Escândalos na Riviera

I can't imagine why anyone would dislike this marvelous film. Danny Kaye does a superb job playing a double role, showing a subtlety of acting ability that some might not have thought he had. He is not, for once, cast like a complete fool. Don't get me wrong; he plays those parts well, and is often hysterically funny, as in The Inspector General and The Court Jester. In that picture he does get to play a part that is not a fool, as he is hypnotized into thinking himself a swashbuckling hero, but it is a role that calls for him to lampoon the part he is playing. In On The Riviera, however, he plays a genuine masterful leading male role: a millionaire French airplane manufacturer with a gorgeous wife who is worth the price of admission. His other role is a traditional Kaye role: an American comedian. The gimmick is that he is an almost perfect double for the suave French romantic lead. He really plays three roles, and the subtlety with which he distinguishes them is superb. He is the American comic, he is the French millionaire looking a little like Yves Montand, and he is the American comic successfully passing himself off as the millionaire, fooling the wife and the valet as well as the general public. The role reminds me of Yves Montand in Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe: he plays the millionaire and he plays a poor guy trying to break into show business by passing for the millionaire. All in all, a triumph for Danny Kaye, well decorated with gorgeous females.

On the Riviera is the third film made from a stage play called The Red Cat, the other two being L'homme des Folies Bergère (1935) with Maurice Chevalier and That Night in Rio (1941) with Don Ameche. The plot is an example of a genre that goes right back to Plautus and Shakespeare: the comedy and confusion that result when two people who happen to look identical keep getting mistaken for each other. In this case, the two people (both played by Danny Kaye) are a famous French transatlantic aviator and an American entertainer playing a club on the French Riviera. This seems like a very obscure film: it's not found in any of the half-dozen standard film guides I happen to have, though it's in IMDb.

The film, directed by Hollywood workmanlike director Walter Lang (who made a number of other 50s musicals, like this one now mostly forgotten,) is a semi-musical; that is, there are plenty of song and dance numbers, but they are all stage performances. The most interesting aspect of the film is its display of Kaye's multiple talents as a singer, dancer, comic and impressionist -- he's the sort of performer popular in the thirties through early sixties, but now seems an almost extinct species.

The film is an interesting period piece for its sumptuous female fashions and as an early example of what would become mainstream American Hollywood musical entertainment, and if you are interested in those topics, or in Kaye, this will be worth watching. Others may find it only moderately entertaining. There is some impressive landscape photography of the Riviera, though Hitchcock did this better in To Catch a Thief.

The 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-Ray DVD is of good audio and video quality.

Not all Danny Kaye films have lasted well. In my opinion the two that have are "The Court Jester" and "On The Riviera".

"On the Riviera" is a superbly mounted comedy, with gorgeous Riviera scenery, lavish sets, and some ravishingly beautiful women. The mistaken identity plot is an old one but there great scenes of confusion and some good and sometimes surprisingly suggestive dialogue, unusual for the time especially in a Danny Kaye movie.

Dance routines are imaginative and energetic with some statuesque and eager looking chorus girls. Gwen Verdon does a specialty number.

Thoroughly enjoyable, it stands up to repeat viewing.

When i was young i was a great fan of Danny Kaye.I even remember being taken to see him at the London Palladium.I saw all of his films and watched his TV shows when they were aired as BBC2s prime variety show when it opened in 1964.Now i look at films like these and wonder why.This is a tepid remake of Follies Bergere which starred Maurice Chevalier.The original was far funnier and had a couple of marvellous musical numbers.Unfortunately one has to say that one let alone two Kaye performances in this remake is too much.Lets be honest he just isn't funny.All of his routines we have already seen many times before this GE Walter Mitty.The musical numbers are long and drawn out and with more perspiration and inspiration.There must have been a reason why i liked him but i cant imagine why now.

Most actors and performers excel in one field, with maybe a second very good talent. Bing Crosby could croon, and add a little tap or soft shoe. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly could hoof up a storm, and often add a tune or melody. Frank Sinatra and others could sing, or play dramatic roles in films. Bob Hope and many other comics could toss in a little shuffle and/or tune with their comedy.

But, once in a while, a multi-talent comes along - like Danny Kaye. He could sing and dance, cavort and crack tongue-twisters, play it straight, and just put life and zest into a film. Movie goers since the mid-20th century have seen Kaye perform some or many of his talents in various movies. He displays them all here, in "On the Riviera." The plot in this film wasn't new or intriguing for then or now, but it was just the right venue to allow Kaye to show us his many talents.

Kaye's performance in a double role (impersonation) is far and away above that by actors in any other film (see Maurice Chevalier in "Folies Bergere de Paris," Yves Montand in "Let's Make Love," and Don Ameche in "That Night in Rio"). His comedic exchanges in this film are crisp as ever, and he shines in all his song and dance numbers, four of which were written and composed by his wife, Sylvia Fine, for this show. One particularly creative routine, "Popo the Puppet," lets Kaye show his exceptional physical versatility and talent as a dancer.

This isn't the best of Kaye's outright solo lead comedies. That honor belongs to "Knock on Wood" of 1954. In that, he had three major scenarios of tongue-twisters, long stretches of running funny dialog, and a number of superb disguises and impersonations that are hilarious. But "On the Riviera" is guaranteed to please anyone who has a funny bone to tickle.

One of the great attributes of the talented Danny Kaye was his ability to bring out the best in his co-stars and fellow performers. That shows as well in the performances of all the fine cast in this film. What a great performer and entertainer this man was - and global humanitarian as well. What great fun and enjoyment for those of us who love all these aspects of entertainment.

I didn't always recognize the greatness of Kaye's talent. In my younger years, I liked the more manly figures or accomplished voices in films. But as I watch films not seen for decades, and as I look for the best of the music and musicals for my family film library, I see Kaye as the much bigger all around talent - and top entertainer - that he was.

If you like great entertainment with song, dance, comedy and romance, you'll love "On the Riviera."