Film

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Name: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1966
Cast: Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford

Comedy
Light-hearted

A musical farce set in ancient Rome where a scheming slave will do anything—lie, seduce, connive—to win his freedom. It's broad, farcical, bursting with slapstick and innuendo, driven by one of musical theatre's sharpest scores. For anyone who loves comedy that doesn't apologize for being silly.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love farce built on frantic schemes, mistaken identities and performers pushing broad physical comedy to the edge, the kind of old-fashioned stage-bred silliness that rewards a loose, cheerful surrender.

Skip it if you want sharp modern pacing or subtle humour, since the jokes land with big, theatrical mugging and the energy often feels like a stage show filmed for the camera.

What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes of nonstop pratfalls, shouted asides and musical numbers, so little needs to be sat through quietly; it rewards letting the noise wash over you.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Singin' in the Rain1952

Pure joy in motion. The dancing is transcendent, the story is light, and every frame radiates the pleasure of people who love making musicals. If Forum proves you like your comedy big, this proves why that impulse is right.

But It's wholesome in a way that might feel dated. No edge, no cynicism, just unironic happiness—which some find saccharine.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World1963

A treasure hunt comedy with an ensemble cast as stacked as Forum's, built around the same principle: watch brilliant comedians riff and crash into each other. Slapstick at feature length, gleefully chaotic.

But Nearly three hours long and doesn't always justify that runtime. Some sequences run past funny into tedious.

The Music Man1962

Another Meredith Willson score (he wrote Forum's music), same era, same spirit. Con artists, small towns, optimism disguised as scams. Robert Preston is magnetic in a role built for someone who can sell nonsense with absolute conviction.

But Considerably more earnest. The romantic heart actually matters, which changes the tone from anarchic to sentimental.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Topsy-Turvy1999

Both are theatre obsessed, both about con artists and imposture, both animated by the idea that showmanship and truth are not the same thing.

Mike Leigh's account of Gilbert and Sullivan making The Mikado. It's a musical about people making a musical, obsessed with the same question Forum is: how do you make art from fraud and desperation? The energy is infectious and strange.

But Leigh works by improvisation and reaction—it's slow, digressive, three hours. If you want Forum's velocity, you won't find it here.

Some Like It Hot1959

The gold standard for comedy construction. Two musicians on the run dress as women, deception cascades, the jokes don't just land they ricochet. You can watch this repeatedly and catch new layers every time.

But Rests more on wit than slapstick. If Forum's appeal is the physical comedy, this might feel cerebral by comparison.

The Producers1968

Mel Brooks made this the year after Forum, with the same baroque energy and the same commitment to jokes landing from multiple angles. Fraudsters making a Broadway show; the desperation and absurdity feed each other perfectly.

But The satire on Nazis-as-entertainment is deliberately uncomfortable. It's trying to be offensive, which some find tasteless rather than clever.

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Light, romantic, beautifully constructed. The con-artist energy and the scrambling logistics remind you that farce isn't just about slapstick—it's about people wanting incompatible things at the same time.

But The stereotypical Asian character is genuinely hard to sit with. You'll spend moments wincing rather than laughing.

Arsenic and Old Lace1944

Two sweet old ladies who happen to be serial killers. Dark comedy with a stage-play's momentum, where every character is slightly deranged in a different direction. Cary Grant's face alone does half the work.

But The pacing is relentless in a way that can feel exhausting. It's performed at a volume and speed that demand constant attention.

Midnight Run1988

A bounty hunter and a bail jumper on a cross-country road trip. The bickering is fast and genuinely funny, the logic is as twisted as Forum's, and it proves that 1980s action-comedy had real wit underneath the stunts.

But It's longer than it needs to be, and some of the sentimentality doesn't land. The action sequences slow down what should be a sprint.

The Pink Panther1963

Peter Sellers as an inspector so incompetent he solves crimes by accident. Physical comedy at its most precise, where every pratfall is choreographed like a dance. Chaos with a rhythm underneath.

But Sellers' French accent is very affected. Some find it hilarious; others find it grating within minutes.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie1972

Both about pretence and the masks people wear, but where Forum celebrates the masks, Buñuel shows them rotting underneath. Same structure, opposite moral register.

Buñuel's masterpiece: a dinner party that never happens, loops of logic that collapse, everyone in the frame performing a role that doesn't fit. Comedy as surrealism. Hilarious and genuinely unsettling.

But The humour is patient and philosophical. No punchlines, no release—it accumulates strangeness instead. Easier to admire than to enjoy.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie poster

Stalker1979

Both are structured as journeys where the real movement is psychological. Forum asks what someone will do for freedom; Stalker asks what they will do for meaning. The search itself is the point.

Tarkovsky's journey into a mysterious zone. Call it 'A Funny Thing' inverted: instead of a slave chasing freedom through absurdity, a guide chasing meaning through silence. Similarly preoccupied with desire, deception, and whether the goal matters more than the search.

But Glacially slow, almost three hours of walking and talking. No music, no comedy, no release. Pure philosophical cinema. You have to surrender to its pace entirely.