Roman Scandals (1933)

Truly Dreadful Film

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A kind-hearted young man is thrown out of his corrupt home town of West Rome, Oklahoma. He falls asleep and dreams that he is back in the days of olden Rome, where he gets mixed up with court intrigue and a murder plot against the Emperor.Based on how few people have rated this film (under 500), I am left with the impression that it must not be purchased, streamed or aired very often. And what a shame, because it is pretty funny, and would be enjoyed by anyone who likes the witty kind of humor the Marx Brothers were doing. (There is even a poison sequence that is not unlike a Danny Kaye skit twenty years later: "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!") I suppose the blackface skit may be one reason the film has fallen out of favor, but this is unfortunate. Whether you consider this racist or not, it is part of film history and should not be simply forgotten or hidden.

This film is billed as a comedy, fantasy and musical, and it is all of that. And it clearly seems to be a social statement for the time about the wealthy, proud and powerful and their seeming disregard for the common man, especially the less fortunate. I suppose that would ring well with audiences of 1933, right in the middle of the Great Depression. Anyway, "Roman Scandals" opens that way. A local founder of the town of West Rome is being hailed at the dedication of the new museum he funded. Then we see families evicted from their homes where a new jail is to be built. Eddie Cantor is the hero, Eddie, who livens things up with his witty remarks and a song. When he's evicted from town as a troublemaker, the film transforms to the days of Imperial Rome. In this setting, Eddie become Oedipus. There we see "scandals" of that time and place. There's little sense in this switch in the plot, other than to create the fantasy picture of ancient Rome under Emperor Valerius (most likely the historic Emperor Valerian). The plot has some bizarre twists. It has black face, takes on slavery, and some satire. Eddie has a couple more songs and Ruth Etting sings "No More Love." This is one of the few feature films that Etting made, and one would like to have seen and heard this great singer of the 20s and 30s in more numbers. Busby Berkeley stages a couple of extravagant numbers with dancers and players. One of the public come-ons for the film was the inclusion of six attractive blond women in the nude except for their long hair that covered their breasts and genitalia. This might be off-putting to some adults and a concern for parents who are careful about movies that their children watch. This was in the days before the Breen Office enforcement of the Hays Code. That was a self-imposed means for Hollywood studios to police themselves against public uproars and possible government sanctions. As it turns out, the Hays Code led to some very funny comedies throughout the 1930s. They were all the more funny because of their script changes and comedic ways the directors and writers tried to worm around the code. Hollywood discovered that innuendo had great comedic power, that would be missing in scenes that were played straight. The original story for this film came from writer/actor George S. Kaufman. But many squabbles developed over the movie. It took some imagination to make this a comedic situation. Emperor Valerian was a principal persecutor of Christians, condemning many to death. It would be a huge stretch to equate such persecution to the modern eviction of families from their homes. The producers here obviously concluded that audiences may not find it very humorous. So, the ancient Roman segment is devoted to the intrigue around a plot to kill Valerius, with some allusion to the pagan worship and likely hedonism of the time. The cast are all quite good. Besides Cantor and Etting, some who would become very familiar Hollywood faces have roles. Edward Arnold plays Valerius and Alan Mowbray is Majordomo. Gloria Stuart is Princess Sylvia and Verree Teasdale is Empress Agrippa. David Manners plays Josephus and Lucille Ball is on screen a short time as one of the Goldwyn Girls. Quite a lot went into the lavish production of this film. Huge sets, very large casts with many extras, the Roman costumes and settings. And a chariot chase-race is very well done. The songs are good, but nothing special to remember. Cantor is good and not overly bombastic as he often was on radio shows and public appearance, especially later in his career. Ruth Etting played Olga. It would have been nice if she had been given one or two more songs.

No song and dance man could tickle your funny bone while being suckered more than Eddie Cantor. He always had an angel over his shoulder as he always came out on top over the various bullies, gangsters, con-artists and in this case a Roman Emperor who tangled with him. This film has two settings, starting off in modern times and moving to an era when toga parties were a common occurrence. Cantor scores in the modern set "Build a Little Home", a tribute to those displaced by the depression which has subtle hints of innocent communism in it. Annie Lennox fans will recognize "Keep Young and Beautiful" which Cantor performs in his signature blackface. It may offend some, but you can't deny its shear artistry, especially with the galaxy of Goldwyn Girls. Lucille Ball is totally recognizable as one of them, particularly in the slave market set "No More Love", a torch song performed by Ruth Etting. That number has the chorus girls totally naked with the exception of their long blonde hair covering their flesh. Titanic fans will recognize the name of Gloria Stuart, here the ingénue. Edward Arnold is an imperious Roman Emperor and the luscious Veree Teasdale is his delightfully scheming wife. A climactic chase sequence has elements of the great silent comedies and is sure to have you riveted to your seat.

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