IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 6,8
Director: Thornton Freeland
Main Cast: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire
"The top-billed stars in the extravagant RKO musical Flying Down to Rio are Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Forget all that: this is the movie that first teamed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We're supposed to care about the romantic triangle between aviator/bandleader Raymond, Brazilian heiress Del Rio and her wealthy fiance Raul Roulien, but the moment Fred and Ginger dance to a minute's worth of 'The Carioca', the film is theirs forever. Other musical highlights include Rogers' opening piece 'Music Makes Me' and tenor Roulien's lush rendition of 'Orchids in the Moonlight'. Then there's the title number. The plot has it that Del Rio' uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Astaire and Raymond save the day by staging the climactic 'Flying Down to Rio' number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls shimmying and swaying while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. It is one of the most outrageously brilliant numbers in movie musical history, and one that never fails to incite a big round of applause from the audience - no matter what the date is. Together with King Kong, Flying Down to Rio saved the fledgling RKO Radio studios from bankruptcy in 1933. The film was a smash everywhere it played, encouraging the studio to concoct future teamings of those two stalwart supporting players Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers." - www.allmovie.com
A favorite from this genre and period!
ReplyDeleteHave wondered if 'you' have been on vacation for
the past 2 months? Missed the new posts.
Hopefully you'll consider posting classics from 1927-29 as well. A lot of pre-codes, early sound & excellent silents from this period. There are so many artfully made films from this era. Silent film had developed to its highest zenith during this period-sound hobbled a number of US films in the beginning sometimes regulating a film into a filmed stage play because of the static placement of microphones and their limitations.
Thanka again for your excellent work!