Touchstone and Beyond: "Blame it on the Bellboy"
Marquee Attraction: “Blame it on the Bellboy"
Release Date: March 6, 1992
Budget: $18 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $3,104,545
Plot Synopsis
A clerk named Melvyn Orton, a hitman named Mike Lawton, and Lord Maurice Horton board a plane for Venice. They each have plans, the purchase of a house, the murder of a mark, and a romantic tryst with a date all goes wrong in the city of canals. When the three men check into their hotel and meet the Bellboy whose English is awful, their lives will never be the same.
Orton gets mixed with a crime boss looking for money, Lawton trails the wrong person, and Horton meets Caroline, not his arranged date, who is there to sell a villa to Orton but Horton believes is his promised romantic tryst.
The action takes place with the stupidity of the Bellboy causing havoc as each man's story intersects leading to an explosive conclusion in the Venice lagoon. Can Orton save his own skin, and will Lawton find the real target? Lord Horton has fun, but can he outwit the angry Caroline while also maintaining the lie to his wife, who shows up at his Venice hotel room?
Standing Ovation
Venice is beautiful. The film does an incredible job highlighting the city and will make every viewer wish to travel to the Italian city. The opening credits to the film are enough to be a great commercial for the city.
Time for the Hook
The sex scene between Patsy Kensit and Richard Griffiths is terrible. It is not fun to watch, and something to turn away from. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long.
The entire film is a comedy of errors, and if you are not a fan of these British productions then you will not like this film.
For a movie that is titled about the Bellboy, and thus the cause of all the problems in the film, we don’t see much of said Bellboy. I would have much preferred to have seen Pinchot have a more active role in the film. It would only make sense if the name in the title of the movie had a more prominent role.
Bit Part Player
Andreas Katsulas as Scarpa. He is always a great supporting character. He played the one-armed man in The Fugitive and makes a compelling mob boss in this lighthearted comedy.
Did You Know?
- The film grossed just over one million dollars on its opening weekend.
- Bellboy is how Bronson Pinchot is referred to in the movie. His character has no name.
- The hotel where most of the film takes place is real. The name of the hotel is the Hotel Gabrielli. The exterior shots were filmed on location in Venice, but the interiors of the movie were shot elsewhere.
- The film is well noted for its short running time. At one hour and eighteen minutes, the movie is well under the usual ninety minutes that most comedies of this type take.
- The movie was such a box office disaster that within three months of its release it made its way to home movie release. This was unheard of at the time.
- Rowan Atkinson was originally considered for the role of the bellboy.
- This was screenwriter/director Mark Herman’s debut feature film.
Bill’s Hot Take
Dudley Moore in the 1990s is not funny. He looks confused throughout the film and detracts from the movie.
Casting Call
- Bronson Pinchot as the Bellboy
- Dudley Moore as Melvyn Orton
- Bryan Brown as Mike Lawton
- Richard Griffiths as Maurice Horton
- Patsy Kensit as Caroline
- Penelope Wilton as Patricia Fulford
Production Team
- Directed by Mark Herman
- Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Silver Screen Partners IV / Bellboy Films Limited
- Written by Mark Herman
My Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}
Blame it on the Bellboy is funny. It has heart and a great supporting cast, beautiful scenery, but the movie is nothing special, and not one that I would race out to see again. I could easily rewatch the first two minutes, but the rest of the film you can skip.
Blame it on the Bellboy gets my Lifeboat Award. If you are bored and have nothing else to watch, then certainly give it a try, but don’t cancel any plans to watch this movie.
Coming Soon
In honor of the July 4th holiday, a look back at the Touchstone tale of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson in the film Jefferson in Paris.