The Ritz Summary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Richard Lester
Genres: Comedy
Rating:
With The Ritz, Terrence McNally's hit Broadway play of the same name is cinematized by director Richard_Lester. Jack_Weston plays Gaetano Proclo, a minor mob flunky who's been targeted for elimination by his brother-in-law, Carmine Vespucci (Jerry_Stiller). Gaetano takes refuge in what he thinks is a Turkish bath. Actually, it's The Pits. That's the name, "The Pits" -- a gay bathhouse (this is the pre-AIDS era), where the exquisitely awful Googie Gomez (Rita_Moreno) entertains the homosexual patrons with her ear-splitting renditions of such show tunes as "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Hoping to save his neck by pretending to be gay, Gaetano effusively praises Googie. Assuming that he is a big-time Broadway producer, she plays up to him. Everything would be hunky-dory, except that the bathhouse is owned by the very mob that has put a contract on Gaetano. What follows is an old-fashioned door-slamming farce, except that there are no doors to slam. The supporting cast includes Kaye_Ballard, Treat_Williams, George_Coulouris, F._Murray_Abraham, Dave_King, and (as one of the patrons) a pre-Cheers John_Ratzenberger. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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