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Flying Down to Rio
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by Turner Home Ent
Sales Rank: 27779
Price: $14.98
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In 1933, RKO Pictures had the bright idea of pairing Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond for their new musical blockbuster, <I>Flying Down to Rio</I>. The film was a smash, but not for the reasons anyone expected. The fourth- and fifth-billed stars were an RKO bit player and a Broadway man breaking into Hollywood. Their names were Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and their pairing in this and eight subsequent RKO films would rewrite cinematic history. Most of <I>Rio</I>'s screen time is spent on a humdrum romantic triangle involving Del Rio, Raymond, and Raul Roulien, but Fred (as Fred Ayres) and Ginger (as Honey Hayes) are still able to establish many of the trademarks of their later films. Ginger fronts the band (with Fred on accordian!) in the saucy "Music Makes Me," and Fred does some solo tap, then sings and leads the band for the spectacular airborne finale featuring chorus girls perched on the wings of biplanes. The heart of the film is "The Carioca," a company dance extravaganza that would be imitated by "The Continental" and "The Piccolino" in later films. Here Fred and Ginger take the floor together for the first time; their eyes meet and their foreheads touch. Their dance lasts only a few minutes, but it was the highlight of the film and audiences wanted more. The most prophetic moment occurs toward the beginning of the dance, when, after watching for a while, Fred grabs Ginger and tells her, "I want to try this. Come on, Honey." She declares, "We'll show 'em a thing or three." They did indeed. It was magic, and it was only the beginning. <I>--David Horiuchi</I>
Viewer Reviews
"Flying down to Rio" was a large scale, for studio RKO, pre-code musical starring the long forgotton very blonde Gene Raymond and the very beautiful dark Dolores Del Rio. The reason why the film is remembered at all is due, of course, to the presence of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in supporting roles.
Del Rio strikes poses rather than acts (she did reach stardom in silent films) and Raymond is a spritely but hammy leading man. Astaire has some good lines and Rogers is still in the snappy chorine phase of her career. Both had come from Broadway and it is not just their dancing which lauched their stardom together. Their personalities are much more dynamic and enjoyable than the leads. Rogers wears some very provocative clothes which would not have survived the censorship clamping down the following year.
There are some good songs but "The Carioca" is endless and much of the movement is artificially created by the editing. "Orchids in the Moonlight" is beautifully rendered by Raul Roulien and the finale is a nod to Busby Berkeley with chorus girls strapped to planes - good fun but corny.
The DVD print is good but not perfect with a white vertical line appearing intermittently. The extras are a tedious 3 Stooges short while they were still lead by Ted Healey but the Merrie Melody is excellent with superb harmony and orchestrations of a nutty song called "I like Mountain Music".
The DVD is OK value but best if purchased as part of the one of the Astaire/Rogers collections.
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