I caught this on late-night television some time in the late seventies or early eighties, just before AIDS made the headlines. Later, I - in my teens - rather naively wondered why it never reappeared. Of course, the AIDS crisis made this film - with its references to anonymous gay sex as plot devices - "too much", and it was quickly forgotten. This kind of shrugging off of unpleasant memories happens all too often, and is unfortunate. One needs to acknowledge a few key facts with respect to The Ritz:First, that the setting was, to some degree incidental. As with any great farce, the story could have been transplanted with relative easy, only losing some bite and a few twists.Second, that the setting, which was very timely for the mid-seventies, was the very thing that provided the twists that made the movie so hilarious and unique. At the time of the Ritz's theatrical release gay bathhouses were the subject of much discussion, and drew a certain level of public disapproval and debate.Third, that good snapshots of a particular time do not necessarily seem all that appealing in retrospect - usually because they capture the warts-ridden realities. In the seventies this seemed understood, and a number of movies exploited this fact, having at their hearts a meanness about the times being portrayed. With the eighties there seemed to be a desperate need for unconditional nostalgia, and since then a number of great movies have lost their once-acknowledged significance (why do so few people, other than movie critics, fondly remember America Graffiti while the saccharine Grease is so celebrated?).Too bad, particularly for a movie like The Ritz; it may have been the last great farce, with its superb cast - Moreno and Williams both pull out all the stops - fantastic timing, and outrageous gags. And it could only have managed to be a great farce in the very jaded seventies by dealing with such timely subject matter.Hopefully the film will be rediscovered via a film festival, or a more serious Remember When television or radio show. However, I fear that popular culture has grown far too shallow, and, despite all the avenues for cultural archeology, films such as The Ritz have been buried way too deep by the sands of time.

Why is this great comedy not available in the US? When I checked the listings, it's only on a PAL VHS tape ... I can view other region DVDs on my computer, but have no way of viewing PAL VHS. This movie which I saw several times when it was new, is one of the funniest films you'll ever see. It's based on a Broadway play but you'd never guess its source as, unlike many movies made from plays, it's not stagebound. The characters and the situation make for nonstop action and absolutely terrific one-liners. Treat Williams is indeed well named for he is a treat as the detective. You'll howl at the predicaments Jack Weston gets in. And you'll love Rita Moreno who proves to be a comedic gem. "The Ritz" is high on the list of best cinematic comedies and whoever owns the rights should release it in a wide-screen DVD version. It's sort of like a Noel Coward play updated to a "modern" bathhouse ... jokes on the screen overflow to keep the viewers happy and having a terrific time.

I've always loved the film; I even went to the premier in NYC. I fell in love with, as many of us did, with the Rita Moreno's character of Googie Gomez. She is still in 2005 as fresh as she was almost 30 years ago. HOWEVER...when I heard that Ms. Moreno was going to be appearing in my favorite little 100 seat cabaret in San Francisco, just a few days after 09/11/2001, I jumped on Delta to San Francisco just to see her. I mean-just to see her. I arrived at 5PM and flew back at midnight. This was the first day that the planes were flying after 09/11 and people were not yet comfortable and having fun yet. In fact, during her show to only about 40 of us, she commented on "those bastards" not getting us down and she put on a fantastic show. Then after the show, she came out and spoke with everyone and was well received. However (as I said) when I mentioned to her how much I loved "her" Googie Gomez, her entire body language, tone and attitude changed to me. She immediately changed the subject and when I brought up Googie again, she really seemed "pissed off."Does anyone have any thoughts about this or have they encounter Ms. Moreno, who is still tops in my book.

This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and I've never talked to anyone else who's seen it. The casting is spot-on, with F. Murray Abraham especially effective as Jack Weston's Queen Mentor. The young Treat Williams is probably unrecognizable to his modern fans. The old pros -- Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, and Jerry Stiller -- are, of course, perfect. Rent it if you can find it, then sit back and enjoy a wild ride. 6-3-2012 I just watched The Ritz the first time in many years, and it's still outstanding. It's so good, in fact, that I looked up the play on ibdb.com, and was delighted—but not surprised—to learn that Rita Moreno had been awarded a Tony for her performance. She is off-the-chart great in this film. I also learned from the Broadway data base that Jack Weston, F. Murray Abraham, Jerry Stiller, and Paul Price were also in the original Broadway cast. That goes a long way to explaining why this is such a good movie. The play had been closed for less than a year when the film was released, so it seems that Richard Lester simply assembled the most important original cast members and filmed the play. Well done to him!