The Ritz: See Something You Like, Buddy!

In the mid-1970s, overweight businessman Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston) has a price on his head from his homicidal brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci (Jerry Stiller).  On the run, Gaetano ends up at the Ritz, but he doesn’t know it is a gay bathhouse.  There he meets a number of zany characters from Michael Brick (Treat Williams), a private detective with a squeaky voice; Claude Perkins (Paul B. Price), a chubby chaser who becomes enamored with Gaetano and also happens to be an acquaintance from his past; Googie Gomez (Rita Moreno), a third-rate singer who mistakes Proclo for a Broadway producer and sees herself becoming the next Bette Midler; and Chris, (F. Murray Abraham) a gay man who befriends and attempts to help Gaetano.  Carmine and Gaetano’s wife, Vivian (Kaye Ballard) track him down to the bathhouse and before the end of the movie, all sorts of family secrets are exposed.  Can Proclo survive the night in a gay bathhouse, or will he succumb to Carmine’s hit?  What and find out?

The movie was directed by Richard Lester and written by Terrence McNally and is based on his stage play of the same name.  The original Broadway production opened in 1975 and ran for 398 performances. Several revivals have been staged, but none have matched the grandeur of the original.  The first revival in 1983 closed after two weeks of previews and one regular show. The 2007 revival fared a bit better, starring Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin, who were both praised for their performances. The 1976 movie starred many of the original Broadway cast members, including Jack Weston, F. Murray Abraham and Rita Moreno, who won the Tony award for her stage performance as Googie Gomez.  Jack Weston and Rita Moreno in addition to the film itself were nominated for Golden Globe Awards as well.  I was lucky enough to see a very well done staged production of the show in San Francisco which was absolutely hilarious.

At its heart, the Ritz is a physical farce and in order to succeed needs to have frenetic comic timing and energy mixed in with the physical humor and social commentary.  The characters need to be over the top but without the comedy seeming forced or fake.  In a farce, the actors should not attempt to be funny but allow the situation and the script to speak for itself. The characters should believe what is happening is happening and never “act” like they are in a farce. This is often very difficult to do in a film, but this production had the perfect cast who seem to accomplish this effortlessly.  Jack Weston is the perfect “straight man” (pun intended) to the craziness happening around him and being the “everyman” the audience is able to experience the zaniness through his eyes. Rita Moreno shines as Googie and it is no wonder that she is one of the few people to achieve an EGOT (someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). Treat Williams is quite hilarious as the squeaky voiced handsome private detective.  The movie doesn’t always match the stage plays speed and dynamics and is missing some of its biting social commentary, but it is very entertaining, with some great performances and laugh out loud humor.
If you are looking for a gay old time watching a movie, you won’t go wrong checking into The Ritz!