Road to Rio (1947)

Best movie ever!

A Disappointing Continuation

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Presently available on DVD packaged with the DVD for the next Road series: "The Road to Bali" Expect the same basic format as in the previous films of this series. As in most of these films, the boys(Bing and Hope) begin as ne'er-do-well struggling entertainers. This time they begin as a song and dance team, singing "We're on our way to Apalachicola". Next, Hope rides a bicycle on a high wire, with disastrous results. He falls and, in the chaos, a fire is started that consumes the circus tent. They flee as stowaways on a liner to Rio. After stealing a suit of clothes, they encounter Lucia(Dorothy Lamour) leaning over the deck railing, as if she's ready to jump in the ocean. They dissuade her and make friends with her. They hide in a lifeboat, then duck into a barber shop, where they trick the barber into a closet and continue working on his customer, especially clipping his mustache. This is very similar to to the episode in the prior Marx Brother's "Monkey Business", and I would imagine some other films. In both cases, the situation could have been further exploited for more laughs. Meanwhile, an evil middle-aged woman: Mrs. Vail, has hypnotized Lucia with her star sapphire necklace, into identifying the boys as the stowaways, and to say she despises them. They are given an opportunity to join the ship's orchestra, with "Hot Lips" Hope playing the trumpet and Bing the clarinet and singing. Mysteriously, soap bubbles emerge from Hope's trumpet when he plays(yes, stupid). The Andrew Sisters team with Bing, singing "You Don't Have to Know the Language.Mrs. Vail continues to try to get rid of the boys as romantic rivals to her brother whom she wants to force Lucia to marry so that she can obtain some important papers and control Lucia, presently being her guardian. Thus, the boys and 2 goons hired by Mrs. Vail play cat and mouse. She offers them $10,000. to scram, then hypnotizes them to fight a pistol duel with each other. I will leave their further adventures for you to see.The circus fire event near the beginning recalls the circus tent fire in "Road to Zanzibar", which also induced them to flee.I don't understand why the cavalry unit riding toward the wedding celebration was included periodically. They have no role in the boys' escape from their predicament.At one point, Hope is assumed dead of a gun wound, then 'wakes up' after a while. This reminds me of some cheap westerns where the hero is apparently dead, then 'wakes up'.

With this-the fifth in the Road series-there are a couple notable firsts: the first time Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour are billed above the title instead of after and the first time that Hope and Crosby are profit participants in a series entry as the copyright is assigned to them while the beginning logo says "A Paramount Release" instead of "Picture". Anyway, after a not very funny beginning involving a circus and a bike on a tightrope, the fun comes fast and furious after the boys stowaway on a ship to the title city with Ms. Lamour on board. Also on board is Gale Sondergaard as the villainess with one of her henchman played by Frank Faylen-a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, of which I always like to cite when someone involved in that one is involved in something else. Of previous Road players, Nestor Paiva-who was one of the bad guys in Road to Utopia-and Jerry Colonna-Hope's sidekick on radio who was also in Road to Singapore-return here. Also good to see The Andrews Sisters do a number with Bing and The Wiere Brothers do both comedy and music well. It's also the second consecutive time that Bob ends up with Dottie though here, it's not as nicely settled in as last time... In summary, Road to Rio is another highly enjoyable Road movie. Next up, Road to Bali.

Hope and Crosby play two vaudevillians who entertain at a circus, and they are given extra money for Hope to ride a bicycle along a tightrope. Unfortunately Hope falls and accidentally sets the circus on fire, and the vaudevillians flee and stow away on board a ship bound for Brazil. En route, they encounter a suicidal woman being coerced into a marriage she doesn't want, and get involved.The movie does have a sinister story and frightening villains, but it has plenty of fun scenes of singing and dancing and clowning, with appearances by the Andrews sisters and the Weire Brothers. Fun entertainment for all.

Although Hope, Crosby and Lamour were teaming together for the fifth time in a Road movie, the format and style remain fresh, with a greater emphasis on song and a more rigid plot-line than in its four predecessors. The interplay between the three stars continues to be a delight, and Gale Sondergaard makes for a wonderful villain, whilst the Wiere Brothers almost steal the show as a trio of Rio street entertainers whom Bing and Bob persuade to impersonate the last three members of the five-piece all-American band that they have promised to deliver into Nestor Paiva's nightclub. There are a number of hilarious set-pieces, particularly with Hope cycling on a tightrope, and a rousing and manic climax. As a result of all these fine features, "Road to Rio" is only a notch down from my favourite Road picture, "Road to Utopia".