MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 997 this week

Road to Rio (1947)

7.0
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.0/10 from 2,023 users  
Reviews: 13 user | 17 critic

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.

Director:

Writers:

(original story and screenplay), (original story and screenplay), 1 more credit »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 623 titles created 02 Jan 2012
 
a list of 2000 titles created 5 months ago
 
a list of 10 titles created 01 Apr 2012
 
a list of 2925 titles created 11 months ago
 
a list of 1578 titles created 13 Apr 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Road to Rio (1947)

Road to Rio (1947) on IMDb 7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Road to Rio.
Nominated for 1 Oscar. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

The Pirate (1948)
Adventure | Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak
Adventure | Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con-women.

Director: Victor Schertzinger
Stars: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Bing Crosby an Bob Hope star in the first of the 'Road to' movies as two playboys trying to forget previous romances in Singapore - until they meet Dorothy Lamour...

Director: Victor Schertzinger
Stars: Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope
In the Navy (1941)
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Russ Raymond, America's number one crooner, disappears and joins the Navy under the name Tommy Halstead. Dorothy Roberts, a magazine journalist, is intent on finding out what happened to ... See full summary »

Director: Arthur Lubin
Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell
Comedy | Musical | Adventure
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat trip that finds them on a tropical island, where a jewel thief has sinister plans for them.

Director: Erle C. Kenton
Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Virginia Bruce
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney
Comedy | Fantasy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Two sailors, one naive, the other experienced in the ways of the world, on liberty in Los Angeles, is the setting for this movie musical.

Director: George Sidney
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly
On the Town (1949)
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up.

Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Stars: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds
Adventure | Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Princess Margaret is travelling incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man her father has betrothed her to. On the high seas, her ship is attacked by pirates who know... See full summary »

Director: David Butler
Stars: Bob Hope, Virginia Mayo, Walter Brennan
Comedy | Music | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
Adventure | Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Rocky and Puddin' Head are waiting tables at an inn on Tortuga when a letter given them by Lady Jane for delivery to Martingale gets switched with a treasure map. Kidd and Bonney kidnap them to Skull Island to find said treasure.

Director: Charles Lamont
Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
Joseph Vitale ...
George Meeker ...
Sherman Mallory
Frank Puglia ...
Nestor Paiva ...
Robert Barrat ...
Stanley Andrews ...
Harry Woods ...
Ship's Purser
The Wiere Brothers ...
Three Musicians
...
Andrews Sisters
Jerry Colonna ...
Colonna
Edit

Storyline

Scat Sweeney, and Hot Lips Barton, two out of work musicians, stow away on board a Rio bound ship, after accidentally setting fire to the big top of a circus. They then get mixed up with a potential suicide Lucia, who first thanks them, then unexpectedly turns them over to the ship's captain. When they find out that she has been hypnotized, to go through a marriage of convenience, when the ship reaches Rio, the boys turn up at the ceremony, in order to stop the wedding, and to help catch the crooks. Written by mike.wilson6@btinternet.com

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

10 New Hit Parade Songs See more »


Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

25 December 1947 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

A Caminho do Rio  »

Box Office

Gross:

$4,500,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the meat freezer scene there is a large side of meat labeled "Crosby Grade A Stables." Bing Crosby owned a stable of race horses that famously performed poorly. See more »

Goofs

Throughout the film Frank Faylen's character is called "Harry" but on the closing credits he's listed as portraying "Trigger". See more »

Quotes

Hot Lips Barton: [Looking at the bicycle on the high wire he has to ride] You want me want me to ride that thing?
Scat Sweeney: Why not?
Hot Lips Barton: Up in the stratosphere?
Scat Sweeney: Oh, you
[mumbles]
Scat Sweeney: ...
Hot Lips Barton: Who do you think I am - Mr. Jordan?
See more »

Connections

References Road to Morocco (1942) See more »

Soundtracks

"DIZ QUE TEM"
Written by Hannibal Cruz and Vicente Paiva
Performed by Marquita Rivera
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

