The Ritz Bros. are not everyone's cup of tea - imagine making a career of portraying lousy comedians, which they were. Nevertheless, many later comedians, Mel Btooks and Jerry Lewis among them, credit the Ritz Bros. - well actually Harry Ritz - as being great - mostly for trying so hard. Harry was the mainstay of the look-alike trio, with Al and Jimmy as support shadows. They are not really noted as comedians, but rather as entertainers - lots of mugging, making faces, rolling eyes in skits, most of which should never have seen the light of day, synchronized silly dance steps and decent vocals which they often worked hard at ruining.
They run true to form in this otherwise breezy little musical that will help pass the time on a rainy day. The plot is typically Ritz Bros nonsensical, but the film gets 5 stars for the Andrews Sisters and Constance Moore music. is the first appearance on film of the Andrews Sisters, who make some mediocre songs very entertaining, while showing a flair for comedy with more lines than they usually get; Constance Moore, a good vocalist, sings a few good songs as the love interest of a young, slim George Reeves (later TV's Superman), who gets to sing a bit. Well, to give them their due, the Ritz Bros. send-up of the Andrews Sisters, replete with frilly dresses and fruit and bead headdresses done to a record that both skips and slow-down-speed up is great - and the basis for the Jerry Lewis send-up of Carmen Miranda in "Scared Stiff."
Note that, in this 1940 film, the song "Hall of the Mountain Queen," sung by Bonnie Brooks' band to introduce her, while she plays piano (and then by Bonnie Brooks), they sing that "with her left hand she plays rock and rolla."
They run true to form in this otherwise breezy little musical that will help pass the time on a rainy day. The plot is typically Ritz Bros nonsensical, but the film gets 5 stars for the Andrews Sisters and Constance Moore music. is the first appearance on film of the Andrews Sisters, who make some mediocre songs very entertaining, while showing a flair for comedy with more lines than they usually get; Constance Moore, a good vocalist, sings a few good songs as the love interest of a young, slim George Reeves (later TV's Superman), who gets to sing a bit. Well, to give them their due, the Ritz Bros. send-up of the Andrews Sisters, replete with frilly dresses and fruit and bead headdresses done to a record that both skips and slow-down-speed up is great - and the basis for the Jerry Lewis send-up of Carmen Miranda in "Scared Stiff."
Note that, in this 1940 film, the song "Hall of the Mountain Queen," sung by Bonnie Brooks' band to introduce her, while she plays piano (and then by Bonnie Brooks), they sing that "with her left hand she plays rock and rolla."