30 years ago today, Groucho Marx died at 86, three days after Elvis Presley. For the occasion, I'd thought I'd view some of his movies of which Room Service is one of them. Unlike the others he made with his brothers, this one wasn't especially tailored to their talents since it was originally a Broadway play starring other people. So the action is mostly confined to the hotel and the pace slows down a little bit. Nevertheless, there's still some witty lines and visual humor concerning Harpo that makes this one of the more enjoyable latter day-Marx Brothers films. And there's a wonderful supporting cast with Frank Albertson as the playwright and, especially, Donald MacBride as the hotel manager who keeps exclaiming, "Jumping Butterballs!" Also of note is the fact that a couple of young players named Ann Miller and Lucille Ball appear here long before their established personas. So while not the classic of their five Paramount and first two MGM pictures, this RKO production was nothing the Marx Brothers should be ashamed of.
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ccthemovieman-116 November 2006didn't think this was one of the Marx Brothes better films, but it wasn't their worst, either. One thing different: no harp playing from Harpo and no singing from Groucho. That's okay with me, anyway, since I watch these movies for the comedy, not the music. The only musical number was "Swing Long, Sweet Chariot" near the end of the movie.
There are some funny scenes in here, but not enough of them. Too much of the film takes place in one room. This is like a play and it begins to drag after an hour. Donald McBride, with his constant gruff voice and shouting, grates on you after awhile, too.
Lucille Ball is in here, and I always didn't recognize her. She looked very young (which she was!).
Overall, the film has entertainment value but, personally, I would rather watch the boys' others films. -
Austen4 January 2002Many criticize "Room Service" as the worst Marx Brothers film. This is both misleading and ridiculous. While "Duck Soup" now receives the most critical acclaim, one need only compare that film to Room Serivce to see a dramatic improvement in the directing and delivery. Room Service wasn't written explicitly for the Marx Brothers, so it doesn't have catchy lines. Still, the film flows much better than predecessors and is still pretty damn funny. The Marx Brothers made many great movies, and yes, this is one of those great ones!
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theowinthrop29 May 2004In 1935 Irving Thalberg had signed Groucho, Chico, and Harpo to a contract to make one picture a year for MGM. The Marxes agreed to this because Thalberg admired their stage and Paramount work, and agreed to let them and their script writers work out the material on stage. So scenes from NIGHT AT THE OPERA and DAY AT THE RACES were tried out before live audiences, and this helped the finished products to be successful. But Thalberg died suddenly. This was bad for the Marx Brothers, because Louis B. Mayer had no sympathy with comedians (he helped send the career of Buster Keaton into the toilet). Mayer was upset that the brothers had gotten a percentage of the gross due to their contract negotiations. He did not care for allowing the boys out on the road to test material. This explains the general mediocrity of AT THE CIRCUS, GO WEST, and THE BIG STORE. But in 1938 Mayer allowed RKO to have the loan of the boys for a film: ROOM SERVICE. Whatever the opinion viewers have of ROOM SERVICE, most feel it is superior to the three other late MGM films of 1939 - 41.
ROOM SERVICE was based on a successful stage farce (which is still revived from time to time). Gordon Miller is a fast-talking theater producer, who fits Groucho's string of con men turned professionals from Captain Spaulding the explorer to Rufus Firefly the Dictator of Freedonia to Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush the Veterinarian turned spa doctor. Only his name is ordinary in comparison to these (except Spaulding, perhaps). But Gordon Miller sounds like a theater producer (like Jed Harris or Flo Ziegfeld). His two associates Harry Binnel (turned into Binnelli) and Faker Englund generally fit Chico and Harpo, with Harpo's lines going to Chico.
Harpo does get some fun moments in the film - when he chases a live turkey through the hotel suite, and when he fakes a laryngitis attack by squeezing a Kewpie doll to sound like he is saying "Ahh" Chico shows a sentimental streak when he insists on moving a moose head to the hotel suite (he killed the moose with his bare hands). Later he wishes he could mount the head of the hotel manager Wagner (Donald MacBride) on the wall beside his moose.
Groucho has his hands full trying to keep Frank Albertson (the playwright) under control, trying to put off a debt collector (Philip Loeb) from the "We Never Sleep" Collection agency from repossessing Albertson's typewriter, trying to complete a meeting with the representative of a potential secret backer, and trying to hide all of his cast and crew in the empty hotel rooms.
