<P> The film received about $3 million in rentals in the U.S. </P> <P> Reviews from critics were mostly positive . Variety wrote, "Flip, glib and sophisticated, yet rump - slappingly bawdy and fast - paced,' Forum' is a capricious look at the seamy underside of classical Rome through a 20th - Century hipster's shades...Generally assayed with satirical thrust and on - target accuracy, almost all of the performances are top - rung and thoroughly expert ." In a generally favorable review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby praised the "handsomely realistic settings" and determined that "Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics hold up well," but also found it "hard to decide whether Mr. Lester has gone too far, or not far enough, in translating into film terms the carefully calculated nonsense originally conceived for the theater . He's done a lot of tricky things--with his penchant for quick cutting and juxtaposition of absurd images--but there are times when this style seems oddly at variance with the basic material, which is roughly 2,000 years older than the motion - picture camera ." </P> <P> Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film moved so fast that "I simply couldn't ingest it all in one viewing," but "I was able to register enough to realize I was enjoying myself hugely .' Forum' is a bawdy, ribald romp that rips Rome's Great Society right up the middle, an out - and - out burlesque show that may even--underneath all the frenetic foolery, the flourishing of floozies and the pratfalls--have something satirical and cynical to tell us about nations and why they fall ." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post raved, "" Bawdy, gaudy and lawry, how funny!' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' has arrived at the Cinema, where laughter should be exploding for months ." Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote that "I laughed my way mindlessly through ninety percent of the picture," calling the jokes "both awful and exactly right for Mostel, Silvers and company ." A review in the UK's Monthly Film Bulletin thought that Lester's fast - moving direction style made for a "curious effect of dislocation," writing that Mostel and Silvers "constantly find the editor snapping at their tails while Lester dashes down some attractive byway and the laugh they probably would have got is stopped short ." The review concluded, "Apart from the long chase at the end, which is boring and irrelevant, this is an odd, good - humoured mess of a film, in spite of everything decidedly likeable ." </P> <P> Music director Ken Thorne received an Academy Award for "Oscar Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment" in 1967 . In addition, the film was nominated that year for a Golden Globe as "Best Motion Picture - Musical / Comedy". </P>

Something funny happened on the way to the forum movie