Watching this film recently, I wondered how audiences 400 years ago and more than 2,000 years ago would have viewed it as a play. How close would it be to Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors?" Would people have enjoyed this adaptation and still found it as funny? Or perhaps, funnier? And what about Roman or Greek audiences of 200 B.C.? Would they have recognized this play as a version of Plautus' "Menaechmi," or "The Brothers Menaechmus?"
"The Boys from Syracuse" is a 20th century version of Shakespeare's play, and of his probable earlier source, the play by Roman playwright, Titus Maccius Plautus. It's based on a Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart musical of the same title in1938 that had a good run on Broadway. The play and this film are very good adaptations of the original sources.
Alan Jones is the lead singer and is very good in the lead double roles of Antipholus, and Joe Penner is very good in the double roles of his servant, Dromio. Charles Butterworth is funny as the Duke of Ephesus and Alan Mowbray and Eric Blore are worth some laughs as the tailors, Angelo and Pinch. Martha Raye performs most of the rest of the song and dance portions, after Jones. She plays Luce, a servant of sisters Adriana and Phyllis, played by Irene Hervey and Rosemary Lane.
The exaggeration in the film is quite funny. This is a comedy of mistaken identity that is situational and peppered with antics and some slapstick. The humor in the dialog is mostly related to the mix-ups rather than clever witticisms or wisecracks. Two very popular Rodgers and Hart tunes came out of the musical - "This Can't Be Love," and "Falling in Love with Love."
The prologue as the film opens, sets the stage. "We would a tale unfold of ancient Greece; a tale of love and hate, of forlorn hopes and great ambitions. For there were men in those days - and women - and politicians - and graft - and double-crossing - and all the modern improvements we enjoy today." The sign over the tailor's shop reads, "Pinch & Angelo Tailors - If U come CLEAN with us, we'll DYE for you." And, a sign above a local public house reads, "Wooden Horse Inn." Toward the end in the public square, the large crowd assembled chants in unison, "Give 'em the ax, the ax, the ax. Give 'em, the ax, the ax, the ax." The epilogue on the screen at the end of the film reads, "This picture is after "A Comedy of Errors" by William Shakespeare ( - long, long after)."
Here are some favorite lines.
Duke of Ephesus, "Tell you what to do - get yourself a good hangover and you'll actually enjoy having your head cut off."
Angelo, "Don't jerk." Pinch, "Who, me?" Angelo, "That's a request, not a description."
Angelo, "You know, I believe he's trying to turn things around - so that instead of him owing us, we owe him."
Adriana, "Drinking and singing! Can I let that man out of my sight for a minute before he starts having a good time?"
Luce, "Why you broken down little weasel, you. I think you just married me for my money." Dromio, "Well, if I did, I earned it."
Angelo, "We got your highness' invitation." Duke of Ephesus, "That wasn't an invitation - it was a summons."
Phyllis, "You must be the happiest man in the world." Antipholus, "I?" Phyllis, "Mm hm. Because you're in love with yourself and you haven't a rival in the whole world."
