Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Director:

Thornton Freeland

Writers:

Lou Brock (story)
Anne Caldwell (play)

Release Date:

29 December 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

A musical extravaganza staged in the clouds!

Plot:

Aviator and band leader Roger Bond is forever getting his group fired for flirting with the lady guests...

Plot Keywords:

Aviation | Song | Rio De Janeiro Brazil | Flying Boat | Brazil

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 26

4:30 AM

TCM

Cast

Dolores del Rio	...	Belinha De Rezende (as Dolores Del Rio)
Gene Raymond	...	Roger Bond
Raul Roulien	...	Julio Ribeiro
Ginger Rogers	...	Honey Hale
Fred Astaire	...	Fred Ayres
Blanche Friderici	...	Doña Elena de Rezende
Walter Walker	...	Señor Carlos De Rezende
Etta Moten	...	The Carioca Singer
Roy D'Arcy	...	Member Greek Gambling Syndicate
Maurice Black	...	Member Greek Gambling Syndicate
Armand Kaliz	...	Member Greek Gambling Syndicate
Paul Porcasi	...	The Mayor
Reginald Barlow	...	Alfredo Vianna, The Banker
Eric Blore	...	Mr. Butterbass, Asst. Hotel Manager
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franklin Pangborn	...	Hammerstein - the Hotel Manager

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Portuguese | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The first (of ten) dancing partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Quotes:

Fred Ayres: Nothing of the kind. He's landed us a job in Rio. Rio de Janeiro. The Hotel Atlantico. We'll be flying down any morning now.
Honey Hale: And swimming back in the afternoon. I'm taking my water-wings.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story" (1987)

Soundtrack:

Music Makes Me

Classic pre-code Talkie

There was a golden age of cinema lasting only four or five years - from the end of the silent era to the beginning of the Hays Code, the severe censorship rules which sought to turn cinema from naughty to nice, but in actuality sapped them of their truth and energy.

`Flying Down to Rio' is a classic pre-Hayes code talkie, and its characters have a quality of frankness which endears them to modern audience far more than many later films, whose stilted, conservative quality is somewhat alienating. You'd be surprised at what they could get away with in those days - it would be forty years before a film could get away with a line like that spoken by a starlet of her South American rivals - `What have those girls got below the equator that we haven't got?'

The film, about a love triangle between a Brazilian woman and two members of a swing band, is of course famous for two things - the slightly surreal sequence in which showgirls ride a biplane down to Rio in Busby Berkley-esque formation, and the debut of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a screen team. It's no wonder that audiences fell in love with the duo, whose `Carioca' is the highlight of the film.

They only made them like this for a little while - more's the shame!