Terrence McNally's farce about a Cleveland garbage man hiding from the Mafia in a Fun City homosexual bathhouse flirts constantly with the monster, Bad Taste; but its speed and timing keep it just out of the monster's reach. The movie has something of the crude energy, the exaggeration, and the salaciousness which must have belonged to burlesque theater in its heyday. And within the broad and facile stereotypes, it maintains a certain respect for each character's kinky individuality (a sprightly, bald "chubby chaser" -- i.e., he goes for fat guys -- woos his prey by pitching Hershey bars to him and serenading him with a Dean Martin impression). Rita Moreno, as a Broadway hopeless named Googie Gomez (she arrives on the scene wearing a soggy Variety as a rain hat) is the quintessential Latin fireball, and she is a laugh a line: "My career iss no yoke!" The shining-est star, though, is the primary set, constructed in London's Twickenham Studios, a gaudy triple-decker Art Deco hotel in red and gold and trimmed with naked light bulbs. Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, Kaye Ballard; directed by Richard Lester. (1976) — Duncan Shepherd
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