Puttin' on the Ritz

So let's discuss why the Ritz Brothers aren't as well known as, say, the Marx Brothers. For one thing, the funniest Ritz Brother (inarguably Harry) never had a hit TV show and all those appearances on popular TV shows like the funniest Marx Brother (more arguably, Groucho). For another, the Ritz Brothers didn't star in as many classic movies as the Marxes. The best screen performances of the Ritz boys were as comedy relief in the kind of movie where if you watched it at all, you'd want to fast-forward through all the scenes they weren't in.

For yet another, we all know which Marx Brother was Groucho, which one was Chico, which one was Harpo and, when Zeppo was present, which one was Zeppo. It's much harder to keep track of which Ritz Brother was Harry, which one was Al and which one was Jimmy. At times, it seems like even they weren't sure.

And we can probably think of other reasons but none of that means the Ritzes weren't very funny and very popular. If you'd like to know a little more about them, here's a short documentary that can serve as kind of an introduction. And by the way, in the last black-and-white clip as they're cavorting on the stage of a TV show, I believe the fellow playing the stage manager is Peter Leeds