Room Service (1938)
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64% of critics liked it
(11 reviews) -
60% of users liked it
(2,212 ratings)
Having paid $255,500 for the rights to John Murray and Allen Boretz' Broadway hit Room Service, RKO Radio then scouted about for a "perfect" cast. Thanks to the persistence of show-biz agent Zeppo Marx, RKO was able to secure the services of Zeppo's brothers Groucho, Harpo and… More Having paid $255,500 for the rights to John Murray and Allen Boretz' Broadway hit Room Service, RKO Radio then scouted about for a "perfect" cast. Thanks to the persistence of show-biz agent Zeppo Marx, RKO was able to secure the services of Zeppo's brothers Groucho, Harpo and Chico Marx for $100,000. The result is an uneven but entertaining blend of traditional stage farce and Marxian madness. Groucho plays two-bit producer Gordon Miller, who has gone deeply into debt while trying to stage a turgid production called "Hail and Farewell". Miller and his entire cast are ensconced in the Great White Way Hotel, managed by his brother-in-law Gribble Cliff Dunstan, who is fed up with the troupe's inability to pay its bills. As Miller, his director Harry Binelli (Chico) and his business manager Faker Englund (Harpo) try to figure out new methods of raising money, in walks Leo Davis Frank Albertson, the wide-eyed playwright, who is unaware that his masterpiece is in danger of closing before it even opens. He soon figures out what's what after Harry and Faker hock his typewriter for eating money. When hotel inspector Wagner Donald MacBride threatens to throw Miller and his entourage out bag and baggage, the producer and his cronies fake a measles epidemic so that Wagner will be forced to allow them to stay. Salvation seems at hand when Jenkins Philip Wood, a potential backer, arrives with a blank check in hand. But after sampling a bit of the lunacy that has surrounded the play since its inception, Jenkins dashes off, refusing to finance such a chancy property. Miller manages to mollify Wagner by pretending that Jenkins has invested money in the show, but when this scheme falls through, our hero resorts to really drastic measures by pretending that Davis and Faker have both committed suicide because of Wagner's persecution. Weaving in and out of the proceedings are nominal heroines Lucille Ball and Ann Miller, as well as Philip Loeb (who played Faker in the original Broadway production), brilliantly cast as a mild-mannered bill collector. Room Service is hardly typical Marx Bros. fare, despite the efforts by screenwriter Morris Ryskind to inject characteristic verbal gags and visual bits into the action; the film works better as a situation comedy than as a Marx vehicle (Groucho's only comment on the subject was that his brother Zeppo should have arranged a larger salary). In 1943, RKO Radio remade Room Service as a musical titled Step Lively, which was actually something of an improvement on the original. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- William A. Seiter
- Written By
- Morrie Ryskind
- Genres
- Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Sep 21, 1938 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Gabe Leibowitz, Film and Felt
With far too many drawn-out chats lacking in any wit or humor, Room Service is close to a total Marx Brothers dud.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Seiter's direction keeps the brothers at half speed, stuck to static material
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Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Lower-key than most Marx comedies, but still fun
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Still enough zaniness to make it a Marx Brother vehicle, but the craziness is diluted.
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Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Some classic Marx bits make this a must-see.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Groucho Marx
as Gordon Miller
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Chico Marx
as Harry Binelli
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Harpo Marx
as Faker Englund
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Lucille Ball
as Christine Marlowe
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Ann Miller
as Hilda Manney
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Frank Albertson
as Leo Davis
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Donald MacBride
as Gregory Wagner
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Philip Loeb
as Timothy Hogarth
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Philip Wood
as Simon Jenkins
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Alexander Asro
as Sasha Smirnoff
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Charles Halton
as Dr. Glass
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Clifford Dunstan
as Joseph Gribble
- Marx Brothers
