Word: lester
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...fairness to those who study such things, it should be said that all is not rosy in Lester's old Rome. The climactic chariot race, for instance, goes into excess, both of slapstick and length, and it does not do to play any joke too long. But as Mostel says, none of us is perfect, and Lester here is about as close as anybody has a right to expect. The opening number promises "A Comedy Tonight." And there...
...Richard Lester is everybody's favorite director. For those to whom movies are "cinema" he provides endless hours of coffee chitchat about stills, shots, frames, ad infinitum. For the rest, he provides terribly bright, fresh, and--guess what--funny comedies. He helped make the Beatles more than teenage idols, Rita Tushingham a comedienne with the word "rape," and English films the prime examples of that ye-ye renaissance. When he turned his hand to filming a Broadway musical that smacked of burlesque that chitchat became more intense than ever. Now it appears he can do no wrong. A funny thing...
...subtle humor, mind you. The film, like the play, is one for bellylaughs, lewd asides, slapstick, and caricatures. The plot races from absurdity to absurdity until you really don't follow what's happening--and couldn't care less. Lester realized that it's the momentum of gags that keeps the whole thing going and never has his rapid camera style been put to better use. He manipulates the slaves, eunuchs, soldiers, whores, and patricians in a stylish frenzy, bringing them together for the well chosen musical numbers. These, one might add, are among the best moments in the film...
...FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. Unhappily, Director Richard Lester sells his mirthright for a mess of footage in his version of this comedy of erotic errors. But Zero Mostel still manages to be funny skipping around in his fingertip-length tunic...
There was Lester Maddox, happily pouring coffee for 100 Georgia legislators just as if he were back at the Pickrick, his onetime restaurant. Maddox had good reason to be happy -and to pour for the legislators, who were at tending a forum on government at the University of Georgia. As a result of a decision handed down last week by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Georgia legislature in January will bestow the state's governorship on either Democrat Maddox, 51, or Republican Howard ("Bo") Callaway, 39, neither of whom received a majority in the November general election. The likely...