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A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum (1966)
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Zero's A Hero
I love Zero Mostel and I understand that a lot of the fun of 1960's comedies came from objectifying women, but alas I can find little fun in this sexist and demeaning flick.
Mostel stars as a slave trying to win his freedom in Ancient Rome. His master promises to free him if he will help the boy to win the heart of a girl who lives in the wh*re house next door. Thus we are led into a world of objectified women who dance like animals and rarely speak.
Mostel is a grand comic, you can see the influence he had on the Chris Farleys and Jack Blacks of comedy in his use of his largess physicality to great ends. Yet the film does not live up to his performance.
Phil Silvers plays the same old schmuck as the owner of the wh*re house, it all seems a repeat of his better performances, and Buster Keaton shows up looking ragged and worn, as though they dragged him into this to try and give it some class. It is a disturbing thing hearing Keaton speak, he was the master stone face and personally I never really wanted to hear his voice.
There is one great song 'A Comedy Tonight', sung mostly by Mostel. But without Mostel this film would sink under its annoying zoom lenses and its tainting of better comedic memories.
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