As for the supporting players, Halton gives a good performance as a high strung doctor, upset by his treatment by the Marxes in examining Harpo, but who is honest enough to tell off MacBride for ruining a perfectly legitimate business deal with the backer. MacBride (who was in the stage production on Broadway - a performance that led to his successful movie career) seems too blustery to some people, but he was not yet used to movie acting but to stage acting. Probably, on stage, his bluster seemed more natural than this. Even so it is very funny business (one wishes he was allowed to explode without the minced oaths, though "Jumping Butterballs" is odd enough). In the concluding twenty minutes of the film he does yeoman service helping the brothers and Albertson make the conclusion possibly the funniest of the last six films - maybe as good a conclusion as that of DUCK SOUP for that matter.
Oddly the two female roles were being handled by Anne Miller and Lucille Ball, both skilled in comedy. Neither really has much to do. Miller does show a clear understanding of a ridiculous situation at the end of the film.
Ball has nothing to do. In 1938 nobody knew she would be the most famous comedienne in American history. Ball does have one silent moment worth pondering - when she is seen at the conclusion of the play "Hail and Farewell" wearing a costume that makes her look like she's from Bohemia, and not some American mining town. One would like to know more about that situation in the original play within the play.
Despite my recognition of some negative views on ROOM SERVICE (mostly due to it being a too-confining farce) I liked the film. The last twenty minutes, when (to stop MacBride from closing the production on opening night) Albertson fakes taking poison are hysterical. Groucho, Chico, and Harpo "assist" MacBride in trying to prevent the poison from taking effect (at one point Harpo starts pouring the poison down Albertson's throat). When Albertson finally "dies", MacBride (sentimental businessman that he is) wishes that the suicide happened at a rival hotel. MacBride and Groucho discuss how to hide the body (Groucho suggests dropping the body in the theater, suggesting the playwright committed suicide upon seeing the production). Groucho, Chico, and MacBride sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" to the dead Albertson. And then MacBride finds Harpo has "committed suicide" after writing a suicide note on the hotel stationary pinned to him on his chest, blaming MacBride for both his and Albertson's deaths.
The fact is the Marxes (even in the two war films) never handled death so totally in a film and they (with MacBride) made it hysterically funny. ROOM SERVICE may not make all Marx fans favorite film list, but I think that last twenty minutes make it definitely worth while. -
ingemar-417 November 2011I watched two movies pretty much in parallel, Room Service and Stuck On You. While Room Service is certainly lacking much of the Marx' brothers usual tempo and gags, I was surprised to find that this was the one of the two that gave the most laughs by far, while the other mostly bored me. I had expected the opposite.
Almost the whole movie takes place in a hotel room, which is certainly due to being a stage play, and that comes for a cost. There is more talking and less action than other Marx movies. The first half or so drags considerably, but the brothers do manage to use their characters in good ways. In particular, Harpo does a good job on bringing in some visual gags.
Mr Wagner (Donald MacBride) is rather tiresome, but from the moment the backer is clear to him, he gets a well deserved break from being the sourpuss of the movie. And that's right where I start liking the movie. It takes quicker turns, scenes are getting increasingly hilarious (Harpo's death scene is great), and ends pretty much as expected but just right.
I certainly wouldn't advice anyone new to Marx to start here, but once you are fond of the Marx brothers and like their characters, this is a nice bonus, which is better than I thought it would be. -
planktonrules6 February 2006I consider this the last Marx Brothers film worth seeing, though it is inferior to all their previous films. While you'll get a few laughs in their efforts following ROOM SERVICE, they are definitely a step below their earlier efforts.
The film was an adaptation of a stage production and it's obvious because most all the action takes place in one hotel room. As a result, there's a definite feeling of claustrophobia in the picture and it also prevents the film from rising to a higher level of entertainment.
About the only real WONDERFUL moment in the film is the very end, where one of the characters appears to come back to life--it's well worth seeing. -
st-shot19 November 2009Room Service marked for the first and last time in their careers the Marx Brothers would work with material not written specifically for them. Based on the successful stage play the brothers make you quickly forget it is anything but a Marx romp.
Gordon Miller (Groucho) desperately attempts to stave off eviction from his hotel room until he can get a backer for his play. Enlisting Harpo and Chico and a series of arch ruses the boys put up a spirited and inane struggle to hold the room and get the play financed.
Room Service is the usual Marx Brothers versus the establishment and polite society vehicle they excelled at in their first half dozen films. By the time they did Day at the Races it was evident they were slowing down and Room Service expands on it. Veteran Marx collaborator Maury Ryskind tailors some of the play to the brothers strengths but they only serve as reminders of when they were sharper and in better productions.
