William Gargan plays Duke Regan, a schemer who is generally obnoxious and looking for his next scheme. He's also a bit of a pig when it comes to women, yet, oddly, Marcia Jaynos (Patricia Ellis) falls for his lines....and it's really hard to see why. Regardless, having such a jerk as the main character in "A Night at the Ritz" certainly makes it a tough sell.
When the story begins, you see Duke making some passes at Marcia...and he won't take no for an answer. He invites himself to her house for dinner and apparently his boorish ways have worn her down and she agrees to bring him home for a home cooked dinner. It turns out to be amazing food and Duke incorrectly assumes Marcia's brother cooked it, though Leopold has zero talent when it comes to cooking. Without even telling anyone his newest scheme, he rushes from their apartment and goes to the Ritz to sell them on Leopold as their new head chef. What's to come of all this? Watch it...or don't.
To say that Duke is hard to like is putting it very mildly. He comes off as a know-it-all, much like many of Lee Tracy's characters...but untalented. He talks a mile a minute and is about as honest as a $4 bill. So why would you want to watch him for an hour during this B-movie from Warner Brothers? I know I didn't enjoy the 62 minutes....which felt much, much longer. It's funny, as the film isn't terrible but Duke is such a jerk I had a hard time caring about the other characters.
By the way, why does Leopold have a HEAVY foreign accent while Marcia, his sister, sounds 100% American? And, why didn't someone at Warner Brothers seem to notice this??
When the story begins, you see Duke making some passes at Marcia...and he won't take no for an answer. He invites himself to her house for dinner and apparently his boorish ways have worn her down and she agrees to bring him home for a home cooked dinner. It turns out to be amazing food and Duke incorrectly assumes Marcia's brother cooked it, though Leopold has zero talent when it comes to cooking. Without even telling anyone his newest scheme, he rushes from their apartment and goes to the Ritz to sell them on Leopold as their new head chef. What's to come of all this? Watch it...or don't.
To say that Duke is hard to like is putting it very mildly. He comes off as a know-it-all, much like many of Lee Tracy's characters...but untalented. He talks a mile a minute and is about as honest as a $4 bill. So why would you want to watch him for an hour during this B-movie from Warner Brothers? I know I didn't enjoy the 62 minutes....which felt much, much longer. It's funny, as the film isn't terrible but Duke is such a jerk I had a hard time caring about the other characters.
By the way, why does Leopold have a HEAVY foreign accent while Marcia, his sister, sounds 100% American? And, why didn't someone at Warner Brothers seem to notice this??