Flying Down to Rio

1933's FLYING DOWN TO RIO is part of what I've called the "Harry Collection".  Longtime readers may recall that my mother in law had a neighbor named Harry who perished after a heart attack while half his house was torched by a neglected stove.  He was a unique individual, with a taste for foreign and/or classic cinema.  After his death, I was invited to help myself to whatever I wanted in his sizable DVD collection.  In 2020, I was still working my way through it.  During the Corona virus pandemic one Sunday night, I finally gave this movie a spin.

It's colorful and fun.  The first film to feature the famous team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, though here they are second bananas to Carmen del Rio and Gene Raymond.  The latter play star crossed lovers - socialite Belinha and band leader Roger, who meet in a Miami hotel.  She's the daughter of a hotelier down in Rio de Janeiro, and engaged to be married to Julio (Raul Roulien), Roger's good friend.  But don't get too caught up in the intrigue and possibly emotional fallout of such a classic love triangle.  The movie sure doesn't.

Well, not too much.  There are a few scenes of our lovers trying to resist each other.  After their plane is downed in Haiti, director Thornton Freekland's film does drag a bit with such moments, including their conversations with their more randy inner selves, seen as apparitions.  But soon enough we're in Rio, and the fun really begins.  You may have heard about this musical's two famous set pieces?

The first is the lengthy "Carioca" number.  The Brazilian band fires it up while Etta Moten and others sing those familiar and catchy words.  My first knowledge of this tune was its use during the opening credits of THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE.  Fred (Fred) and Ginger (Honey) hit the floor and knock foreheads in their inaugural cinematic dance, while the American band laments that they will never be able to top such a memorable song.  FLYING DOWN TO RIO's spectacular finale has a bevy of dancing girls strapped to the wings of airplanes.  Some pretty good effects, there.

Much has been made that this movie was made in the pre- Motion Picture Production Code years.  This means you will see more leg and hear more innuendoes here than in many later Hollywood films, at least until the 1960s.  But don't expect any nudity or swearing in FLYING DOWN TO RIO.  Just a gay ol' time, as they used to say.