Rio (1939 film)

Last updated
Rio
Rio (1939 film) poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Brahm
Screenplay by Aben Kandel
Edwin Justus Mayer
Frank Partos
Stephen Morehouse Avery
Story by Jean Negulesco
Starring Basil Rathbone
Victor McLaglen
Cinematography Hal Mohr
Edited by Philip Cahn
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • September 29, 1939 (1939-09-29)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budgetover $448,000 [1] or $450,000 [2]

Rio is a 1939 American crime film directed by John Brahm and starring Basil Rathbone and Victor McLaglen. [3]

Contents

Plot

French financier Paul Reynard (Rathbone) is sentenced to a ten-year term in a South American penal colony for bank fraud. His wife Irene (Gurie) and Paul's faithful servant Dirk (McLaglen) travel to Rio de Janeiro to arrange for Paul's escape. But once she's landed in the Brazilian capital, Irene falls in love with American engineer Bill Gregory (Cummings). After his escape Paul realizes that he's lost his wife forever to a better man. Seeking revenge, he prepares to shoot Bill in cold blood, but Dirk intervenes and kills Reynard instead.

Cast

Production

In July 1938 Universal announced the film would star Danielle Darrieux who they had under contract and who had made The Rage of Paris for the studio. [4] In October Universal said James Stewart would appear opposite Darrieux in the movie and Joel McCrea would play a role intended for Stewart, Destry Rides Again . [5] In January Hedda Hopper reported that Darrieux did not want to return because she did not like the script for Rio. [6] In March Joe Pasternak insisted that no one else would play her role. [7]

Darrieux's return from France kept being delayed so in June 1939 Sigrid Gurie was cast. Filming started 21 July 1939. [8] [9] It wound up in September. [10]

Filmink said Cummings played "a less typical role, as a seedy drunk who finds redemption." [11]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it "a well made melodrama... Rathbone scores heavily... Cummings... received applause last night for his work. He should move a lot nearer the top after this performance." [12]

The New York Times said it was "an unmistakable B buzzing like an A" due to Brahm's direction which built "characterization, avoiding the obvious wherever that is possible and digging beneath the externals for psychological elements of suspense and drama... a handful of exceptionally telling sequences... a character gallery of constant interest." [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Peppard</span> American actor (1928–1994)

George Peppard was an American actor. He secured a major role as struggling writer Paul Varjak when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and later portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers (1964). On television, he played the title role of millionaire insurance investigator and sleuth Thomas Banacek in the early-1970s mystery series Banacek. He played Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the 1980s action television series The A-Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Cummings</span> American actor (1910–1990)

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and Princess O'Rourke (1943), and in dramatic films, especially two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers, Saboteur (1942) and Dial M for Murder (1954). He received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance in 1955. On February 8, 1960, he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, at 6816 Hollywood Boulevard and 1718 Vine Street. He used the stage name Robert Cummings from mid-1935 until the end of 1954 and was credited as Bob Cummings from 1955 until his death.

<i>Wintertime</i> (film) 1943 film by John Brahm

Wintertime is a 1943 Twentieth Century-Fox musical film directed by John Brahm and starring Sonja Henie and Cesar Romero. It also features Woody Herman and His Orchestra.

Edward Small was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Brewster's Millions (1945), Raw Deal (1948), Black Magic (1949), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Solomon and Sheba (1959).

<i>Broadway</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by William A. Seiter

Broadway is a 1942 crime drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring George Raft as himself and Pat O'Brien as a detective. The supporting cast features Janet Blair and Broderick Crawford.

<i>Kitten with a Whip</i> 1964 US crime drama film by Douglas Heyes

Kitten with a Whip is a 1964 American crime drama film directed by Douglas Heyes, who co-wrote the screenplay with Whit Masterson, a pseudonym for writers Robert Allison “Bob” Wade and H. Bill Miller, who also wrote the novel on which the film is based under the name Wade Miller. The film stars John Forsythe, Ann-Margret, Peter Brown, Patricia Barry and Richard Anderson.

<i>The Adventures of Marco Polo</i> 1938 adventure film directed by Archie Mayo

The Adventures of Marco Polo is a 1938 American historical adventure film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, and Basil Rathbone. It was one of the most elaborate and costly of Samuel Goldwyn's productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Carter</span> American actress (1923–2000)

Helena Carter was an American film actress in the 1940s and 1950s who is best known for her work in the film Invaders from Mars as Dr. Patricia Blake. From 1947 to 1953 she would appear in 13 films, during which time she also worked as a model.

