Straight Place and Show

1938's "Straight Place and Show" was one of the later vehicles for Fox's talented Ritz Brothers, just before their greatest triumph "The Three Musketeers," which in turn was followed by their most accessible feature "The Gorilla." Their patter here isn't as bad as some insist, but the script clearly lets them down, unable to do much to enliven shopworn material. The straight story features lovely Phyllis Brooks obsessed with her race horse Playboy, to the jealous chagrin of fiancée Richard Arlen, who bets her that if he doesn't win a race for three months running she loses Playboy to him to do with as he pleases. As one would expect, Arlen wins the bet and decides to just give away Playboy to the Ritz Brothers, a trio of pony ride barkers who figure that Playboy makes a better jumper for a major steeplechase. Phyllis manages to find the boys and become a partner in the venture, but they need $1000 for the entry fee, so Harry Ritz has to pose as champion wrestler Running Deer to win a purse to get by, probably their best scene in the film. The climactic race carries no dramatic weight whatsoever, all the riding done by stunt doubles, the brothers impersonating three crooked Russian jockeys who had planned to sabotage Arlen's riding of Playboy as one last chance to prove his love for Phyllis. Ethel Merman, ending her brief Hollywood career, gets to sing two songs, Sidney Blackmer plays wealthy gambler Lucky Braddock, and Lon Chaney (seen in the earlier Ritz comedy "Life Begins in College") gets a decent bit as Lucky's chauffeur Martin (this early scene inspires the Ritzes to go from pony rides to the race track). A disappointment even for Ritz Brothers fans, but hardly the awful film that some make it out to be. "The Gorilla" later proved an unhappy experience, confined to one setting with no song and dance patter, and after one final picture at Fox, Sol Wurtzel's B unit production "Pack Up Your Troubles," a vehicle for pint sized Jane Withers, Harry Ritz famously quipped that their career had gone "from bad to Wurtzel!" Four subsequent features at Universal failed to improve their fortunes, so they left Hollywood for good in 1944, missing out on the mystery musical "Murder in the Blue Room," which at least would have suited their talents better than "The Gorilla."

All comedy is a matter of individual taste, and the Ritz Brothers are no exception. They are the class cut ups, mugging and and crossing eyeballs, shouting and always on stage, minor variations on each other, as opposed to the Marx Brothers, who had clearly differentiated personalities -- except for Zeppo, who had none -- and actually had a intellectual side to them.

In any case, the question of whether you will like this movie depends on if you like the Ritz Brothers. Richard Arlen is present for standard leading-man action, and Ethel Merman to sing a few songs, but this movie is about the Ritz Brothers mugging it up over a racehorse. If you like them, go to it. If you dislike them, avoid it. If you don't know who they are, give it a try.

Straight, Place & Show was not one of the Ritz's better films for 20th Century Fox. Those were Life Begins in College, Kentucky Moonshine, Three Musketeers, as well as their outings with Alice Faye: On the Avenue and You Can't Have Everything. But Straight, Place & Show was acceptable despite the woefully low budget. The film editor and the director seem not to have talked to each other; the film looks choppy. The screenplay was adapted from a play written by Dmon Runyon (think Guys & Dolls) and Irving Caesar, but the only Runyonesque characters we meet are characters played by Sid Fields, Stanley Fields and Ben Weldon. Wiile Best is wasted.Even the Ritzes are cut down to two specialty numbers. But they do their best, as does Ethel Merman in crystalline voice. Phyllis Brooks tries to put life into her role. If it were not for the Ritz Brothers and Merman, I'd say pass on this film. But because of La Merman and Al, Jimmy & Harry Ritz, it is worth a look and will provide some chuckles. Yeah, yeah. You either love'em or hate 'em. But to call the Ritz Brothers untalented, as a previous reviewer did, is ridiculous. They were expert precision dancers and could sing as well as do physical and verbal comedy. By the 1940s many budding comedians (Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks)were heavily influenced by the Ritz Brothers' zaniness.

I should warn you up front....I have seen and reviewed several other Ritz Brothers movies and have hated them all. I have found the boys to be incredibly grating...and probably the most unlikable American comedy team. But, I try to be fair and when TCM showed three in a row, I watched them all....hoping, perhaps, that they actually DID make a few good comedies. I tried this with Wheeler & Woolsey. I initially disliked the team but I did eventually find a few of their films that I really liked. Well, this movie surprised me! After all, I really disliked the Ritz Brothers but in this one they weren't bad...and it's a rare case where one of the co-stars is the annoying one!!

When this film begins, Denny (Richard Arlen) and Barbara (Phyllis Brooks) are planning on marrying. There is one big problem, however....Barbara is annoying and rather dopey. Instead of focusing on her fiance, she consistently spends ALL her time and energy on her horse. It doesn't help that she also is very rich and very spoiled. In frustration, Denny makes Barbara a bet....if this racehorse cannot win, he gets to do what he wants with the horse. She makes the bet...the horse loses...and Denny gives away the horse to the Ritz Brothers. Now, Barbara is angry....after all, bets mean nothing to her and she stomps off and breaks her engagement. At this point, I was thoroughly convinced that although I usually hate the Ritz's, they weren't too bad and I thoroughly hated Barbara. Fortunately, despite this, the film turns out to be reasonably entertaining....and is CLEARLY better than the half dozen other Ritz films I've seen...mostly because the Ritz's aren't as annoying as usual and I spent so much time hating Barbara. Not exactly a glowing endorsement....so be it.

Like the Marx Brothers who found themselves with a racehorse in their classic film A Day At The Races, the Ritz Brothers also gain possession of a thoroughbred courtesy of a spat between engaged parties Richard Arlen and Phyllis Brooks in Straight Place And Show. The parallels between the two films are truly obvious and I won't belabor you with them.

A whole lot of the same gags are used. But I and others have noted that unlike the Marx Brothers the Ritz Brothers have no individual identities. It's one of the reason their work is not as acclaimed as other comedy teams.

The film's best moments occur when the guys are at a wrestling match and Harry Ritz goes in the ring to earn money for an entrance fee. Very funny stuff, wrestling was as honest a sport then as now.

Straight Place And Show is not a bad film, very funny in spots still.