I had caught this zany gay bathouse farce years ago and remembered it during a recent discussion of the gay subculture with a gay friend of mine. I wondered if the movie would be considered offensive by/to gays. Having seen it again, I would think not, and at least one gay reviewer here agrees with me. With mistaken identities, misunderstood intentions, and straight cluelessness, it is a hilarious comic romp. All the participants put in excellent comic work here. Rita Moreno, as mentioned often here, is particularly wonderful as the hopeless but aspiring singer - the accent is a hoot. Hard to find nowadays, but definitely worth seeing.
Add a Review
-
DonDaniels5 March 2005It was 1976, Tehran Iran. Terry, also American, and I were bored at work and on the spur of the moment decided to skip out and check out the Tehran Film Festival. Boy, did we have no idea what we were getting in for.
It just so happened that the next film on the bill was The Ritz. We knew nothing about it, but we hailed our driver, raced downtown to the theater, and made it in just in time.
Before long, we were rolling on the floor. Truly, we couldn't hold on to our seats, I can't speak for Terry but the tears were just pouring down my face from laughter. And what made this worse was that, in a mostly packed theater, it seemed that most of the time the two of us near the back were the only ones laughing. Oh, every once and while the Farsi sub-titles would catch-up and the rest of the theater would let out a good laugh, I guess they were having a good time, but it was amazing to us how much was being missed, even some of the visual humor.
I suppose we were both just overdo for some comic relief, but I've watched this film again through the years and it remains one of the funniest films I have ever seen. Jack Weston as the everyman-victim is perfect, as is Rita Morena as a never-quite-been, trying with varying degrees of success, to retain her dignity, her temper, and her dreams. And the rest of the cast -- who can you fault?
Yes, from the dark opening deathbed scene, to all the madcap mistakes that follow, this is farce that at times sinks almost as low as the Three Stooges, but keeps sailing from floor to floor with surprise laughs at every turn.
Some folks can't seem to get past the subject matter, I guess. But if you can find this movie, and you can open your mind beyond the lifestyle to just enjoy all the zaniness that happens, then hang on to your towel! -
The AIDS epidemic, of course, put The Ritz into a no-play situation in that it gay characters intertwine in all sorts of partnerships...though never seen on screen. But all really know about life in the gay clubs as they existed prior to AIDS. Putting all of that aside, and looking at The Ritz as if in a time capsule, it is a riotous farce with stereotypical gays that are nonetheless wonderfully funny and somehow loving people. Rita Moreno, repeating her award-winning stage role, dominates the screen at every interval...and her 'performance' at the baths' pool is among the funniest scenes of the decade. Treat Williams is also paramount in the craziness wonder of the film. Yes, the story that holds the film together is nonsense, although played well enough by F. Murray Abraham, Kaye Ballard, et al. But the film, despite its strange place in history, makes you laugh...and laughter is a good thing. The people are not hurt and not put down. The 'bad guys' are absolutely ridiculous, and the gays are lovable. It may be a little socially unacceptable, but nonetheless still with us. Even Rosie Perez did a Broadway revival , to acclaim, even after the AIDS crisis was abating a little.
-
Rod_Z24 August 2004This has got to be one of the funniest films I've seen, Rita Moreno is excellent as Googie Gomez failed Broadway star and now singing in "the pits" at the Gay bathhouse "The Ritz"...Treat Williams had me in stitches with his voice and Jack Weston is superb as the man on the run and hiding "in the last place anyone would look for me"...Although this harks back to a time now gone the comedy is still as fresh as ever. Look out for the "Chubby Chaser" who constantly refuses to have anything to do with Lean muscled Treat because he's too skinny and chases Jack Weston around from start to finish! And the Andrews Sisters skit is a hoot.... If you haven't seen this film what are you waiting for..!
-
cziare198417 September 2005First seen in 1976 as a trailer to main movie, it proved to be one of the most memorable films I have ever seen.
Much of its commentary is starkly relevant today. Rita Morino was so outrageous, her lines have stayed in my head all these years!!
