The Boys from Syracuse

Great acting from leads and supporting cast. Comedy by Penner and Raye contributed to making this an enjoyable movie. The music by Rodgers and Hart was a delight and in particular the song "Falling in Love" sung by Alan Jones was a highlight of the movie for me.

Once again the score had been too low for the merit of the movie. First what is this - it is almost but not a spoof on "Comedy Of Errors" - it is not because it faithfully follows the premises of the original - and there is no compromising in that - but there are certain spoofs or one could even say disguised satires - bringing the current day practices - including the bribing the jury at the end or the Cheer Girl banners.

But the most captivating person in the whole narrative was Charles Butterworth as the Duke - though elected one - as the two condemned tailors mentioned of voting for him in the election. That is one role which had been added, no similar character existed in original - but with real "Effect". Afterwards, I realised, his character was based almost on "Vitalstatistix" and how... !

Unlike all other adaptations of this drama - I have seen quite a few - this was entirely new and refreshing look at the plot.

Highly recommended - but for the quality of the picture - from the DVD I bought from Vic, no one probably bothered to remaster this - thankfully the sound was still excellent, and that took a lot of sting out.

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."

The Boys From Syracuse (1940 Universal) starring Alan Jones and Martha Raye is a great classic black and white musical comedy movie, but it disappeared. Why?

The only copy of this movie presently (February 2011) available for sale by WWW.Amazon.Com on DVD costs $134, and that's too much for any sensible (and impoverished) person to pay.

The movie is currently (February 2011) sold through Amazon.Com by "Suzie Quik" of California.

Too bad.

I saw this wonderful movie on television when I was a little boy in the 1950's, and remember every great moment of it. The music (Rodgers and Hart) and the acting are all breathtaking.

But the movie "slipped between the cracks," and is largely forgotten in the present age when "classics" are listed many places, but never include this classic.

That is also true of Wake Up And Live (1937 Fox) starring Alice Faye, Jack Hailey, and Walter Winchell, another great movie almost never listed and discussed when "great movies" are ranked and publicized.

The movie is currently (February 2011) sold through Amazon.Com by "Suzie Quik" of California. It is presently for sale at the whopping price of $135.99, two bucks more than The Boys From Syracuse (1940 Universal) starring Alan Jones and Martha Raye.

It may be that people operating the "Suzie Quik" movie sales service specialize in hard to get movies sold at huge prices. By any measure, $134. and $136 are huge prices, even for rich people.

Hopefully this will change.

The days of "cheap good movies" may be coming to an end, and all this could be a signal about that.

It is well to remember that the history of movies includes a vast number of creations, some of which were and are dazzling, but unknown and largely unavailable to the general public, and even to those few who do know about the "unavailable, unpublicized classic movies."

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Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose "Tex Allen" "resume" for contact information, movie credits, and biographical information about Tex Allen.

He has reviewed more than 42 movies posted on WWW.IMDb.Com (the world's largest movie information database, owned by Amazon.Com) as of January 2011.

These include: 1. Alfie (1966) 29 July 2009 2. Alien (1979) 24 July 2009 3. All the Loving Couples (1969) 17 January 2011 4. All the President's Men (1976) 16 November 2010 5. American Graffiti (1973) 22 November 2010 6. Animal House (1978) 16 August 2009 7. Bullitt (1968) 23 July 2009 8. Captain Kidd (1945) 28 July 2009 9. Child Bride (1938) 24 September 2009 10. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 22 September 2010 11. Destination Moon (1950) 17 January 2011 12. Detour (1945) 19 November 2010 13. Die Hard 2 (1990) 23 December 2010 14. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) 19 November 2010 15. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) 26 July 2009 16. King Solomon's Mines (1950) 1 December 2010 17. Knute Rockne All American (1940) 2 November 2010 18. Claire's Knee (1970) 15 August 2009 19. Melody Ranch (1940) 10 November 2010 20. Morning Glory (1933) 19 November 2010 21. Mush and Milk (1933) 17 January 2011 22. New Moon (1940) 3 November 2010 23. Pinocchio (1940) 6 November 2010 24. R2PC: Road to Park City (2000) 19 November 2010 25. Salt (2010) 24 August 2010 26. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) 21 January 2011 27. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 1 December 2010 28. The Forgotten Village (1941) 21 January 2011 29. The Great Dictator (1940) 1 November 2010 30. The King's Speech (2010) 19 January 2011 31. The Last Emperor (1987) 20 January 2011 32. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) 9 January 2011 33. The Man in the White Suit (1951) 5 August 2009 34. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 5 November 2010 35. The Social Network (2010) 19 January 2011 36. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) 1 August 2009 37. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) 14 August 2009 38. The Witchmaker (1969) 21 July 2009 39. Thousands Cheer (1943) 3 December 2010 40. Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) 24 November 2010 41. Wake Up and Live (1937) 27 July 2009 42. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 1 August 2009

A full list of Tex Allen's movie reviews appearing on WWW.IMDb.Com with links to full texts of reviews is accessible via: http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments

Written by Tex Allen, Antioch College graduate (BA in Education), and also SAG-AFTRA movie actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for more information about Tex Allen.

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The Boys from Syracuse had a fair bit going for it. It had a great cast, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart have penned some of the greatest songs of musical theatre and it is based on The Comedy of Errors, a riotous and very clever Shakespeare play. The film is good fun, but it does fall short of greatness. Allan Jones does sing beautifully but is a little too wan and strained in the lead role, there could have been more music seeing as it is so good and the film did seem too short. The Boys from Syracuse is a nice-looking film considering the budget, though because of the source material and story it is one of those films that could have been more effective in colour. The songs are just lovely, especially Falling in Love with Love, that and This Can't Be Love are popular and for good reason. The comedy is witty and in particularly Martha Raye's case very funny, while the story still has its spark, the film goes at a good pace and the staging of the songs are both fun and sensitive. The performances from the cast are good, the best performance being from Martha Raye, her sense of comic timing is a joy to joy and there is a real sense of Broadway brashness in it too. The same goes for Joe Penner as well and there are elements of his distinctive comedy style. Eric Blore, Charles Butterorth and Allan Mowbray give great camp supporting turns and seem to really be enjoying themselves. Overall, has its flaws but jolly and spirited, not a great film by all means but a fun one. 7/10 Bethany Cox