Ever since Mark Twain's stories of "A Connecticuit Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and "The Mysterious Stranger", mass audiences have been entertained by fantasies of time travel to bygone eras. As in books of fiction, this is certainly true of motion pictures and television. Notable examples are Eddie Cantor's "Roman Scandals" and "Ali Baba Goes to Town", as well as the British "Fiddler's Three." This anachronistic frolic through ancient Rome and Egypt from the golden age of the Mexican film industry is solidly in that musical comedy vein. Viewers who enjoy this genre which includes "The Boys from Syracuse", "a Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules" will want to give this one a look...Luis Sandrini is every bit as comic as Cantor, and the leading lady (Maria Antoneta Pons) does a mean rumba and conga while throwing a party for Marco Antonio.
2 Reviews
Roll out the (red) carpet for Gavaldon and his Cleo.
ulicknormanowen19 August 2022
Roberto Gavaldon would resume the soothsayers subject in his remarkable film noir "palma di tu mano "(1954) ; here one deals with comedy and most of the time ,as a spoof on sword and sandals movies, it succeeds.
Astutely blending modern times and antiquity , using the same characters in both "eras" ,it's often riotously funny;Luis Sandrini , who rolls his eyes and makes his mummy in the pyramid squint , is an efficient comic actor; in Ceasar's times, he becomes himself some kind of seer, trying to warn the Roman general against his enemies ,and when the tragic event occurs , he has a terse :"it was written" (in my history book) ;history is given a rough ride , for instance Ptolemy ,Cleo's brother (and hubby) was dead a long time ago when Mark Anthony was living with his queen in Egypt ,but what 's the matter? The comedy works ,and using a soothsayer's powers to make the unfortunate hero a time traveler is not derivative .In spite of the scene in the arena which drags on and an Egyptian orgy complete with dances which recall south-American samba , there's hardly a dull moment.
Astutely blending modern times and antiquity , using the same characters in both "eras" ,it's often riotously funny;Luis Sandrini , who rolls his eyes and makes his mummy in the pyramid squint , is an efficient comic actor; in Ceasar's times, he becomes himself some kind of seer, trying to warn the Roman general against his enemies ,and when the tragic event occurs , he has a terse :"it was written" (in my history book) ;history is given a rough ride , for instance Ptolemy ,Cleo's brother (and hubby) was dead a long time ago when Mark Anthony was living with his queen in Egypt ,but what 's the matter? The comedy works ,and using a soothsayer's powers to make the unfortunate hero a time traveler is not derivative .In spite of the scene in the arena which drags on and an Egyptian orgy complete with dances which recall south-American samba , there's hardly a dull moment.
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