Por Conta do Bonifácio

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

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.

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!

Many criticize "Room Service" as the worst Marx Brothers film. This is both misleading and ridiculous. While "Duck Soup" now receives the most critical acclaim, one need only compare that film to Room Serivce to see a dramatic improvement in the directing and delivery. Room Service wasn't written explicitly for the Marx Brothers, so it doesn't have catchy lines. Still, the film flows much better than predecessors and is still pretty damn funny. The Marx Brothers made many great movies, and yes, this is one of those great ones!

One of Lucy's early, credited roles. She had been in hollyood for five years, but mostly in uncredited or deleted roles. It's a fun, typical Marx Brothers film... lots of antics, an act trying to stay in a hotel, with the hotel manager always after them for not paying the bills. The awesome, clever Marx brothers had been making about one film a year, and this time they brought in Ann Miller (who appears to be only 15, if you do the math!), Lucy, and Frank Albertson. And of course Donald MacBride, as the gullible hotel manager. They must pretend there's a major illness, so the hotel can't possibly evict them, but maybe they will anyway. The usual silliness and shenanigans. It's pretty good. a required viewing for Marx Brothers fans. and of couse, an early Lucy film. Its Fun! not their best, but its good old fashioned comedy from the vaudefille days. and who can pass up watching the Marx Brothers run around in circles, playing with clever word phrases ? It IS on dvd, but it shows on Turner Classics now and then.