Room Service (1938)

(On Cable TV, March 2021) In the Marx Brothers filmography, Room Service is perhaps more distinctive for being the one film not written by the Brothers themselves. As a theatrical play adaptation, it’s clearly different — more cohesive, less anarchic, but also less tailored to their own strengths. Still, you can see the Brothers doing what they can to bend the material to their preference — Harpo doesn’t speak, Groucho does and Chico hustles. Much of the action takes place in a hotel room where the protagonists are plotting to put on a show despite acute financial problems — there’s a white whale that can solve all of their problems, but hooking him won’t be easy, considering the interference of the hotel manager who wants them out of there right away. Ann Miller shows up in an early-career appearance, and it’s hard to believe that she’s only 15 here: having lied about her age by five years to get her RKO contract, she easily looks older but doesn’t have that many scenes to shine. The comedy is decent and sufficiently outside their screen persona to be interesting, but clearly not up to the Brothers’ usual standards. It’s much better when you grade it not against other Marx movies, but against other 1930s theatrical comedy adaptations: it’s funnier than most, certainly more absurd than others and faster-paced as well.