Room Service is far from the worst and further from their best work. It has flashes of their famed anarchic style but remains incapable of sustaining the zany outrageous pace found in the earlier films and as some close ups glaringly revealed, they were not getting any younger. -
wes-connors22 August 2007The Marx Brothers and Frank Albertson must avoid being thrown out of their hotel suite. They have no money to pay their bill, so they invent a series of ailments for Mr. Albertson to act out in order to distract hotel management. The four hope an upcoming production of a play will reverse their fortunes.
"Room Service" finds the Brothers slightly of the mark. Groucho and Chico appear uninterested, especially when watching the other performers. Harpo is more lively, but is still not quite Harpo; his "Say Ahhhh " goes on too long. Oddly, enough, the fourth member of their team, Mr. Albertson, turns in the more consistent performance. Donald MacBride is also very good. Lucille Ball acts like the Marx Brothers - standing around until her next line. Ann Miller is more interested, as Albertson's squeeze. A flying turkey steals the show!
****** Room Service (9/21/38) William A. Seiter ~ Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Frank Albertson -
bkoganbing23 September 2006As was pointed out by another reviewer, the Marx Brothers were languishing at the MGM studio under Louis B. Mayer because they had been brought there by his rival, Irving Thalberg. There last film had been A Day At the Races and they were idle for over a year when RKO requested their services for Room Service. Which L.B. Mayer gave them I'm sure for a good price.
Room Service is a fast moving slapstick farce which the Marx Brothers adapted easily to. There's even a Zeppo part which in this case is filled by Frank Albertson as the naive kid from Oswego who wrote the play that Groucho is trying by hook or crook to get produced. Emphasis on the latter.
Room Service ran for 500 performances on Broadway in the 1937-1938 season and the great George Abbott directed it. Here he was the supervising producer and I'm sure credited director William Seiter served under some real strict supervision. Frank Albertson's role was played by Eddie Albert and the three Marx Brothers parts were played by Sam Levene, Phillip Loeb, and Teddy Hart. Loeb who had Chico's role in the Broadway show played the bill collector trying to get $42.00 on Albertson's typewriter. Well money stretched a lot farther in 1938.
Repeating their Broadway roles were Alexander Asro as the waiter with ambitions to be an actor and Cliff Dunstan as Gribble the hotel manager who is Groucho's brother-in-law. And of course Donald MacBride who had the slowest burn in film next to Edgar Kennedy and could get exasperated faster than anyone else on screen is Dunstan's boss. MacBride usually gets as many laughs as stars do in their films and Room Service is no exception. JUMPING BUTTERBALLS.
The key to the whole plot is the fact that a big backer of Groucho's show pulled out and stopped payment on a $15,000.00 check. But the bank is in California and it took five days for the stop payment to go through. That was interesting to me because in the film Catch Me If You Can, forger/confidence man Frank Abegnale played by Leonardo DiCaprio used that exact same gimmick in the sixties to get a whole lot of money by memorizing codes for routing on checks. Was Abegnale inspired by Room Service?
Favorite scene, the Marx Brothers and Albertson chasing a turkey through their room that Harpo finagled. Favorite line belongs to Frank Albertson which is ironic with Groucho Marx in the same film. When they decide to fake the fact that Albertson is dying, Albertson says that, "I'll give the best performance you'll ever see in a hotel room."
How did that one get by Mr. Breen? -
grantss22 April 2014OK, but not great, Marx Brothers movie.
Started off well enough. Set up was good, some good one-liners from Groucho and was quite coherent. Middle section had some great sight gags (anything involving the turkey, and Harpo being diagnosed by the doctor, especially).
However, from a point it lost coherence and just got silly. Not ridiculously, unwatchably silly, but just mundane and not too funny.
Overall, the jokes were weaker than their best, and even Groucho's famous wisecracks seemed weaker and fewer-and-further-between.
Performances, given the material, are OK though. Lucille Ball is great in a supporting role, and not just for her acting... Good support too from Ann Miller and Frank Albertson.
Certainly not in the same league as A Night At The Opera, but reasonably entertaining nevertheless. -
gridoon202420 November 2009I think the best summation of "Room Service" in one sentence was done by Pauline Kael in her review: the play (that the script was based on) fits them (the Marx Bros.) like a straightjacket. In other words, instead of the plot serving as a mere stepping stone for the Marxes to unleash their surrealistic madness, they are in service of a plot that leaves them little room for improvisation. But the biggest problem with "Room Service" is the relative lack of truly memorable material: we have the frantic silent eating scene, the turkey hunt, Harpo's response to the doctor's "say ah", the occasional Groucho line ("He's the brains of the organization. And that should give you an idea of the organization"), and that's about it. The last 20 minutes are essentially one long joke (fake "dying") that eventually gets old. Harpo is the liveliest of the brothers here, and he comes off best; Ann Miller is incredibly sweet; Donald MacBride is so loud that you may have to turn down the volume during his scenes. "Room Service" is still worth seeing and even owning, like all Marx Brothers movies, but if you make a list of them it comes near the bottom. ** out of 4.