<i>The Ladys from Kentucky</i> 1939 film by Alexander Hall

The Lady's from Kentucky is a 1939 film directed by Alexander Hall and starring George Raft and Ellen Drew. It was written by Malcolm Stuart Boylan from a story by Rowland Brown. The screenplay involves a failing bookie (Raft) who becomes half owner of a racehorse, with a Kentucky lady (Drew) owning the other half. ZaSu Pitts plays a supporting role.

<i>That Forsyte Woman</i> 1949 film by Compton Bennett

That Forsyte Woman is a 1949 American romantic drama film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Greer Garson, Errol Flynn, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Young and Janet Leigh. It is an adaptation of the 1906 novel The Man of Property, the first book in The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

<i>The Accused</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by William Dieterle

The Accused is a 1949 American melodrama film starring Loretta Young and Robert Cummings. It was directed by William Dieterle, produced by Hal Wallis, and written by Ketti Frings, based on Be Still, My Love, a 1947 novel written by June Truesdell. Wendell Corey appears in principal support.

<i>Three Smart Girls Grow Up</i> 1939 film

Three Smart Girls Grow Up is a 1939 American musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster, written by Felix Jackson and Bruce Manning, and starring Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey, and Helen Parrish. Durbin and Grey reprise their roles from Three Smart Girls, and Parrish replaces Barbara Read in the role of the middle sister. Durbin would reprise her role once more in Hers to Hold.

<i>It Started with Eve</i> 1941 film by Norman Krasna, Henry Koster, Joe Pasternak

It Started with Eve is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The film is considered by some critics to be Durbin's best film, and the last in which she worked with the producer and director who groomed her for stardom. It Started with Eve was remade in 1964 as I'd Rather Be Rich.

<i>Made in Paris</i> 1966 film by Boris Sagal

Made in Paris is a 1966 American romantic-comedy film starring Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna, Edie Adams, and Chad Everett. The film was written by Stanley Roberts and directed by Boris Sagal.

<i>Between Us Girls</i> 1942 film

Between Us Girls is a 1942 American drama film directed by Henry Koster and starring Diana Barrymore, Kay Francis, Robert Cummings, John Boles, Andy Devine, and Scotty Beckett.

<i>Tell It to the Judge</i> 1949 film by Norman Foster

Tell It to the Judge is a 1949 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Foster and starring Rosalind Russell as a divorcee who tries to get back her ex-husband, played by Robert Cummings.

<i>Istanbul</i> (film) 1957 film by Joseph Pevney

Istanbul is a 1957 American CinemaScope film noir crime film directed by Joseph Pevney, and starring Errol Flynn and Cornell Borchers. It is a remake of the film Singapore, with the location of the action moved to Turkey. The plot involves an American pilot who becomes mixed up with various criminal activities in Istanbul.

<i>My Lucky Star</i> (1938 film) 1938 film

My Lucky Star is a 1938 American romantic comedy film. This was Norwegian ice-skating Olympic champion Sonja Henie's fourth film.

<i>South of Pago Pago</i> 1940 American film

South of Pago Pago is a 1940 American South Seas adventure film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Victor McLaglen, Jon Hall and Frances Farmer.

<i>Free for All</i> (film) 1949 film by Charles Barton

Free for All is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Robert Cummings, Ann Blyth and Percy Kilbride.

References

  1. "United States Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit – Universal vs Cummings". Internet Archive. p. 93.
  2. Dick, Bernard K. (2015). City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures. University Press of Kentucky. p. 117. ISBN   9780813158891.
  3. Rio at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  4. "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Danielle Darrieux Will Star in 'Rio' for Universal-Film to Be Made in Autumn". New York Times. July 5, 1938. p. 13.
  5. Schallert, Edwin (Oct 25, 1938). "Bette Davis Goes Into Artistic Seclusion". Los Angeles Times. p. 19.
  6. "Hedda Hopper's HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. Jan 10, 1939. p. 11.
  7. "Hedda Hopper's HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. Mar 28, 1939. p. 14.
  8. DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL (Jun 29, 1939). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times.
  9. "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD". New York Times. Jul 21, 1939. ProQuest   103033197.
  10. "United States Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit – Cummings vs Universal 1944". Internet Archive. p. 565.
  11. Vagg, Stephen (29 October 2024). "Movie Star Cold Streaks: Robert Cummings". Filmink. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  12. Scott, John L. (Sep 21, 1939). "'Rio' Proves Outstanding Melodrama". Los Angeles Times. p. A9.
  13. FRANK S. NUGENT (Oct 27, 1939). "THE SCREEN: John Brahm's Direction Distinguishes 'Rio' at the Globe-". New York Times. p. 31.