Flying Down to Rio (1933)'s comments

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nbats

https://archive.org/details/01-fred-astaire-ginger-rogers/

6 months ago

Though Flying Down to Rio is Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' first pairing, and thus a page from Hollywood history, it really isn't their film. It's really a romcom in which pale-as-a-ghost Gene Raymond is a band leader trying to woo Dolores Del Rio (who started in silent film and it shows) away from her fiancé. But aside from some fun special effects where they have conversations with themselves, the romance is boring and unconvincing. It's like something out of a Marx Brothers film, there as the semblance of a plot (along with a silly "bankrupt the hotel" subplot) to hang comedy and musical numbers on. And that's where Astaire and Rogers come in. THEY'RE the Marx Brothers in this. All the comedy, all the musical numbers, all the CHARM, they're the ones who bring it. I will give some props (that's a pun) to the direction though, as part of the fun is all the effects, neat transitions, expansive sets, and brazen lack of restraint in the final musical number, which can't possibly be seen from the ground! Well, the camera's up in the clouds, so what do I care? A fun puff piece.

5 years 7 months ago