Room Service is the first Marx Brothers movie based on a stage play that was not explicitly written for or by the brothers. Following Irving Thalberg’s death, Zeppo Marx led the efforts for his brothers to do a film for RKO Radio Pictures. John Murray and Allan Boretz had written the Broadplay play, which the brothers had nothing to do with its creation on stage. Despite Morrie Ryskind adapting the film for the screen, it…
"Room Service – A Marx Brothers Retrospective"Tag: Ann Miller
On the Town is the third and final buddy comedy to pair both Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra together on the big screen. In many ways, this film is a spiritual sequel to the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh. Both actors are playing U.S. Navy sailors on shore leave in each film. The first film sees them in Hollywood while the latter features New York City. In any event, the 1944 Broadway musical preceded their first…
"On the Town – TCM Summer Under The Stars"
You Can’t Take It With You, an adaptation of the George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart play, is one of Frank Capra’s best films. The gist of the film is that Tony Kirby (James Stewart) works at his family’s bank. His father, Anthony P. Kirby (Edward Arnold), is returning from Washington, DC with plans for a government-sanctioned munitions monopoly. Grandpa Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore) is the only person standing in the way of building his…
"You Can’t Take It With You"