That Night in Rio (1941)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Rudolph Lothar (play) and
Hans Adler (play) ...

Release Date:

11 April 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Have a rendezvous with music and gaiety !

Plot:

An entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat's wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue.

Plot Keywords:

Impersonation | Necklace | Stock Market | Party | Servant

Cast

Alice Faye	...	Baroness Cecilia Duarte
Don Ameche	...	Impersonator Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte
Carmen Miranda	...	Carmen
S.Z. Sakall	...	Arthur Penna
J. Carrol Naish	...	Machado
Curt Bois	...	Felicio Salles
Leonid Kinskey	...	Monsieur Pierre Dufond
Bando da Lua	...	Themselves, Carmen Miranda's Orchestra
Frank Puglia	...	Pedro, Manuel's Valet
Lillian Porter	...	Luiza, Cecilia's Maid
Maria Montez	...	Inez
Georges Renavent	...	Ambassador
Eddie Conrad	...	Alfonso, Larry's Dresser (as Edward Conrad)
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Pereira, the Headwaiter
Flores Brothers Trio	...	Specialty Trio

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Netherlands:AL (2009) (DVD) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6905)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original play opened in New York on 19 September 1934.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Beloved Infidel (1959)

Soundtrack:

They Met in Rio (A Midnight Serenade)

music, music, music

MGM musicals may have been more extravagant, but 20th Century Fox musicals are the most fun. In "That Night in Rio," in order to save a business deal, a look-alike actor (Don Ameche) is hired to impersonate a baron (Don Ameche) who is out of town trying to raise money. The Baron is married to Cecilia (Alice Faye) but in name only; they go their separate ways. When the actor takes over, with Faye's knowledge, he is extremely attentive, to the consternation of his girlfriend (Carmen Miranda).

This is a cute story, nothing new about it, but it is done in an amusing way. At one point, the Baron returns from his trip early, and the two Barons are in a room at the same time. They keep switching back and forth while talking to a businessman. The businessman, convinced someone else is in the room after hearing noises behind a screen and seeing the screen move, decides to continue the conversation in French. The actor, of course, can't speak it, so has to say oui, oui throughout. It's very funny. Also, the businessman searches behind the screen - the actor walks from behind the screen and into the room while the Baron goes the opposite way meets the businessman behind the screen and says, "See?" indicating there is no one there.

The cast is the typical Fox musical cast - by 1941, Tyrone Power was no longer doing musicals, so it's Ameche, Faye, and Carmen Miranda. Miranda is very funny and outlandishly dressed as usual; Faye sings well and looks lovely, although she seems stuffed into a gold gown.

There is plenty of music - in fact, the whole beginning is one number after another. Miranda sings a couple of her standards: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)," and "Chica Chica Boom Chic." Ameche and Faye sing "Boa Noite" and "They Met in Rio" - and there are plenty of production numbers.

Wonderfully entertaining.