Road to Rio (1947)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Edmund Beloin (original story and screenplay) and
Jack Rose (original story and screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Si, Si ! It's the maddest, merriest "Road" picture of all! You'll See!

Plot:

Two inept vaudevillians stow away on a Brazilian-bound ocean liner and foil a plot by a sinister hypnotist to marry off her niece to a greedy fortune hunter.

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Hypnotist | Fortune Hunter | Ocean Liner | Sideshow

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Scat Sweeney
Bob Hope	...	Hot Lips Barton
Dorothy Lamour	...	Lucia Maria de Andrade
Gale Sondergaard	...	Catherine Vail
Frank Faylen	...	Trigger
Joseph Vitale	...	Tony
George Meeker	...	Sherman Mallory
Frank Puglia	...	Rodrigues
Nestor Paiva	...	Cardoso
Robert Barrat	...	Johnson
Stanley Andrews	...	Capt. Harmon
Harry Woods	...	Ship's Purser
Harry Wiere	...	Three Musicians (as The Wiere Brothers)
Herbert Wiere	...	Three Musicians (as The Wiere Brothers)
Sylvester Wiere	...	Three Musicians (as The Wiere Brothers)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12478)

Company:

Bing Crosby Productions

Trivia:

On the Decca Records boxed album of selections from the Johnny Burke-Jimmy Van Heusen film score, substitutions were made in the way that two songs were presented. Bob Hope was under contract to Capitol Records at this point, so the Hope-Bing Crosby duet of the agile city tune, "Apalachicola, FLA," was semi-recast on the album by teaming Bing with The Andrews Sisters, already guest-starring in the movie. Dorothy Lamour, recording for the Coast label at this point, delivered in this feature the comically sly "Experience," which was transformed by Decca into a pairing of Mr. Crosby and Nan Wynn, who did not participate in the picture.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Hot Lips and Scat disguise themselves as the barber and shoeshine boy, Hot Lips begins to put shaving cream on the guy in the chair, including his mustache, but the close-up shows no shaving cream on his mustache.

Quotes:

Scat Sweeney: [Uncovering a side of meat in a freezer as he looks for Hot Lips] Well, I'm getting warm. That's ham!

Movie Connections:

References Road to Morocco (1942)

Soundtrack:

FOR WHAT?

Your telling me, Your in the Groove Jackson, This is murder!

Another Road picture with Bob, Bing and Dorothy. As always there are moments of hilarity. This one is with the Wiere Brothers as non-English speaking street musicians who hook up with the gang. We first see the Wiere's putting on their music and dance routine in front of a small crowd. Then Bing gets them to join he and Bobs little combo. Bing teaches them a few words of English to get by. They encounter nightclub manager Nestor Paiva (Best known as Lucas from Creature from the Black Lagoon) and use their newfound language on him. Comedy is comedy now matter how old it is and this scene with the Wiere Brothers is still hilarious.