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zetes21 December 2001The Paramount era was the best creatively for the Marx Brothers. Afterwards, there was a concentration on plot, which didn't lend to their insane, improvisational style. However, there is plenty to love about their post-Paramount career. Some consider A Night at the Opera to be their best film. I disagree, myself, but love A Day at the Races. But Room Service might be my favorite post-Paramount Marx Brothers. Why? Well, I usually dislike the plots of their later movies, but this one has a particularly great script. It also has spectacular supporting characters and no music. Besides the brothers, only Margaret Dumont could get laughs in their earlier films. Here, almost all of the supporting cast is hilarious. I wouldn't want to ruin a single joke. They may not be as frequent as the earlier films, but the slower pacing is excellent in the film. You really must see it. 10/10.
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redryan6420 November 2007The blessing of civilization is structure. "A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place"; now there's a neat old proverb for you! We don't know who originally coined that phrase, but they really knew the importance of brevity. And one thing about these classic old sampler proverbial sayings is; that like most things under the Sun, they always have exceptions.
Let's consider the cinema and its relation to the saying. Even more particularly, we'll zero in on the most anti-order film 'commodity' that we know. That would be the Marxes.
The Marx Brothers act was one of rapid fire lunacy. They need to have room to operate; that is, the material that they use must be constructed to give the appearance of Ad Lib. It also must be loose enough to allow for the occasional real Ad Lib to fit in, when it does manage to come down the pike. This is all clearly evident in their 5 Paramount Pictures features. The art was perfected with their arrival on the lot over at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Mr. Irving Thalberg's desire to make even better Marx Brothers vehicles.
The Thalberg prescription called for a road trip by the now 3 Marx Brothers in a sojourn into some live stage appearances. The object was not to make for a Las Vegas type Act in some exclusive engagement; but rather to take some proposed material and try it out before a live theatre audience. The most obvious example of this method would be the State Room Scene in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (MGM, 1935).
Up to the point of ROOM SERVICE (RKO Radio Pictures, 1938), all of the Marx Brothers' movies had been films written just for them. Their Movies' genesis either one of two categories. Either they were filmed versions of their highly successful Broadway Farces, THE COCONUTS, ANIMAL CRACKERS or MONKEY BUSINESS (which contained much of the material from their 1923 Broadway Show, "I'll Say She Is!" The rest were all original screenplays written for the screen' They had expressed interest in doing a film using a play that was already written; so that when they had the offer to go on loan to RKO to do ROOM SERVICE, they jumped at it. ROOM SERVICE being a story of a conniving Producer, Gordon Miller (to be played by Groucho) and his conning his way into getting his Play produced. They had the time and the extra spending money would come in handy; particularly for eldest brother Chico, who gambled for a hobby.
So, with some tiny little changes (like changing the name of the Director from Binion to Binelli, so that Chico could apply his pseudo-Italian to the part.) And as for Harpo, well there was no part for him to do. He was just sort of an 'ad-on person'; though to his credit, he managed to be Harpo long enough and to be the main player in the finale's show stopping gag.
The cast was filled up with enough top talent though. Whatever the parts called for, they delivered. We had. Veteran Director William A. Seiter, who had done quite a few types of films and had done Comedies with Laurel & Hardy (SONS OF THE DESSERT, Hal Roach/MGM, 1933) and Wheeler & Wolsey (GIRL CRAZY, RKO Radio, 1932). Others in the comedy line that he had worked with were: the Ritz Brothers and Abbot & Costello. He had done just about all, and would continue working into the days of Television 1n the '50's and up to 1960.
A lot of the action is like so many of those Stage Plays, with a lot of people running around, like Turkeys with their heads cut off. ("Turkeys" instead of "Chickens" 'cause it's only 2 days to Thanksgiving as this is being written.). There would be a lot of door slamming, hollering, laughing and loss of temper.
Others filling out the cast were lovely young ladies Ann Miller & Lucielle Ball (double Woo, woo, woo, woo!!), Frank Albertson, Chris Dunstan, Donald McBride, Phillip Loeb, Phillip Wood, Alexander Asro and Charles Halton.
