On his deathbed Carmine Vespucci's father tells him to "get Proclo". With "the hit" on, Gaetano tells a cab driver to take him where Carmine can't find him. He arrives at the Ritz, a gay ...
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Title: The Ritz (1976)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jack Weston | ... | Gaetano Proclo | |
| Rita Moreno | ... | Googie Gomez | |
| Jerry Stiller | ... | Carmine Vespucci | |
| Kaye Ballard | ... | Vivian Proclo | |
| F. Murray Abraham | ... | Chris | |
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Paul B. Price | ... | Claude |
| Treat Williams | ... | Michael Brick | |
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John Everson | ... | Tiger (as John Everson) (as John Mark Everson) |
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Christopher J. Brown | ... | Duff |
| Dave King | ... | Abe | |
| Bessie Love | ... | Maurine | |
| Tony De Santis | ... | Balloon Man | |
|
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Ben Aris | ... | Patron With Bicycle |
|
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Peter Butterworth | ... | Patron In Chaps |
|
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Ronnie Brody | ... | Small Patron |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
See All (30) »
Storyline
On his deathbed Carmine Vespucci's father tells him to "get Proclo". With "the hit" on, Gaetano tells a cab driver to take him where Carmine can't find him. He arrives at the Ritz, a gay bathhouse where he is pursued amorously by "chubby chaser" Paul B. Price and by entertainer Googie Gomez who believes him to be a broadway producer. His guides through the Ritz are gatekeeper Abe, habitue Chris, and bellhop/go-go-boys Tiger and Duff. Squeaky-voiced detective Michael Brick and his employer Carmine do locate Gateano at the Ritz, as does his wife Vivian. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords:
gay stereotype | pretending to be gay | brother in law | gay | gay bathhouse |Taglines:
Hiding out from the Mafia can be an awful drag! See more »Genres:
ComedyParents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Release Date:
26 December 1976 (Denmark) See more »Also Known As:
A Sauna das Loucas See more »Filming Locations:
Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UKCompany Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Chris: Only "Stormy Weather."
See more »
(uncredited)
Music by Manuel Esperón
English lyrics by Ray Gilbert
Performed by The Andrews Sisters
See more »
Did You Know?
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, 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. See more »Goofs
When Brick is signing the register, his left hand goes from being on the register in the close-up to under his right hand in the wide shot. His collar and Abe's pose change instantaneously as well. See more »Quotes
Carmine Vespucci: What's the matter with you? I thought all dicks could whistle.Chris: Only "Stormy Weather."
See more »
Alternate Versions
CBS edited 5 minutes from this film for its 1982 network television premiere. See more »Soundtracks
The Three Caballeros(uncredited)
Music by Manuel Esperón
English lyrics by Ray Gilbert
Performed by The Andrews Sisters
See more »
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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.