The Movie A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Forum) is an adaptation of the moderately successful Broadway production of the same name. Beloved by the audience for his attention stealing charm, Zero Mostel takes the title role of Pseudolus, the irreverent slave, desperate for freedom, in both versions. Forum is a playful, Roman romp that turns all toga film conventions on their heads, producing comic gold.
At least according to the relevant wikipedia article, the musical was quite successful (which makes sense, or no one would have bothered to turn it into a movie): Its first run on Broadway lasted two years and 3 months (964 performances), from May 1962 to August 1964. In 1963, the show also made it across the Atlantic to London. Moreover, the musical garnered several Tony Awards: best musical, best actor, best supporting actor, best book, and best director. The only one who would probably agree with you that the show was not quite as successful as he had hoped was Stephen Sondheim because his score didn't even get nominated for an award.
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ReplyDeleteVery, very nice discussion of one of my favorite comedies! Thanks! I also like how you illustrated it with fitting stills and movie clips. The layout is attractive as well, but I do have one suggestion for improvement in case you ever do something like this again. The Zero Mostel picture with the blog title is so large that it takes up most of my laptop screen. I have to scroll far down to get to see your actual blog entries. A smaller header would probably be more effective.
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