Hero in return for his freedom. Unfortunately, the virgin has been sold to the great Roman soldier
, Captain Miles Gloriosus (Leon Greene
), who even now is on his way from conquering Crete to claim her as his bride. Pseudolus blackmails his overseer, Hysterium (Jack Gilford
) into masquerading as the corpse of Philia to fool the captain, but things go wrong at every turn.
In the end, the boy gets the girl; Senex's next-door neighbor Erronius (Buster Keaton
) finds that Philia and Miles Gloriosus are in fact his long-lost children; and Pseudolus gets his freedom, a beautiful concubine to be his wife, and a dowry of 10,000 minae
, compliments of Marcus Lycus.
Cast notes
Sondheim's music was adapted for the film version of Forum by Ken Thorne
, who previously worked with The Beatles
on Help!
(1965). Thorne won the only award that Forum received, a 1967 Academy Award for "Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment".
was his choice to direct the film version. Other directors who were considered included Charlie Chaplin
, Orson Welles
and Mike Nichols
.
It was filmed at the Samuel Bronston Studios in Madrid, Spain, and on location around that city, on an estimated budget of $2 million. Filming took place from September to November 1965.
Jack Gilford was also re-creating his stage role, as "Hysterium", and there are other connections to the Broadway production. Tony Walton
, who designed the production, including the costumes, was also the designer of the Broadway show.
Bob Simmons
, a renowned stunt coordinator
, designed and performed many of the action scenes in the film.
George Martin, who with Ethel Martin is credited with the choreography of the film, was the assistant to choreographer Jack Cole
on Broadway. (Jerome Robbins
also did some uncredited work on the stage show as well.)
Forum premiered in New York City
on 16 October 1966 and in London
on 14 December of that year. It went into general release in January 1967. It received about $3 million in rentals in the U.S.
received an Academy Award for "Oscar Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment" in 1967. In addition, the film was nominated that year for a Golden Globe as "Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy".
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
musical comedy film, based on the stage musical
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
.
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
(251-183 B.C.) – specifically Pseudolus
Pseudolus
Pseudolus is a play by the ancient Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. It is one of the earliest examples of Roman literature. The play begins with the shortest prologue of any of the known plays of Plautus, though it is not known whether Plautus wrote this prologue himself or if it was added...
, Miles Gloriosus
Miles Gloriosus (play)
Miles Gloriosus is a comedic play written by Titus Maccius Plautus . It is also known as "The Swaggering Soldier". His source for Miles Gloriosus was a Greek play, now lost, called Alazon or The Braggart. Although the characters in Miles Gloriosus speak Latin, they are Greeks, with Greek names,...
and Mostellaria
Mostellaria
Mostellaria is a play by the Roman author Plautus. Its name translates from Latin as [The] Little Ghost, and often appears in translations as The Haunted House. It is a comedy with a very linear plot...
– it tells the bawdy story of a slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
named Pseudolus
Pseudolus
Pseudolus is a play by the ancient Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus. It is one of the earliest examples of Roman literature. The play begins with the shortest prologue of any of the known plays of Plautus, though it is not known whether Plautus wrote this prologue himself or if it was added...
and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door.
The film was directed by Richard Lester
Richard Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
, with Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
and Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
re-creating their stage roles. It also features Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
in his last motion picture role, Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
, and Lester favorites Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
, Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
and Roy Kinnear
Roy Kinnear
Roy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor. He is best remembered for playing Veruca Salt's father, Mr. Salt, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
.
The musical was adapted for the screen by Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Norman Panama to form a writing partnership which endured for 3 decades...
and Michael Pertwee
Michael Pertwee
Michael Pertwee was a British playwright and screenwriter. Among his credits were episodes of The Saint, Danger Man, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, B-And-B, Ladies Who Do, and many other films and TV series....
from the stage musical
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and a book by Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale . At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled Something Bruin...
and Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
. They rearranged the plot and cut most of the songs. The movie was not well-received when first released, and, although it did turn a profit, the creators of the musical have frequently expressed their dissatisfaction with it.
Plot
This film takes place in the city of Rome sometime during the reign of Emperor Nero. Pseudolus (Zero MostelZero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
) is "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome", whose only wish is to buy his freedom from his master's parents, the henpecked Senex (Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
) and his dominating wife Domina (Patricia Jessel
Patricia Jessel
Patricia Helen Jessel was an English actress for stage and film...
). When he finds out that his master, Senex's handsome but dim son Hero (Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
), has fallen in love with Philia (Annette Andre
Annette Andre
Annette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
), a beautiful virgin courtesan from the house of Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
), buyer and seller of beautiful women. next door, Pseudolus makes a deal: he will get the girl for Hero in return for his freedom. Unfortunately, the virgin has been sold to the great Roman soldier
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
, Captain Miles Gloriosus (Leon Greene
Leon Greene
Leon Greene is an English opera singer and film actor.His films include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum , The Devil Rides Out , The Squeeze , Flash Gordon and several Carry On comedies.-External links:...
