Room Service

I saw an undergraduate production of "Room Service" at the University of Rochester, and amazingly enough, it was exactly as good (I should rather say "bad") as this movie. No better, and no worse. I think it's the material. It's so mind-numbingly bland, and so typical of the period (everybody's broke...everybody wants to be on Broadway...blah blah blah), that even the great Marx Brothers couldn't make it fly.

This is the only film that was not specifically written for them, and boy, does it show. Room Service is your garden-variety 1930s comedy, so far beneath the pioneering and progressive humor of the Marx Brothers that it's absurd to even dream of shoehorning them into this pedestrian garbage. And yet they attempted it anyway.

An unfunny Groucho? God, it's unwatchable. Interesting to note that Harpo still manages to be charming, but he's quite marginalized, probably because there was no non-speaking funny man in the original play. The supporting cast consists entirely of tinned hams, and the great Lucille Ball barely features.

The action is rather too literally based on the play, so the Marx Brothers remain cooped up in a hotel room for just about the entire movie. It's about as cinematic as a trip to the laundromat, and about as exciting. Worse yet, Room Service landed the Marx Brothers in hot water with their usual production company, MGM, since they turned traitor and made this turkey with RKO. After returning to MGM, the Brothers found that their stock with the company had fallen, and their subsequent films were never as carefully made - or as good - as their earlier classics. Darn.

30 years ago today, Groucho Marx died at 86, three days after Elvis Presley. For the occasion, I'd thought I'd view some of his movies of which Room Service is one of them. Unlike the others he made with his brothers, this one wasn't especially tailored to their talents since it was originally a Broadway play starring other people. So the action is mostly confined to the hotel and the pace slows down a little bit. Nevertheless, there's still some witty lines and visual humor concerning Harpo that makes this one of the more enjoyable latter day-Marx Brothers films. And there's a wonderful supporting cast with Frank Albertson as the playwright and, especially, Donald MacBride as the hotel manager who keeps exclaiming, "Jumping Butterballs!" Also of note is the fact that a couple of young players named Ann Miller and Lucille Ball appear here long before their established personas. So while not the classic of their five Paramount and first two MGM pictures, this RKO production was nothing the Marx Brothers should be ashamed of.

didn't think this was one of the Marx Brothes better films, but it wasn't their worst, either. One thing different: no harp playing from Harpo and no singing from Groucho. That's okay with me, anyway, since I watch these movies for the comedy, not the music. The only musical number was "Swing Long, Sweet Chariot" near the end of the movie.

There are some funny scenes in here, but not enough of them. Too much of the film takes place in one room. This is like a play and it begins to drag after an hour. Donald McBride, with his constant gruff voice and shouting, grates on you after awhile, too.

Lucille Ball is in here, and I always didn't recognize her. She looked very young (which she was!).

Overall, the film has entertainment value but, personally, I would rather watch the boys' others films.

The Marx Brothers and Frank Albertson must avoid being thrown out of their hotel suite. They have no money to pay their bill, so they invent a series of ailments for Mr. Albertson to act out in order to distract hotel management. The four hope an upcoming production of a play will reverse their fortunes.

"Room Service" finds the Brothers slightly of the mark. Groucho and Chico appear uninterested, especially when watching the other performers. Harpo is more lively, but is still not quite Harpo; his "Say Ahhhh…" goes on too long. Oddly, enough, the fourth member of their team, Mr. Albertson, turns in the more consistent performance. Donald MacBride is also very good. Lucille Ball acts like the Marx Brothers - standing around until her next line. Ann Miller is more interested, as Albertson's squeeze. A flying turkey steals the show!

****** Room Service (9/21/38) William A. Seiter ~ Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Frank Albertson

I consider this the last Marx Brothers film worth seeing, though it is inferior to all their previous films. While you'll get a few laughs in their efforts following ROOM SERVICE, they are definitely a step below their earlier efforts.

The film was an adaptation of a stage production and it's obvious because most all the action takes place in one hotel room. As a result, there's a definite feeling of claustrophobia in the picture and it also prevents the film from rising to a higher level of entertainment.

About the only real WONDERFUL moment in the film is the very end, where one of the characters appears to come back to life--it's well worth seeing.