Behind the Eight Ball

After departing 20th Century Fox under the false assumption they were washed up,The Ritz Brothers made three one hour quickies for Universal---probably unknown to anybody outside of Leonard Maltin. This one actually made it to DVD.

A series of murders has plagued a summer stock theatre,so the producer promotes The Ritzes to the stars of the show;figuring if anybody is going to be murdered it might as well be them.

Detective William Demarest,assigned to investigate the killings,would rather be shooting it out with the killer than having The Ritzes sitting in his lap.

Nazis enter the picture(this iS 1942) and when it's all over The Ritzes are heroes.

How The Ritzes left Fox gave birth to one of the greatest puns ever. After several years of stardom,they were demoted to the "B picture" unit run by a man named Sol Wurtzel. Somebody asked one of the Ritzes how things were going at the studio and were told--"Things have gone from bad to Wurtzel"

The first 'guest act' in the summer stock revue was killed by gunshot, and the police couldn't figure out who did it. The second time, the new guest act dies in the same way. In the immortal words of a producer who doesn't want to return the box office receipts, the show must go on! Besides, local police chief William Demarest thinks if they do it again, they'll figure out who is murdering vaudeville. He heads down to Manhattan to find performers, but only idiots will work with a murderer gunning for them, so he gets the Ritz Brothers.

Normally I don't enjoy Al, Jimmy and Harry, because they're all mugging in stereo. Here, under the direction of Eddie Cline, they not only get some good gags, but good songs and dances, and there's some shaky differentiation between them. This being a Universal musical, they also have Grace MacDonald singing a song or two, some nice dancing, and good performers backing them up, like Carol Bruce, Dick Foran, and Johnny Downs. Some of the jokes have not aged well, but you can see how they could actually be funny on stage.

Previously when they were at 20th Century-Fox, the Ritz Brothers were in support of such stars as Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and Sonja Henie. When they switched to Universal, they were usually the only stars in their pictures as they are here. So they get to perform many of their funny songs and dances as well as some funny one-liners. Despite them being the stars, however, there are other singers and dancers as well as a big band combo here. There's also a murder mystery here but that gets solved pretty quickly considering this is only an hour in length. So on that note, I say give Behind the Eight Ball a look.

Hey, finally the Ritz boys put to good use. Actual characters rather than just a backdrop for a boring love story. The Three Jolly Jesters are brought in after two killings two nights in a row at a theater in the Berkshires. They are the only ones pathetic enough to take the job replacing the dead acts. As plots go, this one is entirely idiotic. William Demarest is his usual loud and angry self, and the degree to which he puts the Ritz Boys and others in the show in harm's way in order to solve his crime is a bit offensive. Yes, it's a wacky comedy, but this plot point could have been less moronic. Plot aside, the Ritz boys get a good deal of screen time, clowning as well as singing/hoofing. They do a number saluting Charles Atlas and one mocking Ted Lewis. They get good lines and bits, including one meta-gag where they actually refer to the Ritz Brothers. Good, loud big band music all around.

Al and Jimmy, who are normally just window dressing to Harry, actually stand out a bit with their own lines. Still can't tell the two apart, but oh well. Bottom line for fans: This movie, while brief and nonsensical gives you more Ritz Brothers for your money than any film I've yet seen. I'd put it next to Kentucky Moonshine as one of their best.