Roman Scandals

United Artists, 1933
Starring Eddie Cantor, Edward Arnold, Gloria Stuart, and David Manners
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Music by Harry Warren and others; Lyrics by Al Dubin and others

Eddie Cantor is another comedian who was wildly popular in the 20's and 30's, but isn't as well-regarded today. He started out as one of the most beloved comics in the Ziegfeld Follies, and after the success of the 1930 film Whoopee, switched producers to Samuel Goldwyn. This was his biggest hit under Goldwyn, an unusual fantasy with a Depression slant and big Busby Berkeley numbers filled with half-naked Goldwyn Girls. Is it as much fun today during these equally troubled times? Let's head to the town of West Rome, Oklahoma, where a temple of Roman history is about to open, and find out....

The Story: Eddie (Cantor) is a harmless little fellow who has been sleeping in the new Roman museum, to the annoyance of a local big shot. The rich man wants to demolish a park where homeless people currently live to build a jail. Eddie stands up for the people, but he's not well-regarded by most officials in the town. He tends to give food away at the grocery instead of selling it and seems to know more about ancient Rome than even the museum's founder.

After he's run out of town, Eddie wishes he was in ancient Rome, where everything is simpler. To his shock, he suddenly gets his wish, strolling right into Rome...and finds that corruption is nothing new. The Emperor Valerius (Arnold) is building huge gathering places for the rich like the Circus Maximus, then raising taxes and bribing senators to look the other way. Eddie almost ends up as a slave, but he's freed by kind and handsome Josephus (Manners). Josephus quickly falls for the lovely Princess Sylvia (Stuart) of Briton, who was captured by Valerius. Becoming the Emperor's food taster, Eddie has to figure out how to expose Valerius' plans and avoid his scheming wife Agrippa (Veree Teasdale) who wants to poison him.

The Song and Dance: This was a bit of a surprise. Cantor is genuinely funny here, with some hilarious lines after the Roman guards find him wandering into town and when he's trying to avoid tasting the Emperor's poisoned nightingales. (It helps that playwrights William Anthony McGuire and George Kaufman had a hand in the script and story.) The production is lavish for the time, with giant sets and elaborate costumes in Rome and massive Berkeley numbers that rival anything he did at Warners. Arnold and Teasdale also do well as the Imperial couple who are more interested in getting money and killing off each other than running an Empire.

The fantasy is interesting, too. It almost feels like an earlier, gender-reversed Wizard of Oz. Here, though, Eddie learns that he can stand up to a bully and make West Rome really be "no place like home."

Favorite Number: Eddie kicks things off singing to the townspeople of West Rome about how they'll "Build a Little Home" from cast off junk, even if they have to do it in the street. Things pick up considerably with "No More Love," a dramatic number in the slave market performed by Ruth Etting, showing how brutal the slavers are to their ladies. This oddly intense (and rather sexist) routine ends with one woman throwing herself off the big cake-like structure where the women are chained. The big hit from this one was "Keep Young and Beautiful," which has Eddie in blackface singing about the ladies attracting their men as the scantily-clad Goldwyn Girls bathe and "beautify" themselves to do just that.

What I Don't Like: First of all, this is a pre-Code movie. In addition to the Goldwyn Girls parading around in scanty togas and long Godiva hair, Eddie makes a few jokes that might be considered risque even today (including one birth control joke), and there's the weird and somewhat sexist "No More Love" and "Keep Young and Beautiful" numbers. Eddie is in blackface before and during "Keep Young and Beautiful" for no real reason. Stuart and Manners are stiff and dull compared to all the hams around them; they don't even get a romantic ballad.

The Big Finale: If you've ever wanted to give Cantor and his vehicles a try, the decent cast, elaborate production, and great music might make this the best place to start.

Home Media: Currently available on DVD via the Warner Archives and on Amazon Prime.

DVD
Amazon Prime