South American Paradise
12 February 2011 | by (Kissimmee, Florida) – See all my reviews

ROAD TO RIO (Paramount, 1947), directed by Norman Z. McLeod, marks the fifth installment to the popular "in name only" comedy series featuring that famous trio of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Unlike its preceding adventures of ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941), MOROCCO (1942) and UTOPIA (1946), ROAD TO RIO is no doubt funnier than its initial entry, ROAD TO SINGAPORE (1940), yet coming across on its own merits presenting itself almost like a straight-forward musical-comedy than its predecessors consisting of offbeat situations, talking animals and formalistic Hollywood in-jokes. Certain aspects, however, ranging from opening titles bearing animated names of its principal players dancing across the screen; to the wide-eyed/ bushy-mustached Jerry Colonna coming from nowhere leading his calvary on horseback belting out a long wide yell; Hope and Crosby's "patty-cake" routine and witty comedy lines are true reminders of this being very much a part of the "Road" adventures the public then has grown to love so well.

The plot gets off to a really good start in a carnival where the smooth talking "Scat" Sweeney (Bing Crosby) has his pal "Hot-Lips" Barton (Bob Hope) doing a high wire bicycle act leading to disastrous results before the carnival catches fire, burning to the ground. To avoid capture by an angry boss and mob, the boys make a run for it, ending up as stowaways taking refuge in a lifeboat of the S.S. Queen bound for Rio. During their voyage, they encounter the beautiful Lucia Maria De Andrade (Dorothy Lamour) traveling with her aunt, Catherine Vail (Gale Sondergaard). As Scat and Hot Lips each vie for Lucia's affections, they become confused by her sudden mood changes (from "I love you," to "I hate you," I loathe you," "I despise you" ...) reactions, unaware she's actually under a hypnotic trance by her aunt, whose intentions are for her to forget about these men and concentrate on her forthcoming marriage. Upon their arrival in Rio, Scat and Hot Lips obtain jobs working for Mr. Cardoso (Nestor Paiva) in his nightclub with three odd-ball musicians (The Wiere Brothers) who don't speak any English, before braving Mrs. Vail's henchmen (Frank Faylen and Joseph Vitale) disguised as a pirate and Caribbean dancer, to entertain at Lucia's wedding, to extremely funny results.

In between Hope and Crosby antics and Lamour's hypnotic trance, song interludes by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen enter the scene, including: "We're on Our Way" (sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope); American standards of "Swanee River" (by Stephen Foster), and "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (by James A. Bland); "But Beautiful" (sung by Crosby); "You Have to Know the Language" (sung and performed by Crosby and the Andrews Sisters); "Experience" (sung by Dorothy Lamour); and "Brasilia (I Yi Yi)." Crosby's performing on board ship with the Andrews Sisters (Laverne, Patti and Maxene), a popular singing trio during the World War II years, ranks one of the film's several highlights. For being the longest (100 minutes) in the "Road" series, Crosby's vocalizing of "But Beautiful" to Lamour was usually one that got deleted from most television prints during the 1970s and 80s to fill in enough commercial breaks during its standard two hour time slot.

This highly entertaining and worthwhile "Road" entry, formerly presented on American Movie Classics (1997-2001), is often hailed as the last great "Road" comedy, though certainly not its finish. ROAD TO BALI (1952) and THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (1962) came after-wards, indicating its popularity was best suited for the 1940s rather than the forthcoming decades. With all "Road" comedies placed on home video and DVD over the years, ROAD TO RIO not only has had limited TV revivals in recent years, but labeled as one being "out of print" by DVD distributors. With the overplayed ROAD TO MOROCCO listed among one of the greatest comedies by the American Film Institute, ROAD TO RIO, with Crosby, Hope and Lamour at their finest, is certainly entertaining enough to merit attention and availability for future generations to endure. (***1/2)


3 of 3 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Wiere Brothers billdower57
Discuss Road to Rio (1947) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?