Rio Rita (1929 film)

Last updated

Rio Rita
RioRitaPoster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Luther Reed
Written byLuther Reed
Based onthe play
by Guy Bolton and
Frederick A. Thompson
Produced by William LeBaron
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Starring Bebe Daniels
John Boles
Bert Wheeler
Robert Woolsey
Dorothy Lee
Cinematography Robert Kurrle (Technicolor)
Lloyd Knechtel
Edited by William Hamilton
Music by Victor Baravalle (director)
Joseph McCarthy (lyrics)
Harry Tierney (music)
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • September 15, 1929 (1929-09-15)
Running time
Original release: 141 minutes;
Surviving reissue:
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$678,000 [1]
Box office$2,400,000 [1]

Rio Rita is a 1929 American pre-Code RKO musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. (Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in his first starring role). [2] The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous. The film was the biggest and most expensive RKO production of 1929 as well as the studio's biggest box office hit until King Kong (1933). [3] Its finale was photographed in two-color Technicolor. Rio Rita was chosen as one of the 10 best films of 1929 by Film Daily .

Contents

Plot

Bert Wheeler plays Chick Bean, a New York bootlegger who comes to the Mexican town of San Lucas to get a divorce so he can marry Dolly (Dorothy Lee). After the wedding, Ned Lovett (Robert Woolsey), Chick's lawyer, informs Chick the divorce was invalid, and advises Wheeler to stay away from his bride.

The Wheeler-Woolsey plot is actually a subplot of the film, and the main story features Bebe Daniels (in her first "talkie") as Rita Ferguson, a south-of-the-border beauty pursued by both Texas Ranger Jim Stewart (John Boles) and local warlord General Ravinoff (Georges Renavent). Ranger Jim is pursuing the notorious bandit Kinkajou along the Mexico–United States border, but is reluctant to openly accuse Rita's brother, Roberto (Don Alvarado), as the Kinkajou because he is in love with Rita.

Ravinoff successfully convinces Rita to spurn Ranger Jim on the pretext that Jim will arrest Roberto. Rita unhappily agrees to marry Ravinoff to prevent him from exposing Roberto as the Kinkajou. Meanwhile, Bean's first wife, Katie (Helen Kaiser), shows up to accuse him of bigamy, but conveniently falls in love with Lovett.

At this point, the film switches into Technicolor. During the wedding ceremony aboard Ravinoff's private gambling barge, Ranger Jim cuts the craft's ropes so that it drifts north of the Rio Grande. The Texas Rangers storm the barge, arrest Ravinoff as the real Kinkajou just in time to prevent the wedding, and Roberto is revealed to be a member of the Mexican Secret Service. Jim takes Rita's hand in marriage and Roberto escorts Ravinoff back to Mexico for trial. [4]

Principal cast

Production notes

Songs

Release and reception

Rio Rita was a box-office success. Earning an estimated profit of $935,000, it was RKO's biggest grossing film of 1929. [1] [5] It was also generally well received by critics. In its review of the film at the time, Photoplay praises it as nearly "the finest of the screen musicals" and commends director Reed for managing well a "difficult assignment". [7] However, Mordaunt Hall, critic for The New York Times in 1929, expresses disappointment with Reed's direction. "(He) has contented himself in making virtually an audible animated photographic conception of the successful Ziegfeld show," writes Hall, who notes too that Daniels, though capable, was "not up to the standard set by Ethlin Terry in the stage version". Hall does, however, express an appreciation for the "lavish" production values of an otherwise thinly plotted motion picture that offers few "cinematic turns". [2]

Preservation

Five reels of the film are believed to be lost. The 103-minute version that is generally available is the re-release from 1932, which had been edited significantly and had reduced the length of the original film from 15 reels to only 10 reels. This is the print that is currently being broadcast on cable by Turner Classic Movies, which is missing about 40 minutes of footage. New York's Museum of Modern Art once had a print of the full-length Rio Rita, but that print was lost or possibly stolen from the museum's archives. The entire soundtrack for the original roadshow version of the film survives on Vitaphone disks. Both picture and sound for at least two musical numbers from the long version are also known to survive: "When You're In Love, You'll Waltz" and "The Kinkajou".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bebe Daniels</span> American actress, singer, dancer, writer, producer (1901–1971)

Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.

Rio Rita may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheeler & Woolsey</span> American vaudeville comedy double act

Wheeler & Woolsey were an American vaudeville comedy double act who performed together in comedy films from the late 1920s. The team comprised Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of New Jersey and Robert Woolsey (1888–1938) of Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Wheeler</span> American actor (1895–1968)

Albert Jerome Wheeler was an American comedian who performed in Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and vaudeville acts. He was the comedy partner of Robert Woolsey, and together they formed a successful double act called Wheeler & Woolsey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Woolsey</span> American comedian (1888–1938)

Robert Rolla Woolsey was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey.