Well, the Brothers had done what they had wanted to try. And we may be thankful for it; for without it, we'd be forever wondering just what it would have been. Imagination being what it is, who knows just what our minds would have cooked-up?* Lively and amusing, yes; but is it a real, dyed in the wool Marx Brothers movie? Sorry Charlie, I no think so!
NOTE: * The folks at RKO went and re-made ROOM SERVICE in 1944, but this time as a musical. STEP LIVELY RKO Radio, 1944) starred Frank Sinatra, George Murphy, Gloria DeHaven, Adolph Menjou, Walter Slezak, Anne Jeffreys and Grant Mitchell. Oddly it also featured on of the Movie Comedy Teams of the day. It was Wally Brown & Alan Carney; who were known as "RKO's answer to Abbot & Costello". -
mark.waltz28 November 2019Certainly, Groucho does his best to deliver his lines with the usual gusto, but he didn't really have a hand in writing them, so it appears that the heart is gone from how he says them. A few zingers seem ad-libbed, but he's playing the role straight even though he's running around as if he was still playing Otis P. Driftwood. Chico and Harpo are fine too, but other than Harpo's silent antics (especially with the cupie doll while getting his tonsils checked and chasing a nervous turkey), they are trapped by material that sadly miscasts them all.
For their one film away from MGM, they are starring in the film version of a Broadway smash, the tale of a broke Broadway producer refusing to leave his hotel suite in efforts to get his show produced. With playwright Frank Albertson and secretary Lucille Ball, they all deal with the irritated hotel manager Donald MacBride (deliciously over the top and the best performance in the film) who finds out little by little the extent of Groucho's machinations.
A Marx Brothers movie without the zest of their best work (or even their worst work) is heartbreaking, but there are some very funny moments that in outtakes make this film seem better than it was. Lucy fans will be majorly disappointed as her role is standard contract obligation and nothing special. The same goes for Ann Miller in an even smaller part, although it's a nice reunion of Lucy and Annie from "Stage Door", another RKO film version of a play that they did right. -
dougdoepke18 April 2011The movie manages a few chuckles, but is not prime material for Marx Bros. fans. One reason is that there's too much conventional logic in what the boys do, unlike their usual wacky comedic logic. Thus, there's little of the usual anarchic assault on well-ordered society that provides larger point to their madcap style.
Here the boys are trying to beat the hotel out of a big bill in order to get their stage play produced, and what they do makes perfectly good sense, though done in zany style. I get the feeling that, unlike other Marx movies, any number of good comedic actors could have replaced them to decent effect. Also, journeyman director Seiter fails to bring the zaniness to the kind of madcap boil that marks their best features. For example, the comedy mix tends to keep the boys apart instead of effectively combining them.
Nonetheless, the movie has its moments and some good gag lines, along with lively humorous support— MacBride as the dyspeptic hotel manager, Wood as the string bean agent, and Albertson as the boyish playwrite. Unfortunately, Lucille Ball's expert comedic talent goes untapped, but thankfully not her good looks.
Looks like the boys miss their home at MGM where their best movies were made. But even second-rate Marx Bros. at RKO still manages some good laughs. -
weezeralfalfa20 December 2016Quite a letdown from the first two films the brothers did for MGM. Don't know why Zeppo negotiated this film with RKO. They would return to MGM for the remainder of their films. This is the only one of their films that was not designed specifically for their talents, being adapted from a Broadway play. Humor is much below par, although it gets better as the film progresses. The two main female characters, played by Lucille Ball and a precocious 15 year old Anne Miller, are barely in the film. For those who prefer their Marx films with a minimum of musical interruptions, this fills the bill. Even Chico doesn't play the piano nor does Harpo play the Harp. However, Harpo does accompany the singing of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" with harmonica.
