MARIO GAUCI This very funny spoof on Roman-era epics (I had previously watched it one morning some 18 years ago on Italian TV) is considered to be star comedian Eddie Cantor's best vehicle - though I must say that it's the only one I've managed to catch up with myself over the years (but do own his debut film, WHOOPEE! [1930], on VHS).The 'modern man dreaming himself in another era' plot line is a favorite comedy theme - an idea dating back to Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court". The film boasts a remarkable line-up of writers (George S. Kaufman, Robert E. Sherwood, Nat Perrin, Arthur Sheekman and George Oppenheimer), many of whom had worked with contemporaneous comedy acts - notably the Marx Bros.; though the star's personality doesn't lend itself to quite that level of lunacy, the script provides a satisfying balance of sight gags and one-liners (often commenting on the basic difference between the two ages). Alongside the humor are the musical sequences - virtually a requisite of the period - highlighting not only a couple of good tunes for Cantor (one of them sung in blackface!) but also Busby Berkeley's choreography featuring The Goldwyn Girls (among them Lucille Ball), including an outrageous number in which they're chained nude to revolving walls! Typical of Goldwyn's output, the production values are impeccable - with cinematography by the legendary Gregg Toland and the impressive set design of Richard Day.The cast, too, is notable - with Eddie (amusingly dubbed Oedipus while in Ancient Rome) being flanked by the likes of David Manners and Gloria Stuart (supplying the romantic interest), Edward Arnold (the Emperor) and Alan Mowbray (as Cantor's prime foil, a Roman General); Arnold's favorite slave girl is played by Ruth Etting in one of her irregular film appearances: she was the chanteuse/gangster's moll later portrayed by Doris Day in the musical biopic LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (1955)! The film's best gags include: Cantor cracking a whip and 'catching' Mowbray; an alligator flipping upside down in reaction to poisoned food given it by Cantor (appointed by Arnold as his personal food-taster); the prison scene in which Arnold and a couple of guards are exposed to laughing gas while torturing Cantor; Eddie demonstrating the correct moves in a fistfight on Mowbray. Incidentally, the wordplay gag involving the poisoned dish was re-used by Danny Kaye for his classic THE COURT JESTER (1955). Still, the undoubted highlight of the film remains the uproarious (and quite spectacular) chariot chase at the climax - supervised by Ralph Cedar.

Derutterj-1 One of the underlying themes is slavery —- mostly as satire, but a disturbingly poignant scene at the climax of the slave bazaar number has a girl throwing herself to her death to escape from bondage. This was at a time when Busby Berkeley, the choreographer, was sometimes inserting serious byplay into his numbers (a la "42nd Street"). Boy, is this example a beaut! The Ruth Etting blues solo "No More Love" directly plays on the same theme. Both songs have undercurrents I've never seen suggested in a comedy before or since. These, along with the nutty, racially integrated "Keep Young & Beautiful" routine, add a curiously (yet fascinating) unsavory aspect to the proceedings that is not really easy to characterize.Oh yeah, what about that lively beer garden drinking song near the beginning and Cantor in black-face! Offensive, absolutely —- but somehow, with Cantor, what's not to love? Politically incorrect? You betcha —- but this is not cruel or demeaning stuff. It's mostly just out-and-out dream-like crazy.Others have noted the fine production values, and of course the great comic chariot race at the end. Add it all up and what you've got is a nice, unique, big 'ol pastry of a movie musical. If you wanted something to take your mind of things for 93 minutes in 1933, this was just the ticket. If you want something to take your mind off things for 93 minutes in 2007,this is still just the ticket

ccthemovieman-1 This was my first look at Eddie Cantor, whom I subsequently saw in a few other films. I thought he was funny, a very entertaining entertainer - a guy who could sing well and tell jokes and perform slapstick comedy. With all that, he reminded me a bit of the Marx Brothers. He could fit in with those guys, particularly Groucho with his comparable wit and short stature.Even though "Roman Scandals" was only 92 minutes, it would have been even better cut about 10, although I'm not complaining. In between the gags and the sappy Roman days story were at least three songs by Canotr, who was a decent singer and whose songs were pretty good, along with two Busby Berkely numbers with a bunch of scantily-clad ladies. It's corny stuff but it's still good. Lucille Ball is supposed to be in here but I didn't spot her in the two times I've watched this movie. I hardly recognized Gloria Stuart, too.The last part of the movie was similar to the climax of many a silent film comedy with a great chase scene. Cantor, a la Ben-Hur, raced his chariot with four white horses. Instead of an arena, however, Cantor raced through the countryside. There were great stunts and funny bits in that race.It was a great finish to a dated-but-very entertaining film. I wonder why Cantor's films are not available on DVD? I hope that oversight is corrected soon.

notmicro Dates badly and is generally a snore; however the musical numbers directed by Busby Berkeley liven things up, and there is the unusual appearance of singer Ruth Etting who was quite famous at the time. Gregg Toland's very early B&W photography is amazing, and could be more properly called "grey-scale"; what he did was very difficult to pull off given the crude state of the technology of the time.