<i>Dixiana</i> (film) 1930 film directed by Luther Reed

Dixiana (1930) is a lavish American pre-Code comedy, musical film directed by Luther Reed and produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The final twenty minutes of the picture were photographed in Technicolor. The film stars Bebe Daniels, Everett Marshall, Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Joseph Cawthorn, Jobyna Howland, Ralf Harolde, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Dorothy Lee. The script was adapted by Luther Reed from a story by Anne Caldwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Boles (actor)</span> American actor (1895–1969)

John Boles was an American singer and actor best known for playing Victor Moritz in the 1931 film Frankenstein.

<i>Rio Rita</i> (musical) 1927 stage musical

Rio Rita is a 1927 stage musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson, music by Harry Tierney, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. This musical united Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey as a comedy team and made them famous.

<i>Rio Rita</i> (1942 film) 1942 comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon

Rio Rita is a 1942 American comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Abbott and Costello. It was based upon the 1927 Flo Ziegfeld Broadway musical, which was previously made into a 1929 film also titled Rio Rita that starred the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. Kathryn Grayson and John Carroll replace the 1929 version's Bebe Daniels and John Boles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges Renavent</span> American actor and film director (1892–1969)

Georges Renavent was a French-American actor in film, Broadway plays and operator of American Grand Guignol. He was born in Paris, France. In 1914, he immigrated to the United States, crossing the frontier between Canada and Vermont.

<i>The Stolen Jools</i> 1931 film

The Stolen Jools is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy short produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by film stars of the day. The stars appeared in the film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, to raise funds for the National Vaudeville Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The UCLA Film and Television Archive entry for this film says—as do the credits—that the film was co-sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes to support the "fine work" of the NVA sanitarium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Lee (actress)</span> American actress and comedian

Dorothy Lee was an American actress and comedian during the 1930s. She appeared in 28 films, usually appearing alongside the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Barry</span> English actress (1908–1954)

Phyllis Barry was an English film actress. Born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Seth Henry and Bertha Hillyard, Barry appeared in over 40 films between 1925 and 1947.

<i>The Cuckoos</i> (1930 film) 1930 film by Paul Sloane

The Cuckoos is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical comedy film released by RKO Radio Pictures and partially filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Directed by Paul Sloane, the screenplay was adapted by Cyrus Wood from the 1926 Broadway musical The Ramblers by Guy Bolton, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. The film stars Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, and while they had appeared on Broadway and in other films together, this was their first time starring as a team. The success of this picture, combined with Rio Rita being their most successful film of 1929, convinced the studio to headline them as the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey, through 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Harold Murray</span> American actor (1891–1940)

J. Harold Murray was an American baritone singer and actor. For more than a decade, during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to the development of musical theater by bridging vaudeville, operetta and the modern American musical. The most popular American songs he introduced on Broadway included "Autumn in New York" ; "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee" and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" ; "Rio Rita", "The Kinkajou" and "The Rangers Song" ; and "Mandalay".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark and McCullough</span> 1920s–30s US comedy duo

Clark and McCullough were a comedy team consisting of comedians Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough. They starred in a series of short films during the 1920s and 1930s. Bobby Clark was the fast-talking wisecracker with painted-on eyeglasses; Paul McCullough was his easygoing assistant named Blodgett.

<i>Caught Plastered</i> 1931 film

Caught Plastered is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film, released by RKO Radio Pictures and starring the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey.

<i>Love Comes Along</i> 1930 film

Love Comes Along is a 1930 American romantic film directed by Rupert Julian, written by Wallace Smith, based on the uncompleted play Conchita by Edward Knoblock. It was a vehicle specifically picked to highlight the vocal talents of Bebe Daniels, which also starred Lloyd Hughes and Montagu Love. It made a profit of $258,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Trevor</span> American actor (1903–1933)

Hugh Trevor was an American actor whose short career began at the very end of the silent era in 1927. He would appear in nineteen films in the scant six years during which he was active. He did not fare well with the advent of talking pictures, and retired from the industry in 1931. His life was cut short when he unexpectedly died from complications following appendectomy surgery in 1933.

Lee Marcus, also known as Lee S. Marcus, was an American film producer of the 1930s and 1940s. During his fifteen-year career he produced over 85 films, most of them between 1934 and 1941 while he was at RKO Studios. Prior to his production career, Marcus worked for FBO and then RKO as a sales executive, reaching the level of vice president in both organizations. At RKO, he was head of production of the studio's b-films during the late 1930s and the beginning of the 1940s. He was also responsible for producing what many consider to be the first film noir, 1940's Stranger on the Third Floor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jewell, Richard (1994). "RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14 (Supplement 1). doi:10.1080/01439689408604545.
  2. 1 2 Hall, Mordaunt (October 7, 1929). "Rio Rita (1929)". New York Times . Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  3. King, Susan (December 2, 2009). "Warner Archive Releases Early Musicals". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  4. Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN   0-634-00765-3 page 9
  5. 1 2 Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 20. ISBN   0-517-546566.
  6. 1 2 "Rio Rita: Detail View". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute, Los Angeles, California. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  7. "Rio Rita—RKO". Photoplay (New York City and Chicago). XXXVI (6): 52. November 1929. Retrieved March 15, 2015.

See also