Phil Silvers and his Eyeglasses
Were they a prop? Or did he just wear contact lenses during the making of the film? Thanks.
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MovieChat Forums > A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) Discussion > Phil Silvers and his Eyeglasses
I've never seen Phil without glasses.
~~Gail~~;-)
Dear AMAZINGSNAIL1,
This writer encourages you to see A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum because this film is hilarious and Phil Silvers appears without his glasses throughout this entire slapstick comedy.Also this was the Great Buster Keaton's last feature film because he was dying of cancer.
To Better Days,
BRAD
Later in life, after having cataract surgery on both eyes and with lenses then implanted in his eyes, he no longer needed eyeglasses. However, he continued to wear them without any glass in them -- just the frames -- because his glasses were, after all, his trademark.
This trivia was on his page on imdb.
Silvers was offered the leading role of Pseudolus for the show's original Broadway run in 1962. Depending on which account you read, he turned it down because either a) he wasn't crazy about the script; or b) he wanted to work on developing his new sitcom, "The New Phil Silvers Show" (which flopped). When the film was made five years later, he accepted the role of Lycus and was forced to forego his trademark glasses by director Richard Lester.
In 1972, Silvers starred as Pseudolus in a Broadway revival of the show, which won for Silvers a Tony for best actor. For that production, he wore glasses adorned with laurel leaves and other "Roman" trimmings. Too bad Lester didn't think of that.
There are brilliant stories (for instance, in the biography of Richard Lester) about how hard it was for Phil Silvers to work on this film without his glasses. In the scenes where Silvers has to stand in some precarious places, he is genuinely terrified.
sharelester was silly for not letting phil wear his glasses. would have added to the absurdity
shareLike Silvers, I'm a double cataract patient and it's true that for the first time since I was a kid, I can see for distance without glasses. However, I now need them for reading close up which I didn't before, so I always need a pair with me wherever I am.
However, since an actor wouldn't worry qabout close up reading while performing in a play or film, I agree that Silvers could go without glasses after his two surgeries.
If you read Phil's bio on here, it turns out he eventually had an operation that cured him from wearing glasses, but everyone loved him with the glasses so he would wear them without lenses. Maybe at the time of this film, he hadn't had it yet, so he wore contacts. However, when he was in the revival five years later, he did wear his glasses. Saw a picture of him in the revival wearing them.
sharePhil Silvers
Sarasota Journal Oct. 1, 1956
Phil Silvers says this is why he first started wearing specs as stage props 25 years ago, “I learned people like a sign of weakness in a performer. It makes him seem more human, and gives them a more fellow-feeling toward him.”
“Phil wore only empty frames when he originally donned his trademark glasses as a young burlesque comic. But now, at 44, he finds it convenient to wear lenses in them. He finds they are a great help in reading the fine print on racing forms and to see where he is going.”