It (somewhat sarcastically)challenged the stereotypes of gays, drag queens, Italian families, and societal values/conceptions in general.
Each actor plays their part to a tee......so very convincingly. This is a comedy classic.
A funny, pleasing film which, without offending, leaves one feeling good about themselves - gay and straight alike. -
preppy-39 October 2017A man (Jack Weston} discovers his brother-in-law (Jerry Stiller)is trying to kill him. He gets into a cab and tells the cabdriver to take him where he won't be discovered. He's taken to the Ritz-a gay bathhouse.
This is an adaptation of a successful Broadway play. Most of the cast from the play recreate their parts in the movie including Rita Moreno who won a Tony for the play.
It's well-done with the cast going full force. The play was a slamming door farce that almost never works in movies but here it does. Also the movie is refreshingly non-homophobic. And Moreno and Treat Williams (as a detective) are hysterical. Worth watching. -
TedEBear10 August 2001I've been in places like this on nights like this! I can SWEAR that stuff like this actually happens!
Some friends showed this to me, just to see my reaction to it. I'd read the play, so Treat Williams' voice wasn't too much of a surprise. However, F. Murray Abraham answering the phone pretty much induced oxygen deprivation, I laughed so hard! It's not really meant to provide any great insight on "the gay lifestyle", but it shows that whatever your propensity, a well-paced screwball bedroom farce is hard to come by. -
bkoganbing30 June 2019The stars and nearly the entire Broadway cast of The Ritz managed to make it to the film version as soon as the original run on Broadway had finished. Although he had written before for Broadway, The Ritz was the first solid commercial success for playwright Terrence McNally. It ran for 400 performances in its initial run and has been revived twice since.
The threadbare plot involves Jerry Stiller who has a grudge against his brother-in-law Jack Weston, one of those Italian Mafia things. It's so personal that Stiller is going to do it himself.
Poor Weston is given a tip to check into a place called The Ritz as a place that no one would suspect. he'd be it. And why not because unless was leading another and gay life why would he go to The Ritz?
It's all a culture shock to Weston who is just looking for a discreet hideout and to those who follow which include a detective with a high pitched squeak of a voice in Treat Williams, Stiller, and Weston's wife Kaye Balllard.
This play is a chance to look at some outrageous stereotypes and one of them is Rita Moreno who entertains at the bathhouse and is the worst singer on record. But she is hopeful for that break and after all this is where Bette Middler started. Her full blown performance got her a Tony Award on Broadway to go with the Oscar she got for West Side Story, two completely different Latina roles. Moreno gets it in her head that Weston is a Broadway producer traveling incognito and she's willing to do what a girl's got to do to make it on the Great White Way.
Stiller, Ballard, and Weston give Italian stereotyping a good going over. Since The Ritz is a place where aliases are used more often than not, Weston finds it amusing to use Stiller's name when registering. Half the comedy of the work comes from that.
Over 40 years after it was released The Ritz is still a laugh riot. -
blanche-215 January 20111976'a "The Ritz," based on the Broadway play by Terrence McNally, is an absolute riot.
On the run from the brother-in-law Carmine (Jerry Stiller) who's trying to kill him, Gaetano Procio (Jack Weston) orders a cab to take him someplace where no one can find him. The cabbie takes him to The Ritz, a gay bathhouse. There, Gaetano meets some bizarre characters: a chubby chaser (Paul Price); a macho man with a high voice (Treat Williams); Puerto Rican entertainer Googie Gomez (Rita Moreno) whom Gaetano assumes is a drag queen; his own wife (Kaye Ballard) who comes searching for him dressed as a man; and someone just there to party and enter the talent contest (F. Murray Abraham).
The laughs are non-stop in this somewhat dated but very funny movie, complete with a talent show where Weston is one of the Andrews sisters, mistaken identity, and Googie's unbelievable nightclub act, during which she sings "Everything's Comin' Up Roses." The performances are all terrific, but Moreno has the killer role as Googie, who claims a producer named Seymour Pippin got her fired from both Sound of Music and Camelot. Kaye Ballard has a scene at the end of the film that had me screaming with laughter. She is just fabulous.
