IMDb > Room Service (1938)
Room Service
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Room Service (1938) More at IMDbPro »


IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   1,711 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Allen Boretz (play)
John Murray (play)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Room Service on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 September 1938 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Better . . . Battier . . . Funnier Than Ever !
Plot:
A penniless theatrical producer must outwit the hotel efficiency expert trying to evict him from his room, while securing a backer for his new play. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
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 (From WENN. 12 October 2009, 6:31 PM, PDT)

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User Comments:
Neglected Gem more (32 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Groucho Marx ... Gordon Miller

Chico Marx ... Harry Binelli

Harpo Marx ... Faker Englund

Lucille Ball ... Christine Marlowe

Ann Miller ... Hilda Manny
Frank Albertson ... Leo Davis
Cliff Dunstan ... Joseph Gribble
Donald MacBride ... Gregory Wagner
Philip Loeb ... Timothy Hogarth
Philip Wood ... Simon Jenkins
Alexander Asro ... Sasha Smirnoff
Charles Halton ... Dr. Glass
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Additional Details

Runtime:
78 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Victor System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This is the first (and last) time the Marx Brothers worked with material not specially created for them. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Gordon Miller calls to reception pretending to be Dr. Glass, he is holding the phone receiver with his right hand. Seconds later, when he is about to hang up, he is holding it with his left hand. more
Quotes:
Gordon Miller: Too soon, too soon, he died too soon.
Harry Binelli: An hour too soon.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993) (TV) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Neglected Gem, 15 February 2006
8/10
Author: sphillips-7 from Canada

Though not one of the Marx Brothers' better known films, "Room Service" is well worth seeing nonetheless. Originally a stage play, it has the distinction of being the only Marx Brothers' film that wasn't originally written by or for the Brothers. However, the film adaptation is seamlessly tailored for the Marxes' stock characters: Groucho, the glib con-man; Chico, the deceptively simple Italian caricature; and Harpo, their anarchic collaborator. The film is very well written, with lots of hilarious gags and pratfalls. Especially memorable is the scene in which the brothers put on multiple layers of clothes as they prepare to decamp their hotel room without paying the bill. Even funnier is the scene in which the brothers, not having eaten for days, frenetically polish off a meal they had arranged to be diverted to their room. Watch Harpo as he madly harpoons peas with his fork and devours them one by one, like a ravenous automaton! In an earlier scene, the boys chase a flying turkey around the hotel room, hoping to make a meal of it. Alas, it flies out the window, whereupon Groucho says, "Never mind, we didn't have any cranberry sauce anyway!"

Unfortunately, the film lacks the usual piano and harp numbers by Chico and Harpo. Regrettable too is the absence of Margaret Dumont, Groucho's legendary "straight woman." Even so, the film is great fun--pure escapism!

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Room Service (1938)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Lucille Ball! Luckyboots
Just viewed it pacomj
The publisher??? raptor147
I'll give you the best performance there's ever been in a hotel bedroom' carolyn_davis2
A different song in the soundtrack? yokomitz
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