I went hiking yesterday. It was fine, except for the part where the trails weren't marked and we got lost for over an hour. We made it out and back to civilization, then had pizza. After that debacle, I was in the mood to watch something easy and funny that I didn't have to analyze. Pseudolus (Zero Mostel) is a Roman slave desperate to buy his freedom. He sees his chance when he realizes his master's son, Hero (Michael Crawford), is in love with the girl next door. Unfortunately, the house next door is owned by a procurer of pleasure slaves, Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers), and the girl Hero loves is a virgin already promised to psychotic general Miles Gloriosus (Leon Greene). Pseudolus convinces Lycus that the virgin has a rare plague and to keep her next door so as not to infect the rest of his stock. Matters are complicated further by the arrival of Hero's father (Michael Hordern), who thinks that the virgin is a new house maid.
There is a lot more going on in this film but I don't want to spent the next hour trying to nail it all down. There are disguises and crackpot ideas, gladiators, breeders, acrobats, and eunuchs. It's complicated, hilarious and a musical. Sometimes, you need a movie that is just pure joy and for me, this is one.
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