Truly a no-miss. Unfortunately they don't make this kind of comedy any longer. -
***SPOILERS*** It's was when on his deathbed Papa Vespucci's,George Couloris,last wish before he finally checked out was to "Get Proclo". That meaning to rub his son in law Gaeanto Proclo, Jack Weston, out which set the stage for him, after Papa's funeral, taking off to the one place on earth that no one will find him at "The Ritz" gay bathhouse in Greenwich Village where he thought he'll be safe. It turned out to be a night of horrors for Proclo but in the end it exposed his insane with hatred brother in law and co-owner of his garbage company Carmine Vespucci, Jerry Stiller,as the hypocrite, in claiming to be a God fearing family man, that he really was.
As soon as Proclo checked into "The Ritz" he was accosted and chased by the sex starved Claude Perkins, Paul B. Price, a notorious "Chubby Chaser" who's got this things about fat men which Proclo, weighing in at some 220 pounds, is a perfect specimen. It's Carmine's plan not to rub out his brother in law but catch him in bed with another man to destroy his being in the family garbage business at take it over all for himself. There's also the high pitched but Alan Ladd looking PI Michael Brick, Treat Williams, who 's job it is to get Proclo into a compromising position and photograph him in it by his boss Carmine Vespucci. This backfires on Carmine in that Brick for most of the movie mistakes Carmine for Proclo in not knowing, he only communicated with Carmine by phone or behind closed doors, which is which.
***SPOILERS**** Hysterically funny movie with the also failed Broadway actress Googie "Google" Gomez, Rita Merino, trying to impress Paoclo whom she mistakes for a big time Broadway producer to get the lead role in the play, both that he's to produce, "Oklahoma" or "The Sound of Music" in that she feels that she's be perfect in the lead role of each of them. It's in the end that not only is Carmine the super macho family man found out to be the owner of "The Ritz", and possibly a "fruitcake" himself, but the person who tricked Proclo to end up being there! And an even bigger shock Brick's uncle turns out to be a big Broadway producer who can get Googie a role in his next big Broadway play who just happens to be non other then Seymour Pippins! The very man whom Googie blames for destroying her very promising acting & singing career! -
I recently saw The Ritz for the first time after hesitating for years. As a gay man who came out about 10 years after this film's release, I am well aware that the depiction of homosexuals in films from this period and before was never anything other than mocking or sinister or criminal. This movie tries hard to be funny. Jack Weston is, of course, a great comedian. Jerry Stiller as an Italian gangster tries but fails. Rita Moreno as a cabaret singer at the club is funny to some but foolish to me. While not "offensive" to gays, per se, it's very patronizing which is nearly as bad. This is because it's a product of it's time. The idea, for instance, that Moreno would work at this club and continually refer to the men as "maricon" and mean it isn't very funny to me. 2 of the 4 stars go directly to Treat Williams and his toweled body. He's stunning to look at and has his funny moments. Still, it's all "much ado about absolutely nothing" and it just goes on way too long. If it were a skit in a comedy revue lasting, say, 15 or 20 minutes then I might be on-board but at the end of the day this film lost me and it's jokes just don't stand the test of time.
-
eddax27 May 2009This has got to be the earliest non-homophobic and non-offensive gay movie (by my standards anyway). 1976! It's based on a play by Terrence McNally - whom I think is gay - and he also wrote its screenplay. It also features most of its original Broadway leads, including, notably, F. Murray Abraham and Rita Moreno.
The Ritz is a screwball comedy about a clueless man trying to elude his murderous brother-in-law by hiding out in a bathhouse, which, unbeknownst to him, is very much a gay hangout where men not only have sex with each other but also feature performances by singers and talent shows.
