The Ritz Brothers. In their day, they were Fox Studio’s prized comedy team. These days, if known at all, it would be 1939’s THE GORILLA and for only two reasons - 1.) it’s public domain and 2.) Bela Lugosi plays a butler. It is reportedly not one of their better or more representative films, so it’s sad that’s the film people see if true. The brothers were on the outs with Fox when it was made. The Ritz Brothers now have two major fans, one of them being Moronika’s own Luke795 and the other being Mel Brooks. Luke never made a YouTube video discussing the brothers, but Mel Brooks has and I will link to it below. Even Conan O’Brien is clueless on these guys, but not Mel.
Interestingly enough, Mel singles out Harry Ritz as the standout comedian, making faces that would inspire the likes of Jerry Lewis and Sid Caesar. He also mentions their song and dance prowess, which sadly does not get displayed in the few films which are most readily available. Years ago, I did see STRAIGHT PLACE AND SHOW and remember being very impressed when they broke into a comic musical number - I think that may be the key to appreciating these guys. In HOTEL ANCHOVY, the music is absent, but what we do have is three madcap comedians making a very energetic and even Stooge like short. The difference is the comedians don’t stand out as individuals right away, both in appearance and personality.
I think the lack of individuality is why The Ritz Brothers these days do not catch on with people like other comedy teams. The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Wheeler and Woolsey, Hope and Crosby, Todd and Pitts/Kelly - everyone of these teams have individuals who both look and act unique from the other. All three Ritz Brothers have a similar look and all three are extreme scenery chewers. Imagine if Moe, Larry and Curly had a normal look and also imagine if Moe and Larry, in addition to Curly, acted like Curly. That’s what it is like watching The Ritz Brothers. In HOTEL ANCHOVY, I figured out Harry is the guy without a hat who somewhat appears to be the leader, Jimmy is the guy in the bell boy hat and the other guy in the hat is Al. It took some effort for me to figure this out. That would never even be a thought with the other teams mentioned above.
HOTEL ANCHOVY does have a lot of energy from the brothers and the film never gets boring. It is very much like MEN IN BLACK in the sense the team is in one building, here a hotel instead of a hospital, and they run around back and forth at a madcap pace to different situations. Mel Brooks mentions in the video above how The Ritz Brothers make fun of the tragic and downtrodden. In HOTEL ANCHOVY, a man trying and failing to commit suicide in the hotel is a fine example. At one point, the brothers even mix a drink to assist in the suicide, with Harry saying the ingredient and the other two brothers repeating the ingredient to the man, a comic rhythm similar to The Three Stooges. Heck, throughout the short, The Ritz Brothers talk, on multiple occasions, of providing “super service.” This would be four years before VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY.
The plot of this thing is a bit helter skelter, I have no clue what convinces the guy to do the proper bid at the end, for example - maybe somebody can be so kind to explain it to me. Anyway, it’s OK because this film moves so fast I’m more interested in watching them run around in circles like lunatics than the plot resolution. I will say there is this one bit earlier in the short from Harry where he runs out of a room, does this amazing vertical leap over a chair and then gracefully jumps over the hotel check in counter. Quite impressive.
So yeah, these guys have energy to sustain a short and it’s the only short they ever made. HOTEL ANCHOVY was made at Educational Studios, the same studio that brought us all those Keaton shorts we’ve discussed. Educational shorts were distributed by Fox at the time, so The Ritz Brothers graduated to comedy relief in Fox features and then later, their own starring films. I will buy some DVDs of their features, it does appear the Fox films are available. It will be then if I can figure out if their fast pace can work in features, whether the song and dance stuff may build up my appreciation for these guys and most importantly, if watching these guys in enough films can make it easy for me to tell them apart! I’ve seen THE GORILLA but again, my understanding is it’s not the best representation of what they do.
HOTEL ANCHOVY on its own is a fun way to spend seventeen minutes. As a side note, HOTEL ANCHOVY was produced and directed by Al Christie, who also did THE CHEMIST with Buster Keaton at Educational and was a big competitor with Mack Sennett and Hal Roach in the silent era. These days, compared to the other two, he’s forgotten.