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ironhorse_iv28 December 2012Room Service might not be the most famous film comedy starring the Marx Brothers, but it's worth a watch. Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Allen Boretz & John Murray. Less frenetic and more physically contained than their other movies, the plot revolves around getting a stage play, Hail and Farewell, to be produced and funded by mysterious backer Zachary Fisk, while evading paying the hotel bill. The Marx Brothers are trying to fund this play. They have assembled the cast and crew of the play in the hotel ballroom, Gordon Miller (Grocho Marx) try to skip out of the hotel without paying before Gregory Wagner (Donald MacBride), the owner of the hotel finds out. MacBride is just as funny as the Marx Brothers as Wagner the efficiency expert, is really the stiff that the Marx Brothers are trying to tear down with their anti-authority hijinks. MacBride tends to shock out his catch phrase throughout the movie, that can be annoying. MacBride and the Marx Brothers work well with each other, as the scenes between them are just funny. Miller doesn't skip yet, after receives word that one of his actresses, Christine Marlowe (Lucille Ball) has arranged for a backer. Lucille Ball doesn't give much to the movie, as she plays second-banana, her comedic side really doesn't show in the film. She fades into the background. I felt that she could have been use more. It seems at the time, she was mostly use for eye-candy. Now Miller and the other Marx Brothers must keep his room, and hide his crew until the meeting with the backer can happen. Problems continue to happen, when the author comes to stay with them. Author, Leo Davis (Frank Albertson) is a Mickey Rooney's Andy Hardy type character, that can be annoying at times, but Miller finds a way to use Davis to keep their room at less for the moment. The movie is an uneven but entertaining blend of traditional stage farce and Marxian madness. There are the same types of humor that you see in other Marx brothers films are in this film just in a limited area, because of that, the room becomes somewhat a character developing area. It's nice to see a movie with little cut scenes and one location. It gives the movie a small time feel, and how importation the place is. William A. Seiter's direction keeps the brothers limited to the area, gives the audience the best performance you ever saw in a hotel bedroom. Nearly the entire movie is filmed within two adjoining hotel rooms. There's no musical number except a few bars of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. That means no Harpo playing the Harp or Chico playing the piano. Still it wasn't needed. There are a number of funny supporting cast that continues to be gags throughout the film. The man from the collection agency, the man representing the financial backer for the play, the Russian want-to-be actor, and the doctor each pop up in one or two scenes to move the plot and supply the set up for a couple gags. Several high quality visual and verbal gags are included. This Marx Brothers film might not live up to Night of the Opera, or Duck Soap, but still it's worth noticing. Watch it.
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classicsoncall25 November 2016Jumping Butterballs, it's another Marx Brothers free for all! If you go by other reviewers' comments of the film here on IMDb, this is one you're probably not supposed to like but I didn't think it was so bad. Granted, when I place the picture in my list of Marx Brothers films and rank them by voter preference here on IMDb, it comes up near the bottom just ahead of "The Big Store". So maybe it's a matter of mining the picture for those little nuggets of gold that don't necessarily jump right out and hit you in the face.
For starters, there's Lucille Ball, who if I had been a betting man, would have lost on whether she ever appeared in a Marx Brothers flick. So that was surprise number one for this viewer. That hotel dinner scene where Miller (Groucho), Benelli (Chico) and Faker (Harpo) finally get to chow down with Leo Davis (Frank Albertson) is a pretty frantic affair, with good comedic timing as Chico gets his arm entangled in Harpo's staccato-like fork frenzy.
And say, right here with the Motion Picture Production Code in full effect, it appeared to me the film makers managed to sneak a doozy past the movie censors when the bamboozled Doctor Glass (Charles Halton) frustratingly denounces his description by Groucho's character as the house detective when he proclaims "I'm not a dick, I'm a doctor!" Looking on the bright side, I thought the line might have been an inspiration for Dr. McCoy on one of those future 'Star Trek' TV episodes.
Anyway, I think you can give this one a try even if you're not a die-hard Marx Brothers fan. My timing in catching the picture turned out to be an unusually well placed one. Having watched it yesterday, it was a rather unique and novel surprise to see my annual Thanksgiving Day turkey show up in a Marx Brothers flick. -
This movie certainly isn't in the same league with the inspired, anything goes lunacy of Marx Brothers classics like Duck Soup and Horse Feathers. But it is fairly entertaining if you give it a chance.
Most of the action takes place in one room of the White Way Hotel on Broadway, where slightly shady impresario Groucho is holed up, trying to evade the hotel inspector, while waiting for a financial backer to come through with the necessary funds to put on a show.He is joined by the naive young author of the play, and fast talking sidekick Chico, and silent clown Harpo, along with the beleaguered hotel manager, who is Groucho's brother in law.Various eccentric characters, such as the cranky hotel doctor, a confused collection agency man, and a highly nervous representative for a wealthy client, all come and go, as the confusion mounts steadily.
The movie is kind of funny, if you don't have really high expectations. Ann Miller makes a very cute love interest for playwright Frank Albertson, and a very young Lucille Ball shows up periodically as Groucho's girlfriend. Alexander Asro as an emotional Russian actor, and Donald MacBride as the belligerent hotel inspector, along with Cliff Dunstan as the long suffering hotel manager, help round out the cast. Tall, gaunt Philip Wood is quite funny as the humorless agent for the backer who wishes to be anonymous, and Charles Halton has a few good scenes as the bad tempered hotel doctor.