Handled by a tactless director or screenwriter, this movie could've been offensive on so many levels, and I, being easily offended enough to be a GLAAD watchdog, was very happily surprised to fully enjoy the movie. Sure there were the stereotypical portrayal of gay men as nellies, but they were part of a variety that also included muscle hunks, lean twinks, leather daddies, and chubby chasers.
The actors have a lot of fun with their roles. The clueless straightys include the chubby Jack Weston, who, as you might guess, gets chubby chased, and a young and sexy Treat Williams as the detective trailing Weston. Well sexy when he kept his mouth shut anyway. You'll find out what I mean...
Gay bathhouses used to feature female singers and Bette Midler got her start in them, which is why she's such a gay icon. Rita Moreno is this bathhouse's diva, and she gives a lively performance that treads the ideal line between portraying and caricaturing a spitfire Latina.
But the eye-pop award goes to F. Murray Abraham, whose most famous role is Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. Yes, Salieri unabashedly plays a flouncy flamer in this movie! Much credit goes to him for tackling the role with gusto yet not going over the top with flailing arms and lisping and all the other stereotypes. -
SnoopyStyle30 December 2020Carmine Vespucci (Jerry Stiller) and Vivian Proclo are attending to their mobster father on his deathbed who proclaims, "Get Proclo". He means to kill Vivian's husband Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston). With a hit out on his head, Proclo hides in The Ritz, a gay bathhouse and hotel, under the name Caramine Verspucci. Chubby-chasing Claude keeps chasing him. Chris (F. Murray Abraham) is a regular. Michael Brick (Treat Williams) is a squeaky-voiced new arrival private detective hired by the real Vespucci to find the balding fat Proclo. Proclo goes out and returns with a bad wig. Googie Gomez (Rita Moreno) sings in the night club hoping to catch a Broadway producer.
It's a great wacky start. I love all the wacky characters. The plot meanders around in this weird hotel and it loses some of its steam. It needs a better overarching plot. I kept waiting for it to get going in one direction but it keeps going around and around. It's still fun even if it's very artificial. It feels like a screwball Broadway play and that's what it turns out to be. It's very play-like in its mechanics. -
Pal_Joey27 February 2001I have to differ from the other comments posted. Amid sporadic funny moments, there are a lot of actors trying too hard to be funny. The strain shows. I watched this with two friends on another friend's recommendation- none of us were thrilled.
-
tim.halkin8 February 2003A well crafted, door-slamming comedy ala 'Noises Off' with a wonderful cast. Rita Moreno playing a no-talent bathhouse singer gives the performance of her lifetime (we all know how talented she really is, so seeing her 'off' is a lot of fun). Treat Williams is delicious as the soprano detective. Jack Weston, Paul B. Price, F. Murray Abraham, Kay Ballard and Jerry Stiller add their spices to this wonderful ensemble. It makes you wish that the days of the Continental Baths would come back - at least the wonderfully tacky shows at poolside!
-
pswanson0028 November 2003This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and I've never talked to anyone else who's seen it. The casting is spot-on, with F. Murray Abraham especially effective as Jack Weston's Queen Mentor. The young Treat Williams is probably unrecognizable to his modern fans. The old pros -- Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, and Jerry Stiller -- are, of course, perfect. Rent it if you can find it, then sit back and enjoy a wild ride.
6-3-2012 I just watched The Ritz for the first time in many years, and it's still outstanding. It's so good, in fact, that I looked up the play on ibdb.com, and was delighted-but not surprised-to learn that Rita Moreno had been awarded a Tony for her performance. She is off-the-chart great in this film. I also learned from the Broadway data base that Jack Weston, F. Murray Abraham, Jerry Stiller, and Paul Price were also in the original Broadway cast. That goes a long way to explaining why this is such a good movie. The play had been closed for less than a year when the film was released, so it seems that Richard Lester simply assembled the most important original cast members and filmed the play. Well done to him! -
Chunky, quivering, middle-class ordinary Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston) is 'married to the mob' in the form of wife Vivian (Kaye Ballard)--and his crazy brother-in-law Carmine (Jerry Stiller) hates him. Certain that Carmine is about to kill him, Gaetana hops a cab, tells the driver to take him to the last place any one would ever look for him... and suddenly finds himself hiding out in the middle of a gay bath house.
