shlych I first saw this movie in the 70's, and have never forgotten it. When I tried to rent it at local movie outlets-no luck. It was like Christmas in July, when I finally located it on e-bay. This has to be one of the funniest movies ever made..even my politically correct daughter couldn't stop laughing. The movie is so well done-giving the actors freedom to do things we are not used to seeing them do. Its hard to decide who's my favorite-gogi gomez I think. Rita Moreno is unbelievably funny. Those who take offense to comedy about gay society, should chill out and watch this. Its not so much about being gay, as it is about learning to accept differences. I love it love it love it. A true comedy classic!!!

Rod_Z This has got to be one of the funniest films I've seen, Rita Moreno is excellent as Googie Gomez failed Broadway star and now singing in "the pits" at the Gay bathhouse "The Ritz"...Treat Williams had me in stitches with his voice and Jack Weston is superb as the man on the run and hiding "in the last place anyone would look for me"...Although this harks back to a time now gone the comedy is still as fresh as ever. Look out for the "Chubby Chaser" who constantly refuses to have anything to do with Lean muscled Treat because he's too skinny and chases Jack Weston around from start to finish! And the Andrews Sisters skit is a hoot.... If you haven't seen this film what are you waiting for..!

Paul_Genet There are times when a play is very successfully made into a movie, but not usually a comedy. The Lion In Winter was a very successful transformation form the stage to the big screen by James Goldman, author of both, and brother of William Goldman, a highly well thought of screenwriter. But all of that aside, if you would like to forget your troubles and simply laugh yourself into exhaustion, I highly recommend this movie.

Gerald A. DeLuca THE RITZ is a zany and broadly played little farce directed by Richard Lester. It is an adaptation of a Broadway play by Terrence McNally, later acclaimed for MASTER CLASS and the hit musical THE FULL MONTY. It is set in a New York club-bath for gays. Dying gang leader George Coulouris tells his son Jerry Stiller and daughter Kaye Ballard that he wants Ballard's husband, Jack Weston, a Cleveland sanitation company owner, to be killed. That's the only plot there is. Weston tells a cabbie to take him to a place where no one will suspect he is hiding. Enter "The Ritz," a seedily elegant gay paradise with its clients that include self-mocking F.Murray Abraham, and chubby-chaser Paul B. Price. The cast is uniformly amusing, especially Rita Moreno as Google Gomez, an untalented Latin singer whom Weston mistakes for a drag queen. She frequently steals the show from everyone. Moreno got a Tony Award for her Broadway portrayal of that role. Also good is the improbably squeaky-voiced detective played by Treat Williams. Some of the resulting mayhem is very funny indeed; some stretches are more ho-hum. Nevertheless, it is a generally successful piece of entertainment regardless of one's sexual orientation.