A bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.A bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.A bandleader woos a Latin flame who is already engaged to his employer.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 nominations total
Dolores Del Río
- Belinha De Rezende
- (as Dolores Del Rio)
Luis Alberni
- Rio Casino Manager
- (uncredited)
Bernice Alstock
- Singer
- (uncredited)
Chita Andrews
- Check Girl
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStanding outside a bakery shop in Rio, Ginger Rogers asks, "Oh, Freddie, how do you ask for little tarts in Portuguese?" Fred Astaire replies, "Don't heckle me, try the Culbertson System." This pre-Code, double entendre joke would have been funny to Depression-era audiences, for whom bridge was a common pastime. Ely Culbertson was a champion bridge player and worldwide celebrity who had won several international tournaments by developing a rather aggressive bidding system for contract bridge. He was also notorious for his sexual exploits. His 1940 autobiography would be banned in many countries. In the 1930's, the word "tart" was equivalent to "slut" or "whore." Also, in the opening inspection of hotel staff, the boss sees a maid whose shoe heels are oddly beveled and says he will not tolerate that sort of thing. A "round-heeled woman" was 1930s slang for a prostitute, a woman who could tilt from standing to on her back with ease.
- GoofsFrom the height they were flying, most of the "dance" routines of the young women on the plane wings would not be visible to people on the ground.
- Quotes
Belinha's Friend: What have these South Americans got below the equator that we haven't?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Hollywood and the Stars: The Fabulous Musicals (1963)
- SoundtracksMusic Makes Me
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Vincent Youmans
Lyrics by Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu
Performed by Ginger Rogers
Featured review
Grade A Entertainment! An Underrated Gem!
Flying Down to Rio will always be best known for being the movie that first paired Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but, believe me, its worth goes far beyond just that stunning accomplishment. The lead actor is Gene Raymond, who was one of the funniest actors in early Hollywood. My other favorite Raymond movie is Hitchcock's only foray into straight comedy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, where he starred opposite Carole Lombard and was more than up to it. Raymond's female opposite here is Delores de Rio, an actress with whom I am unfamiliar, but, man, is she a beauty. Astaire plays Raymond's best friend and cohort and Rogers plays a singer who tours with them. The film is wonderfully witty and actually very inventive. The editor goes a little crazy with the different types of swipes he uses throughout the film, but they're still neat. It doesn't bother me much that the filmmakers' experiments don't always work. I'm just happy they were trying new things. The cinematography is often great and much more unique than in other RKO musicals. The music is marvelous, especially the show-stopping Carioca (as opposed to Karaoke!), which seems to last forever, but in a good way! This is the number with the Astaire and Rogers dance. The other dancers in the scene are also wonderful, and the editing of that number is particularly amazing. The climactic musical sequence is as amazing as it is silly: seemingly hundreds of women dancing on the wings of flying planes. It's meant to be entertainment for the people below, but, well, the intricate movements of the girls could never have been seen on the ground (reminiscent of the Busby Berkeley number in 42nd Street where the camera shoots the dancers' pattern from above). Again, the editing here is simply remarkable. I can only imagine that the daring stunts perpetrated in the scene, though obviously fake, would have stunned the hell out of an audience in 1933! Today, in the 21st Century, Flying Down to Rio plays as one of the greatest pieces of fluff ever produced. 10/10.
helpful•284
- zetes
- Nov 11, 2001
- How long is Flying Down to Rio?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $462,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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