Rio (1939)

A crazed man escapes from prison to kill his wife's lover.

Director:

John Brahm

Writers:

Stephen Morehouse Avery (screenplay), Aben Kandel (screenplay),

Stars:

Basil Rathbone, Victor McLaglen, Sigrid Gurie

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Basil Rathbone	...	Paul Reynard
Victor McLaglen	...	Dirk
Sigrid Gurie	...	Irene Reynard
Robert Cummings	...	Bill Gregory
Leo Carrillo	...	Roberto
Billy Gilbert	...	Manuelo
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Old Convict
Irving Bacon	...	'Mushy'
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Lamartine
Irving Pichel	...	Rocco
Ferike Boros	...	Maria (as Ferika Boras)

Storyline

A crazed man escapes from prison to kill his wife's lover.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | inmate | prisoner

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Flugten fra Djævleøen

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Si, Si, Si"
(uncredited)
Music by Frank Skinner
Lyrics by Ralph Freed
Sung by Billy Gilbert and Leo Carrillo

User Reviews

Not too much here, even for fans of Basil Rathbone

John Brahm's Rio is often cited as an early (1939) precursor of what would become, a few years later, film noir. But it doesn't have a great deal going for it, though Brahm later did creditable work in the cycle (The Brasher Doubloon, Hangover Square, The Locket). Basil Rathbone, best known of course as Sherlock Holmes, puts aside his deerstalker's cap and meerschaum pipe to portray a swindling international financier who, along with his songstress wife (Sigrid Gurie, whoever she was), seem to be the toast of le tout Paris. Alas, he's arrested and sent to rot in one of those French-colonial penal colonies off the coast of South America (which probably never existed but is conveniently close to Rio de Janeiro). His wife sticks by him for some reason and journeys to Brazil, though she's sorely tempted by Robert Cummings as an engineer fallen into hard times and the bottle. Rathbone, meanwhile, murderously escapes to Rio.... The plotline lacks tension and, save for Rathbone's Sten-gun elocution, there's not much acting to savor either -- though Gurie sings a few songs in decadent nightclub settings. Some viewers might be happy to hear them.