The Ritz (1976)

Simply A Masterpiece

One of my all time favorites.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A 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.

This 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.

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.

THE RITZ is a zany and broadly played little farce directed by Richard Lester. It is an adaptation of a Broadway play by Terrence McNally, later acclaimed for MASTER CLASS and the hit musical THE FULL MONTY. It is set in a New York club-bath for gays. Dying gang leader George Coulouris tells his son Jerry Stiller and daughter Kaye Ballard that he wants Ballard's husband, Jack Weston, a Cleveland sanitation company owner, to be killed. That's the only plot there is. Weston tells a cabbie to take him to a place where no one will suspect he is hiding. Enter "The Ritz," a seedily elegant gay paradise with its clients that include self-mocking F.Murray Abraham, and chubby-chaser Paul B. Price. The cast is uniformly amusing, especially Rita Moreno as Google Gomez, an untalented Latin singer whom Weston mistakes for a drag queen. She frequently steals the show from everyone. Moreno got a Tony Award for her Broadway portrayal of that role. Also good is the improbably squeaky-voiced detective played by Treat Williams. Some of the resulting mayhem is very funny indeed; some stretches are more ho-hum. Nevertheless, it is a generally successful piece of entertainment regardless of one's sexual orientation.