The Ritz

1976
R
1h 31m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:16

3 Videos

14 Photos

Comedy Crime

Evading a mob contract on his life, a heterosexual man winds up hiding out at a homosexual bathhouse.Evading a mob contract on his life, a heterosexual man winds up hiding out at a homosexual bathhouse.Evading a mob contract on his life, a heterosexual man winds up hiding out at a homosexual bathhouse.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 nominations total

Trivia
"The Ritz" opened on Broadway on January 20, 1975 at the Longacre Theatre and closed after 398 performances and ten previews.F. Murray Abraham, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, Jack Weston, Paul B. Price, Tony De Santis, Christopher J. Brown, and John Everson play the roles they created in the original Broadway production. Treat Williams replaced Stephen Collins as Brick, and Dave King replaced George Dzundza as Abe Lefkowitz.

Goofs
The movie is set in New York (and briefly, Cleveland). Gaetano and Vivian Proclo are clearly Italian-American, yet their daughters speak with distinctly British accents. The movie was filmed in England.

Quotes
Chris: Margaret Dumont! I thought you were dead!
Muscle Bound Patron: There's a reason people like me don't ride the subway. I'm looking right at him.
Chris: Is that supposed to mean me? Screw you, honey. You can die with your secret, piss-elegant fairy! If there's anything I can't stand, it's a queen without a sense of humor.

Alternate versions
CBS edited 5 minutes from this film for its 1982 network television premiere.

Connections
Featured in Homo Promo (1991)

Soundtracks
The Three Caballeros
(uncredited)
Music by Manuel Esperón
English lyrics by Ray Gilbert
Performed by The Andrews Sisters

User reviews41

Review

Featured review

9/10

Funny, excellent, poignant

First 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.