), who even now is on his way from conquering Crete to claim her as his bride. Pseudolus blackmails his overseer, Hysterium (Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford
Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
) into masquerading as the corpse of Philia to fool the captain, but things go wrong at every turn.
In the end, the boy gets the girl; Senex's next-door neighbor Erronius (Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
) finds that Philia and Miles Gloriosus are in fact his long-lost children; and Pseudolus gets his freedom, a beautiful concubine to be his wife, and a dowry of 10,000 minae
MINAE
MINAE, the Ministry of Environment and Energy or in Spanish , is part of the government of Costa Rica.-Agencies:*SINAC - National System of Conservation Areas*DGGM - Geology and Mining General Directorate...
, compliments of Marcus Lycus.
Cast
- Zero MostelZero MostelSamuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
as Pseudolus - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Marcus Lycus - Michael CrawfordMichael CrawfordMichael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
as Hero - Jack GilfordJack GilfordJack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...
as Hysterium - Annette AndreAnnette AndreAnnette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
as Philia - Buster KeatonBuster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
as Erronius - Michael HordernMichael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
as Senex - Leon GreeneLeon GreeneLeon Greene is an English opera singer and film actor.His films include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum , The Devil Rides Out , The Squeeze , Flash Gordon and several Carry On comedies.-External links:...
as Captain Miles Gloriosus - Patricia JesselPatricia JesselPatricia Helen Jessel was an English actress for stage and film...
as Domina - Inga Neilsen as Gymnasia
- Peter ButterworthPeter ButterworthPeter William Shorrocks Butterworth was an English comedy actor and comedian, best known for his appearances in the Carry On series of films. He was also a regular on children's television and radio and appeared in seven early episodes of Doctor Who in 1965 as the 'The Meddling Monk'...
as Roman Sentry - Roy KinnearRoy KinnearRoy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor. He is best remembered for playing Veruca Salt's father, Mr. Salt, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
as Gladiator Instructor - Pamela Brown as High Priestess
- Beatrix LehmannBeatrix LehmannBeatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...
as Domina's Mother - Bill KerrBill KerrWilliam 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
as Gladiator-in-Training - Jon PertweeJon PertweeJohn Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
as Crassus - Frank ThorntonFrank ThorntonFrank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...
as slave driver - Ingrid PittIngrid PittIngrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
as Courtesan
Cast notes
- Veteran film comedian Buster Keaton was terminally ill with cancer at the time of filming, but did many of his own stunts in the film.
Songs
- "Comedy Tonight" — Pseudolus and Company
- "Lovely" — Philia and Hero
- "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" — Pseudolus, Senex, Lycus, and Hysterium
- "Bring Me My Bride" — Miles Gloriosus and Company
- "Lovely" (reprise) — Pseudolus and Hysterium
- "Funeral Sequence" - Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Company
- "Finale" — Company
Sondheim's music was adapted for the film version of Forum by Ken Thorne
Ken Thorne
Kenneth Thorne is a British-American television and film score composer.- Early life :Thorne was born in East Dereham, a town in the English county of Norfolk. Thorne began his musical career as a pianist with the big bands of England during the 1940s, playing at night clubs and the dance halls...
, who previously worked with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
on Help!
Help! (album)
Help! is the title of the fifth British and ninth American album by The Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film of the same name. Produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form, of which seven appeared in the film...
(1965). Thorne won the only award that Forum received, a 1967 Academy Award for "Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment".
Production
Zero Mostel starred on Broadway as Pseudolus, and Richard LesterRichard Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
was his choice to direct the film version. Other directors who were considered included Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
and Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
.
It was filmed at the Samuel Bronston Studios in Madrid, Spain, and on location around that city, on an estimated budget of $2 million. Filming took place from September to November 1965.
Jack Gilford was also re-creating his stage role, as "Hysterium", and there are other connections to the Broadway production. Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...
, who designed the production, including the costumes, was also the designer of the Broadway show.
Bob Simmons
Bob Simmons (stunt man)
Bob Simmons was an English actor and stunt man, best known for his work in many British made films, most notably the James Bond series.-Biography:...
, a renowned stunt coordinator
Stunt coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company to arrange the casting and performance of stunts for a film, television programme or a live audience...
, designed and performed many of the action scenes in the film.
George Martin, who with Ethel Martin is credited with the choreography of the film, was the assistant to choreographer Jack Cole
Jack Cole (choreographer)
Jack Cole was an American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as the father of theatrical jazz dance.-Early life:...
on Broadway. (Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
also did some uncredited work on the stage show as well.)
Forum premiered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 16 October 1966 and in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 14 December of that year. It went into general release in January 1967. It received about $3 million in rentals in the U.S.
Awards
Music director Ken ThorneKen Thorne
Kenneth Thorne is a British-American television and film score composer.- Early life :Thorne was born in East Dereham, a town in the English county of Norfolk. Thorne began his musical career as a pianist with the big bands of England during the 1940s, playing at night clubs and the dance halls...
received an Academy Award for "Oscar Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment" in 1967. In addition, the film was nominated that year for a Golden Globe as "Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy".