A Sauna das Loucas

Sweet and hysterically funny film based on a hit Broadway play by Terence McNally,THE RITZ is a 1970s New York City bath house. Into this asylum of loony characters comes Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston), a man in disguise running from his hateful brother in law (Jerry Stiller).

Weston immediately meets up with several crazy gay men and gets involved in a show. Chris (F. Murray Abraham) decides to show him the ropes but things get manic when a chubby chaser (Paul B. Price) sets his heart on Weston. In the meantime, Stiller has a sent a naive detective (Treat Williams) to find Weston. Amid the confused identities and chases in and out of rooms, we also meet the immensely untalented Googie Gomez (hysterically funny Rita Moreno) who sings at the clubs, hosts the talent show, and is always on the lookout for a big-time producer. Of course Weston and Williams assume she's a male transvestite.

Stiller soon arrives and starts shooting up the place, but he's followed by his wife (Kaye Ballard) who is assumed to be a man! Stiller and Ballard arrive as the talent show opens with Moreno fracturing lyrics in Puerto Rican as she sings "Everything's Coming Up Rose's" and "Begin the Beguine." Moreno specializes in show tunes since she was fired from both "The Sound of Music" and "Camelot" by the infamous producer Seymour Pippin.

Everything comes to a head when Weston, Price, and Abraham disguise themselves as the Andrews Sisters to hide from Stiller. They mime a funny "Gay Caballero" number and bring down the house.

Many of the stars here were in the original Broadway production: Moreno (who won a Tony Award), Weston, Abraham, Stiller, Price, and the chorus boys (John Everson and Christopher J. Brown). And along with Williams and Ballard, we also have Bessie Love (Maurine) and Dave King (as Abe) co-starring. And look for John Ratzenberger (TV's "Cheers") and Peter Butterworth and Leon Greene (both from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum").

Although the film takes place in a gay bath house, the film is extremely funny and not offensive. This is a sweet, pre-AIDS gay comedy with a terrific cast.

This has got to be one of the funniest films I've seen, Rita Moreno is excellent as Googie Gomez failed Broadway star and now singing in "the pits" at the Gay bathhouse "The Ritz"...Treat Williams had me in stitches with his voice and Jack Weston is superb as the man on the run and hiding "in the last place anyone would look for me"...Although this harks back to a time now gone the comedy is still as fresh as ever. Look out for the "Chubby Chaser" who constantly refuses to have anything to do with Lean muscled Treat because he's too skinny and chases Jack Weston around from start to finish! And the Andrews Sisters skit is a hoot.... If you haven't seen this film what are you waiting for..!

I had caught this zany gay bathouse farce years ago and remembered it during a recent discussion of the gay subculture with a gay friend of mine. I wondered if the movie would be considered offensive by/to gays. Having seen it again, I would think not, and at least one gay reviewer here agrees with me. With mistaken identities, misunderstood intentions, and straight cluelessness, it is a hilarious comic romp. All the participants put in excellent comic work here. Rita Moreno, as mentioned often here, is particularly wonderful as the hopeless but aspiring singer - the accent is a hoot. Hard to find nowadays, but definitely worth seeing.

There are times when a play is very successfully made into a movie, but not usually a comedy. The Lion In Winter was a very successful transformation form the stage to the big screen by James Goldman, author of both, and brother of William Goldman, a highly well thought of screenwriter. But all of that aside, if you would like to forget your troubles and simply laugh yourself into exhaustion, I highly recommend this movie.

A man (Jack Weston} discovers his brother-in-law (Jerry Stiller)is trying to kill him. He gets into a cab and tells the cabdriver to take him where he won't be discovered. He's taken to the Ritz-a gay bathhouse.

This is an adaptation of a successful Broadway play. Most of the cast from the play recreate their parts in the movie including Rita Moreno who won a Tony for the play.

It's well-done with the cast going full force. The play was a slamming door farce that almost never works in movies but here it does. Also the movie is refreshingly non-homophobic. And Moreno and Treat Williams (as a detective) are hysterical. Worth watching.