New York City bathhouse history and the movie, The Ritz, inspired by it.

"You think I don't know what goes on in this place? All of you men going 'heh, heh, heh - bo,bo,bo - hah,hah,hah?" - Rita Moreno as Googie Gomez in "The Ritz"

A reader sent me his recollections of the gay baths in the 1970s and 1980s and I'd thought I share them on the web site. I also dug into my archives and found some advertisments for the Continental Baths.
"Just a quick little NYC Bathhouse History ~ The Everard Baths the (H) was just how everybody referred it as Ever Hard. That place was around from the turn of the century & rather hardcore, older S&M Crowd. I went there many times when I was a kid (early 20's ~ I always liked older men). But then the Continental Baths opened & was designed by Joe Layton ~ a Broadway Set Designer & it gave you Razzle, Dazzle ~ that's where Bette Midler got started, while appearing on Broadway as one of the Daughters in "Fiddler on the Roof!" Now there is where you saw Celebrities ~ Rudy Nureyev in a towel laying on a Bean Bag Chair ~Remember Bean Bag Chairs?? After the shows ~ Sat. Nights only. You entered the Side Entrance of the "ANSONIA HOTEL" A gorgeous 100 year old building. Down a flight of stairs all done in Black, Red & Mirrors ~ Fountains in the Swimming Pool. A Restaurant. After Bette made it (With Johnny Carson's help on his show) It became an in spot to appear there, Chita Rivera, Liz Torres, Melissa Manchester etc. & then dancing til dawn about 8am since you were in the Basement of this Hotel & the Women who were allowed in to party & see the shows were in Evening Gowns dressed to the Max dancing with their Gay friends in Towels had to leave.
May 1972 advertisment for the Continental Baths listing some of the performers who appeared there. (Click for larger view)

This is also the early 70's. It was an incredible era to live through. After Studio 54 & the Saint closed (Mid 80's) & the Bathhouses were shut down by the Health Dept. & the After Hours Clubs like the "Mine Shaft" & the "Anvil" closed (Also Mid 80's) ~ NY was no longer fun! I stopped going out almost completely except to an AIDS Benefit or a Broadway Show & I entertained alot at home."

Mark in Hawaii
November 1973 ad featuring Sarah Vaughn. (Click for larger view)

You could even purchase t-shirts, tanktops, gym shorts, bath towels, night shirts, bathrobes, sweat shirts, and even a towel with black rhinestones - all with the Continental baths logo.
THE RITZ, 1976
I was told that the 1976 movie, The Ritz was inspired by the Continental Baths. Terrance McNally wrote the screenplay based on his hit Broadway comedy of the same title. The Ritz is a comic farce about mistaken identities and general confusion when a dying Cleveland Mafia chief orders a hit on his son-in-law who flees to New York and hides in a gay bathhouse, though at first the man is unaware of the sexual orientation of the place. He thinks it's supposed to be like the gyms he's familar with in Cleveland. Rita Moreno steals the show as the stage struck bath house performer, Googie Gomez, who is determined to be a Broadway musical stage star in spite of being challenged by a noticeable lack of talent and a very pronounced Puerto Rican accent.
Click on image for larger view

Also appearing in the film are Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, Kaye Ballard, F. Murray Abraham and Treat Williams as straight detective, Micheal Brick, a character who speaks in a very high pitched voice because somehow his voice box missed going through puberty. John Ratzenberger, of the "Cheers" TV show also appears as a bath house patron.

Another inside note: Kaye Ballard's (very popular star on radio, TV, stage and the movies) real life partner later became Lily Tomlin's other half.

Some scenes from The Ritz:

Gaetano Proclo (Jack Weston) enters the somewhat fabulous lobby of the gay bathhouse.
Mr. Proclo is pursued by the "chubby chaser", Claude (Paul B. Price).

Googie Gomez (Rita Moreno) informs Tiger that she will not perform unless there is a Broadway producer in the audience.
Googie shows an interest in detective Brick (Treat Williams) who mistakenly believes Googie is a transvestite who is trying to molest him.

The bath house attendants, Duff (Christopher J. Brown) (center) and Tiger (John Everson) (right) explain bath house etiquette to a confused Proclo.
Chris: "Margaret Dumont, we thought you were dead!"

Chris: "Well, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a queen without a sense of humor. You can die with your secrets, honey!"
Proclo explains to bath house patron Chris (F. Murray Abraham) that he's not gay. "You're not gay? What are you - a social worker or something?"

After Proclo explains that he's hiding out in the gay baths because his brother-in-law is out to kill him, Chris attempts to comfort him, telling him he's safe inside the baths.
Chris: "As strange as it may seem, no one is going to attack you."
Proclo: "Someone already has!"
Chris: "Nah, beginner's luck."
Tiger and Duff trick Googie Gomez into performing by telling her Proclo is a Broadway producer. (Note Treat Williams on the right.)

Googie shows an interest in Proclo believing him to be a Broadway producer. Proclo, however, has been told by the detective Brick that Googie is a man in drag. Note the sign on the door with Googie's name. It hides the words "boiler room".
Proclo finds a seat to watch the Googie Gomez performance.

Googie begins her nightly performance with "Everything's Coming Up Roses", a performance which later goes disasterously wrong.
"Excuse me, would you like to dance?"

The detective Brick not only has a high pitched voice, he's also accident prone.
Proclo's murderous brother-in-law Carmine Vespucci (Jerry Stiller) mistakes Chris for Brick, the detective whom he has hired to set up his brother-in-law Proclo in a homosexual scandal.

Googie pursues Claude, who has ruined her act.
The club patrons subdue Carmine, dress him in drag, give him the name Bunny, enter him in the Princess Margaret look alike contest and then turn him over to the police.