Directed by William Seiter, with a screenplay by Morrie Ryskind, this slightly above average Marx Brothers comedy also features Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Frank Albertson, and Donald MacBride (among others). Though the film lacks a lot of the staples of their earlier films (music, Zeppo, and memorable quotes besides "jumping butterballs"), it's still an entertaining 80 minutes.Groucho plays the would-be producer of a play, Chico's his assistant, and Harpo is Harpo; all three are destitute (that is to say, their money has run out). They've been holed up in a New York hotel with 20 members of their cast (Ball is one of its leads) while rehearsing it, running up a bill of $1,200, over several months before its manager, Groucho's brother-in-law (Cliff Dunstan), is caught by one of the hotel's would-be vice presidents (MacBride), who insists that they pay their bill or get out!The play's small town author (Albertson) from Oswego shows up in time to get mixed up in the mess; he's corrupted by "the boys" and also falls in love with one of the hotel's employees (Miller, who doesn't dance in this film). She would like him to find a role for one of the hotel's ham waiters (Alexander Asro).In the nick of time, they find a would-be backer, a famous wealthy financier whose representative (Philip Wood) informs them that his boss, who would like his mistress to have a role in their play, wishes to remain anonymous for fear of scandal.Philip Loeb plays a collector who wants to repossess the penniless author's typewriter; Charles Halton plays the hotel's doctor, who's called into verify that the author is indeed sick and thus can't be evicted.The first two thirds of the film takes place in one room in the hotel, and most of the last third was shot in another (a suite). Later remade as the musical Step Lively (1944) with Frank Sinatra, who plays the author.

It might not look it considering the star rating I give this, but compared to so many of their other films this was a rather soggy disappointment. This is the first time the Marx brothers were really saddled with a "plot", and it's so stage-bound it makes The Cocoanuts look like a John Ford Monument Valley western. They actually have to have (gulp) story functions here, and for all of the zaniness that they try to inject something feels... off here. In what is basically a movie where a highlight is a flying turkey (where you can see the wire, and I did laugh quite a lot during these turkey bits as it's silly enough to get by), the brothers play theater hustlers trying to get a play produced and they try to keep their actors set up at the hotel - trouble is a stuffy and blustery hotel manager wants them out so they have to concoct a series of schemes (usually with the playwright) to keep their rooms.I couldn't stand the actor playing the hotel manager, Wagner played by Donald MacBride, who is completely one note and yells most of his dialog just in case we don't see he's trying to be funny (he's even saddled with a catch phrase, "JUMPIN BUTTERBALLS!" which according to IMDb was some "softened" language from the play to screen). And Frank Albertson as Leo Davis (the playwright) is unconvincing and seems to whine through much of his performance - he's technically supposed to be the "normal" character we get in a lot of Marx movies, but it doesn't work here since, with the exception of Harpo who can't help but he who/what/when/why/how he is, everyone is fairly normal and caught in the wheel-grinder of the plot.I don't know if this would work better on stage, and seemingly at the time since it was successful I'd venture a guess that it was. But it doesn't gfit the sensibilities of the three brothers who thrive off of fast-peppy dialog and zingers. Now, this isn't to say if you decide to watch this there's nothing there for you period; lines do stick out that, I imagine, were written for the Marx brothers (i.e. Harpo first appears, takes off his jacket and is without a shirt, Chico says, "He don't believe in wearing a shirt," to which Groucho responds, "Oh, an atheist, eh?"), and Harpo's moments and perfectly times weirdness get one through. But make no mistake this is not a good use of these men's time, and unlike the best of their work this hasn't aged well (I wasn't even sure how this hotel stuff even works in this time and place). In short: it's not enough to just have these three guys on screen - there's got to be good things for them to say and interactions that WORK for their sensibilities. You can't fit a Marx peg in a round hole.

The only Marx Bros. film made at RKO is enjoyable despite not feeling very much like a Marx Bros. picture at all. It's the first movie the brothers made with parts not written specifically for them. The plot is about producer Groucho, his assistants Chico & Harpo, and actress Lucille Ball trying to get a play financed while avoiding being thrown out of their hotel. It's a movie based on a stage play and feels like it. Most of the movie takes place in one hotel room and the script is very talky. The last part wouldn't be a bad thing if the script was written with Groucho in mind. But it wasn't so Groucho doesn't get a lot of witty one-liners here. There are no gags or zingers that would make a Marx Bros. highlight reel in this one. But, on the plus side, there are no lame musical numbers to sit through. In addition to the brothers and Lucy, the cast includes Donald MacBride, Frank Albertson, and a 15 year-old Ann Miller (playing older). They're all fine but Margaret Dumont is sorely missed. There are a lot of things not to like about this but it works well enough for what it is. Keep expectations low and you'll probably find it's a good time-passer, even though it's not a classic.

Room Service might not be the most famous film comedy starring the Marx Brothers, but it's worth a watch. Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Allen Boretz & John Murray. Less frenetic and more physically contained than their other movies, the plot revolves around getting a stage play, Hail and Farewell, to be produced and funded by mysterious backer Zachary Fisk, while evading paying the hotel bill. The Marx Brothers are trying to fund this play. They have assembled the cast and crew of the play in the hotel ballroom, Gordon Miller (Grocho Marx) try to skip out of the hotel without paying before Gregory Wagner (Donald MacBride), the owner of the hotel finds out. MacBride is just as funny as the Marx Brothers as Wagner the efficiency expert, is really the stiff that the Marx Brothers are trying to tear down with their anti-authority hijinks. MacBride tends to shock out his catch phrase throughout the movie, that can be annoying. MacBride and the Marx Brothers work well with each other, as the scenes between them are just funny. Miller doesn't skip yet, after receives word that one of his actresses, Christine Marlowe (Lucille Ball) has arranged for a backer. Lucille Ball doesn't give much to the movie, as she plays second-banana, her comedic side really doesn't show in the film. She fades into the background. I felt that she could have been use more. It seems at the time, she was mostly use for eye-candy. Now Miller and the other Marx Brothers must keep his room, and hide his crew until the meeting with the backer can happen. Problems continue to happen, when the author comes to stay with them. Author, Leo Davis (Frank Albertson) is a Mickey Rooney's Andy Hardy type character, that can be annoying at times, but Miller finds a way to use Davis to keep their room at less for the moment. The movie is an uneven but entertaining blend of traditional stage farce and Marxian madness. There are the same types of humor that you see in other Marx brothers films are in this film just in a limited area, because of that, the room becomes somewhat a character developing area. It's nice to see a movie with little cut scenes and one location. It gives the movie a small time feel, and how importation the place is. William A. Seiter's direction keeps the brothers limited to the area, gives the audience the best performance you ever saw in a hotel bedroom. Nearly the entire movie is filmed within two adjoining hotel rooms. There's no musical number except a few bars of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. That means no Harpo playing the Harp or Chico playing the piano. Still it wasn't needed. There are a number of funny supporting cast that continues to be gags throughout the film. The man from the collection agency, the man representing the financial backer for the play, the Russian want-to-be actor, and the doctor each pop up in one or two scenes to move the plot and supply the set up for a couple gags. Several high quality visual and verbal gags are included. This Marx Brothers film might not live up to Night of the Opera, or Duck Soap, but still it's worth noticing. Watch it.