The Ritz is a wild comedy set in a gay bathhouse in New York, which as it turns out, is based on a former fameous bathhouse, the Continental Baths. Yes, the very one that the Divine Miss M. developed her trademark bawdy humour and fabulous tacky act along with her distinctive and glorious voice. (I'm stealing a few of her own words of self-description of that time period...) She's kind of like the character Googie Gomez, a third-rate Puerto Rican entertainer with aggressive visions of Broadway, played by the wonderful, award winning Rita Moreno. Not that the Divine Miss M. was ever a third-rate entertainer of any ethnicity...And not that Rita Moreno is third rate either because she surely isn't... But I'm digressing.
Rita Moreno wasn't the only cast member to reprise their role for the film. The wonderful Jack Weston, (deceased) played Gaetano Proclo, a businessman on the run from his mobster brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci , (Jerry Stiller). The hilarity begins when he unwittingly takes refuge in The Ritz. Both actors reprised their roles in the film. F. Murray Abraham also reprised his role of Chris. I will confess that the gorgeous and effeminate Chris had me stumped as to who he really was. I didn't clue in until a few days later. I guess it was a side of Abraham that I hadn't seen before and it threw me off.
Also of note: The legendary Kaye Ballard played Vivian Proclo, who had a few key scenes, while the adorably cute Treat Williams plays Michael Brick, a squeaky voiced undercover private dick. Brick spends his time running around trying to avoid Googie Gomez, whom he thinks is a drag queen, in addition to trying to find the man he was hired to frame...Yes, hilarity ensues every which way in The Ritz.
For me, The Ritz was a comedic blast from the past, that had a rhythm and beat that's unlike many of the comedies of today. It was fun, it was silly and there was this unabashed campiness to it that combined made me laugh and giggle from beginning to end. The performances by the entire cast were fabulous and left me applauding, wishing for more.
