October 16, 1966 –
The film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, directed by Richard Lester and starring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford, Michael Hordern, and Roy Kinnear premiered on this date.
Stephen Sondheim was reportedly so upset with the many liberties taken with the stage original for this movie adaptation that he was extremely reluctant thereafter to sell the film rights to any of his musicals; the failure of the 1977 film version of his A Little Night Music only strengthened his opposition, which lasted well into the twenty-first century. Tim Burton had great difficulty in persuading the composer to allow him to make a film of Sweeney Todd.
The Haus of Dcaligari 