But this only the first ten or fifteen minutes of the film: there is much, much more to come, and all of it is over the top hilarious. Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, and Kaye Ballard are perfectly cast in their roles, but would you believe F. Murray Abraham (Oscar winner for AMADEUS) as the screaming queen to end all screaming queens? How about Rita Moreno as a no-talent lounge singer who is busting a gut to become a bath-house star just like Bette Midler? Or Treat Williams as a P.I. with blonde hair and a squeaky voice? My own favorite of the bunch is Paolo Poeti as Claude, a "chubby chaser" who takes one look at Jack Weston and falls in love at first sight--and then proceeds to make his life absolute hell by chasing him all over the bath house. Before it's all over you'll find people hiding under beds, thrown into swimming pools, impersonating the Andrews Sisters, and being pursued by unwanted lovers of the wrong persuasion, all to absolutely hilarious, incredibly giddy effect.
Like most farces, THE RITZ deals in stereotypes--but it is never mean spirited in its portraits, and the cast carries off the eccentric characters (both straight and gay) with considerable aplomb. Filmed long before the AIDS crisis, THE RITZ offers a comic look at a New York gay bath house and a way of life that would soon come to a grinding halt--a fact that gives the film a certain unintended poignancy for gay viewers. Even so, you don't need any specialized background to enjoy this laugh-out-loud movie, which is as much (and really more) for a straight audience as it is for a gay one. Highly, highly recommended... call over some friends, turn up the steam heat, break out some bath towels, and get ready for a true laugh riot.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer -
Why is this great comedy not available in the US? When I checked the listings, it's only on a PAL VHS tape ... I can view other region DVDs on my computer, but have no way of viewing PAL VHS. This movie which I saw several times when it was new, is one of the funniest films you'll ever see. It's based on a Broadway play but you'd never guess its source as, unlike many movies made from plays, it's not stagebound. The characters and the situation make for nonstop action and absolutely terrific one-liners. Treat Williams is indeed well named for he is a treat as the detective. You'll howl at the predicaments Jack Weston gets in. And you'll love Rita Moreno who proves to be a comedic gem. "The Ritz" is high on the list of best cinematic comedies and whoever owns the rights should release it in a wide-screen DVD version. It's sort of like a Noel Coward play updated to a "modern" bathhouse ... jokes on the screen overflow to keep the viewers happy and having a terrific time.
-
jery-tillotson-125 February 2023Made in 1975, the creators of this film tried to present to your average movie goer of that very closeted era that a gay bath house rocked with laughter and edgy humor that didn't offend anyone.
Trying to watch THE RITZ today is an exercise in cringe-worthy futility. The cast isn't very attractive. The main character played by John Weston spends all his time in open-mouthed, eye popping expression--as if he can't believe he's actually in a--Gay Bath House. He wears a hideous wig that he keeps misplacing and we wonder why this is a sight gag exploited throughout the film.
The usually reliable Rita Moreno spits out every word of dialogue in high drama, rolling her eyes, gritting her teeth, twisting her mouth and wildly over-playing her role as an entertainer. She's like a cartoon character who you wouldn't want to be around after a minute or two in her arch and artificial company.
It's like everyone is silently screaming: Look at Me! I'm Brilliantly Funny! I visited several gay baths during that time. Even the smallest ones revealed handsome, well-muscled hunks from small towns. In this movie, even the extras look as if they'd never visited a gym. If looking for vintage beefcake, you won't see anything pulse pounding here.
Then there's the case of the handsome, talented Treat Williams. For reasons we don't know, he is forced to talk in a high infantile voice which the film makers probably thought hysterical--but it just becomes tiresome after awhile.
The gay house phenomena at that time is one loaded with story possibilities--from high drama to earthy humor. The AIDS epidemic closed most of them although urban areas now have them again but they've been drastically changed because of the Corona Virus and more attention paid to safe sex.