Room Service may not hold up all that well for modern audiences, but seen in context of the time it was made, and considering that it was adapted to a short movie version from a longer play, it's really not too bad. -
sphillips-715 February 2006Though not one of the Marx Brothers' better known films, "Room Service" is well worth seeing nonetheless. Originally a stage play, it has the distinction of being the only Marx Brothers' film that wasn't originally written by or for the Brothers. However, the film adaptation is seamlessly tailored for the Marxes' stock characters: Groucho, the glib con-man; Chico, the deceptively simple Italian caricature; and Harpo, their anarchic collaborator. The film is very well written, with lots of hilarious gags and pratfalls. Especially memorable is the scene in which the brothers put on multiple layers of clothes as they prepare to decamp their hotel room without paying the bill. Even funnier is the scene in which the brothers, not having eaten for days, frenetically polish off a meal they had arranged to be diverted to their room. Watch Harpo as he madly harpoons peas with his fork and devours them one by one, like a ravenous automaton! In an earlier scene, the boys chase a flying turkey around the hotel room, hoping to make a meal of it. Alas, it flies out the window, whereupon Groucho says, "Never mind, we didn't have any cranberry sauce anyway!"
Unfortunately, the film lacks the usual piano and harp numbers by Chico and Harpo. Regrettable too is the absence of Margaret Dumont, Groucho's legendary "straight woman." Even so, the film is great fun--pure escapism! -
aberlour3619 July 2007This is a fine comedy made in 1938, in the midst of that dazzling time in Hollywood when all of the studios were making what were to become classic films. This is one of the better ones, although not at the top. It's zany and unpredictable, and the Marx brothers are their usual selves. The unsung hero in the film is Donald MacBride, whose "slow-burn" humor graced many fine movies of the period. He's a hotel executive here, trying desperately to get Groucho and company to pay their hotel bill. The plot revolves around attempts to hoodwink him. Ann Miller and Lucille Ball have minor roles, which they both handle well. (Miller was only 19.) No, this is not up to the standard set by the Marx brothers in the early 1930s, but Room Service is well worth one's time.
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Richard Keith Carson11 February 2001This film is likely to be a real letdown unless you understand the circumstances under which it was made. The Marxes were chosen to be cast in the film version of a play that was not originally written for them. They are sort of force-fitted into the roles. Ironically it might have been funnier if it had used different actors who did not have such high expectations placed upon them. Instead, it has been forever enshrined as part of a canon to which it really doesn't deserve to belong.
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lugonian5 July 2006ROOM SERVICE (RKO Radio, 1938), directed by William A. Seiter, is a different kind of Marx Brothers comedy: their sole venture at RKO Radio; their first and only comedy based on a Broadway play not originated by them; the only one that was remade; and one of the few in which Groucho assumes an ordinary name, not the unusual ones like Rufus T. Firefly or Otis B. Driftwood. Although he, Chico and Harpo resume their traditional costumes and characters, they don't take time out to sing, play the piano or harp, nor do they create havoc by chasing or insulting women. (Margaret Dumont, where are you?) It does return them to a hotel backdrop, which has served them well with both play and screen adaptations of THE COCOANUTS with Groucho as hotel manager. This time around he plays an unpaying guest. While the brothers do practically have the entire movie to themselves, for a change anyway, a couple of production numbers near the end might have helped to bring some life into this comedy considering that it being based on a play, has become exactly what it is, a filmed stage play, with no underscoring and little camera movement though plenty of movement from its principle players.
