Room Service | |
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![]() Lobby card | |
Directed by | William A. Seiter James Anderson (assistant) |
Written by | Glenn Tryon Philip Loeb |
Screenplay by | Morrie Ryskind |
Based on | Room Service by Allen Boretz & John Murray |
Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
Starring | Groucho Marx Chico Marx Harpo Marx Lucille Ball Ann Miller Frank Albertson |
Cinematography | J. Roy Hunt |
Edited by | George Crone |
Music by | Roy Webb |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
Language | English |
Budget | $884,000[2] |
Box office | $875,000[2] |
Room Service is a 1938 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, based on the 1937 play of the same name by Allen Boretz and John Murray. The film stars the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo and Chico) and also features Lucille Ball, Ann Miller and Frank Albertson. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures; RKO paid $255,000 for filming rights, which was then a record for a sound picture.[3]
This is the only film starring the Marx Brothers with a screenplay based on material that was not written especially for the team. Less frenetic and more physically contained than their other films, the plot revolves around the shenanigans of a broke Broadway producer getting a play staged and funded by a mysterious backer, while evading eviction from a hotel.
RKO remade the movie in 1944 as Step Lively, starring George Murphy and Frank Sinatra.