Flying Down to Rio

I gave this "Fred Astaire" comedy-romance-musical higher marks than normal because the romance, usually the sappy part of the Astaire films, doesn't dominate as it does most of his movies.

As usual, there are a number of interesting dance scenes including a spectacular Busby Berkeley-type production on the wings of airplanes. That scene has to be seen to be believed, not just for the uniqueness of it but for the bra-less women pictured! Yikes, it's not something you expect to see with a classic film - and you wouldn't see for another 35 years. It's pretty amazing.

I really shouldn't label this an "Astaire film " because Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond are the two stars. Astaire is a close third. Raul Roulien would be next while Ginger Rogers just has a small role.....but it IS noteworthy for being the first time all of us saw the famous Astaire-Rogers pairing.

The comedy in this film also is pretty good. The best parts of the film are the beginning and end. The fadeout segways in here reminded of silent films, which weren't that long removed from this.

The first pairing of Astaire and Rogers, playing second leads to Dolores DelRio and a slightly strabismic Gene Raymond. What music and what dancing!!! And the scenery of 1933 Rio is worth seeing. The story is slight, the acting is slighter but who cares when Astaire and Rogers take the floor for the Carioca. How silly is the concept of a bunch of girls strapped to the wings of airplanes performing over the hotel? But again, who cares?...it's history on film as the seminal appearance of the most famous dance team in the movies. The supporting players are good but what became of Raul Roulien?.....the rest are familiar to fans of old movies. Love the music,(even Orchids in the Moonlight)and especially the title tune which is rather forgotten now. Step back in time and enjoy this dated, but absolutely wonderful film. You won't be sorry and maybe you will dance the Carioca!!

This movie is typical of its time in the 'two guys and a girl' storyline, this time over the alluring Doleres del Rio (scarily, she looked much the same as this as Elvis Presley's mother in 'Flaming Star' years later). Gene Raymond plays the conniving bandleader who chases her from Miami to Rio, with an impromptu island stop en route.

There are some nice touches (the ghostly 'consciences' of Raymond and del Rio for one, the back projection of orchids and palm trees showcasing her thoughts as her local hick boyfriend sings 'Orchids in the Moonlight') but of course the real interest of this movie is for two reasons - one, the clever and inventive acrobatic stuff with the girls tied to aeroplane wings etc over a new nightspot; and two, the first screen teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who light up the movie with 'The Carioca'. Fred may have been far from a looker but there is no denying his talent and there was certainly ample chemistry with Rogers for the teaming to work. They'd go on to brighter and better things through the 30s, but this film is fun.

Howard Hughes, oh how we needed you.

From other sources you will have learned that this is pretty sexy stuff in terms of transparent clothes; not a bra on the hundreds of candidates. And the original dirty dancing before it was outlawed, and that crack about what Brazilian women have "below the equator." Also, you will have heard about this being the first Astaire-Rogers pairing.

You may not have heard of one of the most racially respectful scenes I know from the era: a couple land on a supposedly deserted island and the woman is frightened by what she thinks are natives. Turns out one comes out of the woods. He's playing golf and while shirtless (in order to make the joke work) speaks English normally and carries himself like a regular man. Its the reverse joke of what you'd usually see in bugeyed stepinfetchits.

But what I find fascinating is the way sex, romance, money and music are all somehow related to aviation. Our hero, we are told is heir to a fortune if only he would give up his music and planes. But it is plain that he does it because of the women. And by that we know he means sex, only sex. We first see him as he climbs out of his plane, which has a piano stuffed in it. Now think about that a minute.

This is what technology meant in those days: adventure, charm, bodily pleasure. And its what the sort of music we see in films was supposed to imply as well. If you do not see this, let me describe the climax. Scores of scantily clad women are strapped to what looks like a dozen small planes to perform choreographically as best you can when bolted down. Every shot you can take of a woman's body is presented, along with a wingload of errant nipples. I can just imagine the smiles when they thought it up.

There's something else to watch for. This has the most elaborate transitions I believe I have seen for any film. They really are amazingly varied and so copious they are as much a feature as Fred's dancing.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

There was a golden age of cinema lasting only four or five years - from the end of the silent era to the beginning of the Hays Code, the severe censorship rules which sought to turn cinema from naughty to nice, but in actuality sapped them of their truth and energy.

`Flying Down to Rio' is a classic pre-Hayes code talkie, and its characters have a quality of frankness which endears them to modern audience far more than many later films, whose stilted, conservative quality is somewhat alienating. You'd be surprised at what they could get away with in those days - it would be forty years before a film could get away with a line like that spoken by a starlet of her South American rivals - `What have those girls got below the equator that we haven't got?'

The film, about a love triangle between a Brazilian woman and two members of a swing band, is of course famous for two things - the slightly surreal sequence in which showgirls ride a biplane down to Rio in Busby Berkley-esque formation, and the debut of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a screen team. It's no wonder that audiences fell in love with the duo, whose `Carioca' is the highlight of the film.

They only made them like this for a little while - more's the shame!