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6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Ritzy Hotel remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Should you watch this 1932 cartoon today? Yes, if you like weird, rubbery animation and don't care about things making sense. If you need actual plots or clever jokes, you will probably hate it.
Krazy Kat is a bellhop at a fancy hotel in this one. But he is terrible at his job. Like, really bad.
There is a scene where he tries to catch an elevator. He misses it completely and just stands there staring at the closed door with this blank look on his face. The silence in that moment is so awkward it actually made me laugh out loud. 😂
Everything in the hotel has a mind of its own. The keys bend, the doors bounce, and the elevator seems to actively hate Krazy.
It has that classic noodle-armed animation style of the early thirties. It reminds me a bit of the chaotic energy in The Saphead, where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
My favorite part is when he tries to help an old man in a wheelchair. Krazy basically turns the poor guy into a human pinball. It is incredibly mean but also the best gag in the whole short. 🦽
The music is just this looping, fast piano track. It gets annoying after about four minutes, but then the cartoon ends anyway so it's fine.
This is definitely not some grand masterpiece like Way Down East. It is just six minutes of pure, silly nonsense.
Sometimes the timing of the gags is just... off. Like a joke happens and the screen just stays still for a second too long. But that is what makes these old shorts so fun to dig up. They feel like they were made by real people just messing around with pens and paper.
If you have a few minutes to kill, go find it. It is a neat little slice of weird history.