What's my Line? The Ritz Brothers

What's my Line? The Ritz Brothers

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• What's
• my
• Line?
• The
• Ritz
• Brothers

[karlakor]

It is great to see the Ritz Brothers when they are not performing and to hear them just be themselves.  Thanks so much for posting this!

[spelvin214]

@spagandtuna Wow, that article was .... well, surprising, to say the least. ... As for Mel Brooks saying Harry Ritz was the funniest comedian of all time, that you'd be down on the floor laughing your brains out ............ well, I'm no fan of Mel Brooks, either, so there you are. But at least it explains where Mel Brooks' brains went.

[MrWilliamtom]

Just think---The International Restaurant had a reputation of having a Loud Mouth Head Waiter on national TV.

[karlakor]

Dorothy doesn't look the least bit impressed by the Ritz Brothers. When she removes her mask, she appears to be absolutely indifferent to them, and she doesn't show any enthusiasm when the brothers come over to shake hands. I wonder why.

[ysbaddaden2003]

The only movie I've seen with the Ritz Brothers was The Gorilla.

It tells you something when the funniest person in the movie is Béla Lugosi.

[newargot]

they weren't Jewish

[spagandtuna]

@spelvin214 Yeah, there's also something about Mel Brooks that's annoying. (Have you ever seen the godawful 12 Chairs?) I say this respectfully, I wonder if part of what we're picking up might relate in some way to the possibility that some of the early Jewish entertainers who were striving to go beyond Yiddish theater might have been overly solicitous in their attempts to assimilate?

[spagandtuna]

@spelvin214 I actually suspect you may be right, there's just something about them that smacks of "we're not really funny, we just want to be insiders in some fraternity of comics." Having said that, I acknowledge the old magazine article you can read (see link from their Wikipedia article) in which many front-line comics name Harry Ritz as perhaps the greatest comedian ever, at least an early pioneer they say greatly influenced them. I just don't know.....

[spelvin214]

@spagandtuna I'd vote "no" on that one. I saw a couple of their movies and sat there stone-faced. I just don't get them at all, and in fact, find them rather embarrassing. They seem to try so hard for so little return.