The story takes place at the White Way Hotel in the Times Square section of New York City. Gordon Miller (Groucho) is a theatrical producer, along with Harry Binelli (Chico), his associate and director, Faker Englund (Harpo), the brains of the organization, "which will give you the idea of the organization," quotes Miller; and a cast of 22 actors awaiting for the backing of a new show. Miller's bill has reached $1200 and is long overdue. The reason he is able to remain as long as he has is because Joe Gribble (Cliff Dunstan), the hotel manager, happens to be his brother-in-law. However, the hotel may soon acquire vacancies due the arrival of Gregory Wagner (Donald MacBride), a hotel efficiency expert, who has come to inspect the books. Christine (Lucille Ball), Miller's secretary, arranges for Simon Jenkins (Philip Wood), a potential backer, to meet with him, but in due time. Enter the arrival of Leo Davis (Frank Albertson), author of "Hail and Farewell," penniless, who comes to board with Miller until the play's opening. Through tricks and deceit, Miller arranges to have food brought into the rooms, and keeps from getting evicted by having Leo faking his illness (measles), with Christine later acting as his "nurse" to Faker as he fills in for Leo (and pretending suicide at one point) while the young playwright finds time for lovemaking with Hilda Manny (Ann Miller), the girl he loves, while all becoming hotel prisoners until the play's opening. "Jumping butterballs!!" Labeling ROOM SERVICE as either the weakest or funniest of the Marx Brothers comedies relies solely on the individual viewer. By today's standards, it can be judged as a hit or miss comedy. Donald MacBride, who originated his Wagner role on stage, along with several others in the cast, has become a familiar face in many subsequent film outings, however, his constant shouting of "Jumping Butterfalls" does grow tiresome after a while. With the exception where the cast of the play gathers together singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," the acting troupe implied is never seen. In spite of weaknesses and strong points, with Groucho and Chico nearly playing it straight, along with Lucille Ball, the screenplay does have its quota of laughs, mostly from the silent Harpo, even with little to do, never disappointing as being the funniest of the Marx trio, especially with his blank stare upon the arrival of Leo; his method of steadily eating his food portion without taking a moment to pause and chew; and the chasing of a live turkey he had acquired from a raffle for a meal across the room; as well as his fake suicide and how his "body" must be disposed of without arousing suspicion. "Jumping butterballs!"
Unlike their ventures at MGM, RKO has allowed the Marx Brothers to be surrounded by character actors in the comedic sense. Instead of casting a handsome, serious-minded leading man with a flare for singing, they acquire Frank Albertson as a naive playwright. Fine casting, though the likes of WC FIelds' own Grady Sutton might have added more humor to the story. Then there's Charles Halton as Doctor Glass; Alexander Asro as Sasha Smirnoff, the Russian waiter who sneaks in a meal to Miller in hope of landing a part in his next play; Philip Loeb as Timothy Hogarth; among others.
As already mentioned, ROOM SERVICE was remade, six years later, as STEP LIVELY (RKO, 1944) with Frank Sinatra, George Murphy, Gloria DeHaven, Anne Jeffries, Wally Brown and Alan Carney in the Albertson, Groucho, Ball, Miller, Harpo and Chico roles, which in numerous ways, improves over the original as being faster paced, and as the title implies, "lively," yet it is the Marx Brothers 78 minute adaptation to be the one remembered most due to frequent revivals, starting with commercial television prior to 1985 (with the original RKO logo substituted with a Movietime or C&C Television title-cards and the elimination of end casting credits), video cassette since the 1980s (with original distributor being Nostalgia Merchant to Turner Home Entertainment , to its current availability on DVD. ROOM SERVICE used to be a frequent check-in on American Movie Classics prior to 2001, but currently registers well on Turner Classic Movies ever since its premiere in 1994. "Hail and Farewell." (***1/2) -
Groucho and Chico Seem Off Their Game a Bit in this Mediocre Entry in the Marx Bros. Output of Always Entertaining Comedies. Harpo Comes Across Better but Still, its Not His A-Game.
The Sight Gags are Amusing, but what is Lacking is the Intensity and Energy Usually Found when the Boys are Found in a Situation that They can Eviscerate Verbally as They are Demolishing Polite Society All Around Them.
The Marxes Appear to be Running at Half Speed, there are Pregnant Pauses and Groucho is Absent or Half-Hearted with His Famous Retorts. Although this was a Very Successful Play that Ran for 500 Nights on Broadway, Most Marx Brothers Fans Wish it would have Stayed There.
Still Worth a Watch, as are All Marx Bros. Movies, but this One is in the Bottom Tier. The Film Also Wastes Lucille Ball and Ann Miller who Contribute Very Little.
Don't Know if it was an In-Joke or Not, but when Someone Says..."Excuse me while I go get washed up...Chico Replies..."Go ahead, we're already washed up.". But In Fact, They Might have Felt that Way in 1938, there were Still More Movies and Laughs to Come in Their Long Career. -
Picking this up along with the rest of the Marx Brothers box set, I found myself disappointed by most everything beyond A Night at the Opera. This stinker is prolly the worst I've seen of them so far, with the clever lines left out and the characterization is woeful. The playwright is so obscenely stupid in this play it's hard not to tackle the television and try and strangle him.
As it is, the Marxes seem to do better as outsiders brought in to wreak havoc, and are much much better when they have a good gag or two at least. The material here is all obviously written for anyone, and it really wastes the Marx's talent. Avoid.
Rating: 3/10