THE RITZ (1976)

One of the funniest performances in Broadway history came to the screen when Rita Moreno re-created her Tony-winning work in Terrence McNally’s stage hit. For years, she had entertained friends with her creation of Googie Gomez, the world’s worst Latina cabaret act. When McNally saw her do her routine at a party, he added the character to The Tubs, a play he was working on about a straight businessman (Jack Weston) unknowingly hiding out from his mobster brother-in-law (Jerry Stiller) in a gay bathhouse. The result was stage magic that ran for a year and immediately moved to the big screen. Along with Moreno, Weston, and Stiller, future Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham returned for the film version, playing a bathhouse regular who shows Weston the ropes. Richard Lester directs in the frenetic style he had perfected by working on The Goon Show with Peter Sellers and the Beatles films A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965).

d. Richard Lester, 91m, DCP

Courtesy of Warner Brothers Classics.

We regret the following will no longer attend as previously announced: Rita Moreno.