The humor here is heavy and witless and the drab, miscast performers certainly don't help.
THE RITZ is better appreciated as a relic of its time: seen once and then hopefully forgotten. -
lightkeeper-119 July 2005I can not understand why this classic comedy made back in 1976 has not been released on DVD, unless homophobic interests are holding it back. An all-star cast including Ritz Moreno, Jerry Stiller (dad of actor Ben), F. Murray Abraham and a young Treat Williams, bring Terrence McNally's play to the screen with laughs for all - gay or straight. Ms. Moreno won a Tony award for her stage performance as "Googie Gomez", an aspiring Broadway star entertaining in a Gay bathhouse. "Googie" is so bad...she's fantastic! Others in the cast are Jack Wesson, Kaye Ballard and pre-Cheers star - John Ratzenberger.
IT'S OUT! Finally, Warner Brothers released it on DVD today (1/8/08) and while waiting this long is too long, I guess I would say it was worth the wait. Great widescreen transfer. I wish there had been more extras like cast commentary. Only extras are theatrical trailer and both English and French subtitles. Wonder why not Spanish? -
SimonJack16 September 2019"The Ritz" is a comedy based on a successful Broadway play of the same name. One can imagine this story acted live on the stage, and how funny much of it may have seemed. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances when a film made from a stage play just doesn't have the same effect. Most of the efforts at humor here seem forced or blatantly contrived situations which defuse the comedy.
The setting had some potential for much humor - a hotel and entertainment spot for gays in the Big Apple. There is no actual nudity. Nor is there very much real comedy. There isn't any witty or outrageous dialog that might cause laughter. And most of the scenes that probably were intended for humor come across quite lame. It might have been different in 1976, but well into the 21st century, this film is mostly a bust for humor.
Jack Weston's Gaetano Proclo stumbles around the Ritz mostly with his mouth open and with a dumb look on his face. Rita Moreno's Googie Gomez overacts wildly. It may have been intended that way, but instead of generating any humor, it tends to tediousness and puts one off.
Jerry Stiller's Carmine Vespucci is the lone laughter character. But there's just a small amount of film time for him and the funny situations that surround his character. This isn't good a comedy, as it was promoted to be. It is definitely dated, and probably wasn't very funny even in its day. -
No one shows this since the advent of AIDS. That's a pity, because if it isn't the funniest movie ever made, it's awfully close. Great adaptation of the Broadway hit play, with wonderful performances by Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Price, and Treat Williams. I can't praise this one highly enough.
-
AGMCDiva7 October 1998This movie is a must see for several reasons. First, it is hilarious! Rita Moreno, Kaye Ballard, Treat Williams and Jerry Stiller serving classic comedy. Second, it is a chance for todays gay men to see what a bath house was like in the "golden age" when they were well appointed, clean establishments with wide and varied entertainment.
-
shlych8 September 2006I first saw this movie in the 70's, and have never forgotten it. When I tried to rent it at local movie outlets-no luck. It was like Christmas in July, when I finally located it on e-bay. This has to be one of the funniest movies ever made..even my politically correct daughter couldn't stop laughing. The movie is so well done-giving the actors freedom to do things we are not used to seeing them do. Its hard to decide who's my favorite-gogi gomez I think. Rita Moreno is unbelievably funny. Those who take offense to comedy about gay society, should chill out and watch this. Its not so much about being gay, as it is about learning to accept differences. I love it love it love it. A true comedy classic!!!
-
richard-178730 June 2019I haven't seen the Broadway farce on which this is based, so I can't tell you how different from that it is. What it is is a quintessential French farce, with the wrong person showing up at the worst time and creating lots of funny problems for the characters.
Everyone in this movie is good. Jack Weston, F. Murray Abraham - in a part very different from Salieri, Treat Williams, Kay Ballard, etc. It's very much an ensemble piece, and it moves with the speed of greased lightening.
Kudos to everyone involved.