Room Service (1938 film)
| Room Service | |
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Lobby card
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| Directed by |
William A. Seiter James Anderson (assistant) |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Written by |
Glenn Tryon Philip Loeb |
| Screenplay by | Morrie Ryskind |
| Based on |
Room Service (play) by Allen Boretz & John Murray |
| Starring |
Groucho Marx Chico Marx Harpo Marx Lucille Ball Ann Miller Frank Albertson |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | J. Roy Hunt |
| Edited by | George Crone |
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Production
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $884,000 |
| Box office | $875,000 |
Room Service is a 1938 RKO film comedy starring the Marx Brothers and based on the 1937 play of the same name by Allen Boretz and John Murray. It also features Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Alexander Asro, and Frank Albertson.
This is the only Marx Bros. film that was not written especially for the team. Both Chico and Harpo did not play the piano or the harp in the film at all. Less frenetic and more physically contained than their other movies, the plot revolves around the shenanigans of getting a stage play, Hail and Farewell, produced and funded by mysterious backer Zachary Fisk, while evading paying the hotel bill.
Groucho plays producer Gordon Miller, whose staff includes Harry Binelli (Chico) and Faker Englund (Harpo). They have assembled the cast and crew of the play in the hotel ballroom, as well as a substantial debt to the hotel. Miller is planning on skipping out on the hotel without paying the bill when he receives word that one of his actresses, Christine Marlowe (Lucille Ball), has arranged for a backer. Miller must keep his room and hide the cast and crew until the meeting with the backer can take place.
At the same time, a troubleshooter for the hotel chain, Gregory Wagner (Donald MacBride) discovers the debt. Assured by hotel manager Joe Gribble (Cliff Dunstan), who happens to be Miller's brother-in-law, that Miller had skipped, Wagner is surprised to find Miller still in his room, now joined by the play's author, Leo Davis (Frank Albertson), who has arrived in town and checked into Miller's room.
When Wagner threatens to evict Miller before the backer can arrive, Miller and Binelli convince Davis to pretend to be sick. To obtain food, Miller promises waiter Sasha Smirnoff (Alexander Asro) a part in the play. When Davis leaves to meet with girlfriend Hilda Manney (Ann Miller), Englund takes over as the sick patient examined by a doctor brought in by Mr. Wagner. Wagner leaves to confront the crowd in the ballroom, while the doctor examines the patient. To delay the doctor giving his report to Wagner, Binelli and Miller tie him up, gag him, and lock him in the bathroom. The agent for Mr. Fisk arrives to sign over the cheque, the doctor breaks free in the bathroom, and the agent is hit on the head accidentally as Englund chases a flying turkey around with a baseball bat. The agent just wants to escape the madness, but reluctantly signs over the cheque, and leaves.
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