Roman Scandals

I recently read an account of the creation of Roman Scandals and the miracle is the film got made at all. A whole lot of creative minds butted creative heads.

Sam Goldwyn had it in mind to make a film version of Androcles and the Lion starring Eddie Cantor and I think Cantor would have been perfect in the title role. Unfortunately George Bernard Shaw thought there would be more Cantor than Shaw in the finished product and he nixed that idea with Goldwyn quick.

The idea of a story in ancient Rome had really taken hold with Goldwyn so he then hired George S. Kaufman and Robert Sherwood to write a screenplay. They did come up with the story outline you see on films, but got into problems with Cantor who insisted he wanted the lead role more personalized along with the gags that went with it. Kaufman and Sherwood quit on Goldwyn.

Sam got a few more writers and gave Cantor more creative input into the film and the result is Roman Scandals. Admittedly Roman Scandals is one of the best showcases for the talents of Eddie Cantor.

Eddie plays one of his usual meek little schnooks who turns the tables on those oppressing him. He's the curator of a small museum in West Rome, Oklahoma and uncovers evidence of corruption by the local bigwigs who give him the bum's rush out of town. He soon finds himself walking on a road leading out of ancient Rome and gets involved in the political situation there.

Co-starring with Cantor are Gloria Stuart, David Manners, and as the Emperor Edward Arnold who is playing one of his early villains. Cantor uses both Arnold and his chief henchmen Alan Mowbray to great effect in several gags. My two favorite scenes are his avoiding the Emperor's poisoned food by feeding it to the royal crocodile and Cantor being sold at the slave market with the bidding done by people who want him for all kinds of purposes.

Ruth Etting who co-starred on Broadway with Cantor in Whoopee has a part and a real good torch song number No More Love. Busby Berkeley gave it and other songs sung by Cantor a big production number. Etting of course was the subject of bio film Love Me or Leave Me with Doris Day playing her. Roman Scandals is your opportunity to see the real deal and what a talent she was.

Gloria Stuart who was on loan from Universal could not believe the lavishness of a Sam Goldwyn film, she was used to more cost conscious operations at her home studio. But if you hire Busby Berkeley lavish comes with the territory. Two of Cantor's numbers Build a Little Home and Keep Young and Beautiful got the lavish treatment and they were good.

Eddie Cantor an entertainer of amazing talent should be seen and studied today. I can't think of anything better to start with than Roman Scandals.

Lucille Desiree Ball's beginnings in Hollywood was inauspicious to say the least. Her first appearance in movies, in December 1933's "Roman Scandals" with Eddie Cantor, was brief that came with a major incident, yet it was a start. Fatherless at the age of four, Lucille caught the acting bug in her late teens when she was part of a Shriner's chorus line, receiving praise for her performance she never had growing up. Attending the John Murray Anderson School for Dramatic Arts in New York City with Bette Davis in 1926, she left early because her instructor told her she was too shy. But Ball persisted, and landed a number of small showgirl roles before she hopped on a train to Hollywood.

Lucille Ball made it known she would do anything, including having mud thrown in her face, during the production of "Roman Scandals." She's seen in the film's opening and the closing as an uncredited 'Shantytown resident,' saying her first line on film. During one provocative dancing sequence, she's a chained slave with very long blonde hair with no clothes on. Ball later said of her appearance, "I was classified with the scenery." In the Busby Berkeley number "No More Love," she and the other 'slave girls' are shackled high on a circular platform. To insure there was privacy for the women because of their nakedness, the production was scheduled at night in a closed set with a skeleton film crew. Several takes and retakes under the hot lights while the chorus girls had to stand between each shoot became an ordeal for Lucy, who became faint on the pedestal. Her fake chains broke loose and she fell. An extra playing a slave driver had the strength to catch her before she severely injured herself.

Singer/actor Eddie Cantor was consistently Hollywood's top box office draw since the introduction of talkies. "Roman Scandals" became the number one film for ticket receipts in 1933. One of Winston Churchill's most beloved songs was introduced in this movie, "Keep Young and Beautiful." Film reviewer Derik Winnert's assessment on Cantor's acting was "The star appears at his most engaging, exuberant and typical in a dynamic, winning performance."

Cantor plays Eddie, a delivery boy who stumbles upon members of a city graft operation, discovering residents of an entire neighborhood being kicked out to build a needless jail. Passionate with the history of ancient Rome, Eddie finds himself in that time period after a blow to his head. He soon discovers the emperor of Rome, Valerius (Edward Arnold), is just as crooked as the politicians back home. He spots a captured princess, Sylvia (Gloria Stuart), and sets out to free her. Stuart, who played Old Rose in 1997's "Titanic," received the role of the princess without taking a screen test because producer Samuel Goldwyn personally saw she got the part. Stuart met her future husband, Arthur Sheekman, a dialogue writer for "Roman Scandals," on the set and soon married him. They named their daughter Sylvia for the character Gloria played.

Even though for the next few years Lucille Ball was unable to capitalize on her innate talents, "Roman Scandals" did begin a lifelong friendship between her and Eddie Cantor. The two crossed paths a number of times, including on the radio, in fundraisers and appearing in television skits together. "Roman Scandals" was nominated as one of 500 motion pictures to be considered for the American Film Institute's Top 100 Funniest Movies.

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.

If you aren't a fan of the Wide-Eyed Wonder already, you should be. He takes the audience of romp after romp from Rome, New York to ancient Rome itself. Cantor was the emperor's food taster in the time of the Roman Empire; what a task! Who else could do it so whimsically? We to go to the movies for fun, right? You will definitely have fun skipping through a loosely written script with the man with the mesmerizing eyes. Considering the time(1930's) and the sad state the entire country was in (the Depression), this had to be the most enjoyable time of a person's week. Absolutely remarkable. And to prove it, this movie made a ton of money! Lucille Ball makes her screen debut in this film and rejoins Eddie a year later in 1934's Kid Millions. Eddie Cantor is said to have commended Lucy for putting "comedy before glamour" in her work on this film.

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.