I rate every musical movie I saw before the age of 12 as a "9" or "10," since the songs are as familiar as smells from the childhood kitchen, but I'm well into adulthood seeing this for the first time. I notice a lot of the people rating FORUM as a "7" or higher are filling in the blanks in the movie with their memory of the play. The closest I was to FORUM before the movie was watching Phil Silvers as "Sgt. Bilko" a few times on TV. If you come to FORUM with fresh ears, you'll join me in noticing there are two real songs ("Comedy Tonight" and "Lovely") included in the film, plus a few scraps of incidental blather from Leon Greene as Captain Miles Gloriosus (which makes Franco Nero's posturing with Lancelot's "C'est Moi!" in the movie CAMELOT--based on a Broadway hit preceding FORUM--look like the performance of the decade). The dubbing on the DVD is EXTREMELY out-of-synch, even by 1960s or foreign movie standards. Coming to IMDb and reading that 75% of Stephen Sondheim's original Broadway score was deleted for the movie because "the producers thought musicals were blase" produces one giant yelp of "WTF!" Why bother even doing a cinema version, then? Evidently this is a travesty along the lines of doing MUSIC MAN without "76 Trombones," or GUYS & DOLLS sans "Luck Be a Lady Tonight." Apparently the Oscar voters felt so ashamed for their industry that they tried to cover up the misfire by giving this flick a statuette for "Best Score." Well, if I'm going to get a Reader's Digest version, I'd prefer something even shorter--perhaps a 60-second rendition by those five-minute Shakespeare guys--to this heartlessly amputated truncation.

The story is set in the ancient Rome.Pseudolys, a lazy slave wants nothing more than to be free.He gets that chance when he finds out that the young master has fell in love.The girl is Philia, a virgin in the house of Lycus, a slave dealer who sells beautiful women.If Pseudolys gets the two lovebirds together, he's free.A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a very funny musical comedy.Zero Mostel is brilliant in the lead.There's also the silent comedy legend Buster Keaton there.It's most hilarious when Senex meets the goddess Philia at the door.And they tell him she's the new maid.Or Lycus doing acrobatics.The chariot race is really something.The song heard in this movie is really catchy.Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone: a comedy tonight.

As the popularity of big budget Broadway musicals grew over the course of the 1960s, it was inevitable that a series of corresponding film adaptations would follow - a more affordable and easily mass marketed alternative. As such, while it may not have been one of the most well known stage musicals, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum had proved a sufficient hit to make an intelligent transfer to the big screen. And while fans of the live show may find the film somewhat lacking in scope or creative vision, the resulting zany, energetic comic romp is sufficiently cheerful and endearing to easily entertain nonetheless.While Sondheim's musical numbers seem scarce (the majority of the Broadway show's numbers are noticeably excluded cut from the film) and lacking in the energetic zest which would bring them to life with the same engaging spark as a live show or other efforts in the genre, the few tunes prove sufficiently catchy and executed with enough endearing charm to make up for their somewhat lacklustre quality. However, the film truly reaches its potential on the irreverent comedy front, never presuming to take itself overly seriously with breaches of the fourth wall, (including the number "Comedy Tonight", an amusing prologue where Mostel introduces the principle locations and characters, one of the film's highlights) and a madcap final chase sequence which visibly takes influence from the similarly bawdy What's New Pussycat. Director Richard Lester, his musical credentials seasoned by numerous film adaptations of The Beatles, experiments with several similar sequences of blindingly fast editing and cartoon backgrounds, used to suitably comedic effect. Of course the cunning script's requisite slew of slapstick gags and witty repartee proves the film's real highlight, though the period sets and costumes prove comparatively expansive and impressive given the period in which the film was made, suitably immersing the viewer within the realm of ancient Rome. The film's inspired casting lend comedic credulity to the film, bringing the script's cheerful irreverence to life with enthusiastic silliness and charm to spare. Reprising his starring role from the Broadway production, Zero Mostel is nothing less than a scream as cunning slave Pseudolus, a bundle of comedic energy and hysterical mannerisms whose mere presence lights up the screen and makes the movie immediately more enjoyable. Jack Gilford similarly raises many a laugh as bewildered and constantly put upon slave Hysterium, as does Phil Silvers as a quirky brothel owner. Buster Keaton, tragically in his last screen performance is delightfully hysterical in a tiny role as a doddering old man prone to superstitious laps around the city, and while Keaton is given little character to work with, his mere persona and tremendous presence make him hilarious regardless. While bestowed with little character, the lovely Annette Andre adds class and distinction to the film while making quality use of her few comedic lines as ethical virgin Philia, and Michael Crawford is just silly enough without quite going overboard as the young noble who becomes smitten with her. While lacking the profundity of some of Sondheim's later musical efforts and the vivacious splendour of other such musical adaptations, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum offers unapologetic entertainment to a nearly unprecedented degree, excelling as a comedy if not as a movie musical. With delightful performances aplenty, (especially Zero Mostel's dynamo of a performance) the film may have little particularly memorable about it, but proves a suitably joyful and charming diversion, easily worth experiencing for those seeking a warm smile on their face above all else. -7/10

Whenever I feel down, whenever the world is getting on top of me, whenever I just need some light-hearted fun, I turn to 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.The cast is superb: Zero Mostel ("Was 1 a good year?"); Jack Gilford ("I live to grovel"); Phil Silvers ("I know that sound - and I love it!"); even classical actor Michael Hordern enters into the spirit of things ("All that flesh... just next door.") Above all, my man of the movie award goes to Buster Keaton. Nearly seventy and making his last film he steals every scene he appears in and the line "My daughter a eunuch?" kills me every time. He even manages an old-style 'hundred-and-eight' slapstick fall. The animated end titles provide a lovely tribute as a little Erronius goes running to-and-fro among the credits.The plot is a wonderfully complex farce but "there's a happy ending, of course", plenty of laughs along the way, and a chariot chase that's not quite like the one in 'Fall of the Roman Empire'.The production design is worth noting, too. Not much Roman grandeur here, but narrow streets full of people and animals, a city that really looks lived in.A terrific film that restores your zest for life!