The lowdown:  Featuring a star-studded cast, this is a 1966 film adaptation of a Broadway musical by Stephen
Sondheim. The cast includes Zero, Michael Crawford, Buster Keaton, Phil Silvers ... and a very brief cameo from
Jon Pertwee as Crassus. Pseudolus is a slave in Rome who is desperate to win his freedom. He strikes a deal
with Hero (played by Crawford), who is the son of Pseudolus's master, whereby he will be freed from slavedom if
he can unite Hero with the woman he loves. As for Jon, sadly his scenes are of the blink-and-you-will-miss-it kind. 
However, Jon almost had a much bigger role in this film. He had played the role of Lycus on stage, and was asked
to take over the role after Phil Silvers almost quit, although Silvers eventually agreed to continue filming. Jon was
given the role of Crassus to make up for this.

The verdict: Quite enjoyable if you like comedy-musicals on film, but personally I think it would have worked better
without the songs. It tends to be rather disconcerting to watch 'Forum' and have people spontaneously bursting into
song. However, the story itself is entertaining enough, and the film is very funny in places. While the main cast is
very good, it is interesting to watch out for some of the actors with smaller roles, including ones who became famous
for other roles later in their career. If you like comedy films from the 1960s you should enjoy this, and fans of classic
comedy should watch it for the final film role of Buster Keaton.

Trivia: One of the writers of the film was Michael Pertwee, the brother of Jon.

Video Clip:  Crassus    2.2mb


 
 

 
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