A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | 
 enlarge | Director: Richard Lester
Actors: Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford, Jack Gilford
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.71
You Save: $7.27 (49%)
New (42) Used (21) Collectible (2) from $6.56
Rating:  96 reviews
Sales Rank: 3545
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 99
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MGMD908091D
ISBN: 0792844815
UPC: 027616809124
EAN: 9780792844815
ASIN: 0792844815
Theatrical Release Date: October 16, 1966
Release Date: April 18, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Factory Sealed DVDs ***100% GUARANTEED!!!***
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Product Description
A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 04/15/2003 Starring: Buster Keaton Zero Mostel Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Richard Lester
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 91 more reviews...
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum December 16, 2008
We enjoyed this movie - even though it is old, a little crazy, but quite funny. We saw many of the old buildings in the forum that we had recently seen in Rome - so we liked it for two reasons!
 Richard Lester Classic June 13, 2008
I love Richard Lester's style of direction( Hard Day's Night, The Ritz, Three Muskateer's etc). Zero Mostel in a role that rivals his performance in the Producer's will have you rolling on the floor. Phil Silvers is at his best as a wheeler dealer. The Roman Empire lasted in spite of the shenanigans here. A story of mixed up love and misdirection. Will they pull it off or will they fall to the conquerer who raped Thrace thrice? Anyway it's a very funny movie at a greta price.
a classic stage play May 21, 2008
This is a fun adaptation of a great stage play. While I think that "A Funny Thing..." is better on the stage, still this DVD will bring much enjoyment.
Non-stop Laughs, Sight Gags, Slapstick and just plain fun! April 18, 2008
A funny thing happened on the way to my cable "on demand" service. I saw this title in the listings, but for some reason kept skipping over it. I had heard of the Broadway version, and generally am disappointed in movie remakes of stage musicals. Then I thought of the fantastic few movie musicals I loved and found better than the stage versions: "Cabaret", "Evita", the amazing "Chicago", "The Phantom of the Opera" (yes, I loved it as much as the Broadway version) and "Sweeney Todd". Historically, 75% of musical plays do not make the same "intimate" connection on the big screen. Regarding "Forum", I was hooked during the opening titles, with Zero Mostel singing "Comedy Tonight" as all kinds of hilarious mayhem is taking place, letting us know this is NOT going to be a Shakesperean experience. Who knew Michael Crawford (22 years before "Phantom") was such an expert comic, and was not above taking a few tumbles and playing such a dim-witted yet entirely loveable Hero to Zero Mostel's Pseudolus, a sly, fast talking slave? This is a movie you must see again and again, because there is so much going on, and it's just impossible to give it a fair review the first time around. Once you get the crazy plot in your head, the real fun begins when you don't have to concentrate on the story, and the action gets funnier and funnier though you know exactly what's going to happen...and then you see a flash of slapstick you missed before. There's a lot of almost inaudible little "wise cracks" that evade us, perhaps several times, and then...zing!...you hear them while still trying to keep track of the circus-like shenanigans happening non-stop. One thing I especially liked was the art direction...splashy hot colors, some realistic studio sets, plus a few deliberately not realistic sets (e.g. Hero's bedroom, which is painted in an almost child-like manner, reflecting the naive simplicity of its occupant). I have a hard time wondering why some of the reviewers just don't "get it" and take such an uppity attitude. Come on guys, "Forum" is what it is, and pretends to be nothing else but pure fun! Forget the play; how could a stage in a theater convey one of the weirdest, wackiest moments in which the four main characters are singing and almost "conga-line" dancing high atop a real Roman aquaduct? And mare's sweat for a love potion? And I've just barely touched on the sights and sounds of this crazy "Producers"-like film, where nothing is sacred, rarely makes sense and pours its heart out to do its primary job: entertain, entertain and entertain. No heavey social messages, forget political correctness and check your prior expectations at the door. I have to say that this could have been an abyssmal flop were it not for the genius direction of Richard Lester. Check out his credentials, and that alone may make the skeptics understand what "Forum" is all about. And it's definitely not about logic, sanity or high theatre. It's all about fun! And what's wrong with that?
 Not too many things funny happen . . at all March 24, 2008
I must say, I've seen this story played out in the theater twice in my lifetime, thus far. And in both occassions, I loved it! The theater productions offered more in the way of humor, satire and coordinated slap-stick. So it was with some disappointment that I wrote this critique. Where as I knew many of the actors in the movie and have come to enjoy many of there other work, this movie lacked the timing needed to make it work. I'm not sure exactly . . . but it seem watered down. See this in a play/theater form and I'm certain you'll appreciate the story much better. And yet, I'm glad I have this on DVD . . . a collectors gem.
Q!
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