Very best movie i ever watch

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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.

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.

This was a cute and relatively decent musical comedy starring Eddie Cantor. In many ways, this film hasn't aged all that well, as I'm sure it was considered a very funny movie back in 1933 when it debuted. While many of Cantor's one-liners seem a bit corny today, he was still such a pleasant personality on the screen that I was able to overlook this. However, the songs Cantor sang weren't all that memorable or funny--something I usually look forward to in his films. Instead, they seemed a little flat.Additionally, while some consider Busby Berkely a genius, I have little interest in the over-the-top and seemingly irrelevant song and dance interludes he choreographed--they just don't age nearly as well as most musicals since his numbers are truly bizarre 1930s kitsch. To me, in many cases it's a case of "if you've seen one you've seen them all". By the mid-40s and through the 50s, the "Ziegfeld Follies"-style production numbers that Berkely was famous for had become passé. Although, for curiosity sake alone, you might want to take a look at the dance numbers. This is particularly true of the VERY racy beauty shop sequence that NEVER would have been allowed just a few years later in Hollywood due to a stricter enforcement of the Hays Code. It abounds with naked and semi-naked women with long tresses strategically situated! So, for me, I tended to ignore the song and dance and focus on the comedy. And, in this sense, it's a diverting and harmless fun romp through the days of Ancient Rome. It won't change your life, but is a pleasant way to kill 90 minutes.FYI--be prepared to see Cantor in black face. He did this a lot in the 1920s and 30s--it was a pretty popular trend of the day. Sure, it will absolutely offend most, but if you take a few deep breaths and anticipate it, it isn't as bad as many minstrel acts I've seen on film.Also FYI--the videotape jacket says the film stars Eddie Cantor and Lucille Ball. Ms. Ball is in the movie for a few seconds only (with very blonde hair) in song and dance numbers, so she doesn't exactly "star" in the film! It's interesting what marketing people will do to sell a film!

I saw "Roman Scandals" as a small child. I loved it.I saw it again as an adult, and it held up beautifully.This is the film I'd recommend to give one a sense of what made Eddie Cantor a great entertainer.My earliest memories of a radio show was his show -- every Sunday. He had Deanna Durbin and Dinah Shore as guests (at different periods) every week long before their heydays.Also, "Roman Scandals" shows Eddie Cantor looking youthful. His stage/screen persona depended on a sense of innocent youth. That's why his later screen efforts didn't work as well.But "Roman Scandals" is a delightful early sound musical comedy.Bill Gumbiner