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Flying Down to Rio
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780780630154
Format: Black & White, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 0780630157
Label: Turner Home Ent
Languages: English (Original Language), AnalogPortuguese (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Turner Home Ent
Release Date: May 02, 2000
Running Time: 89 minutes
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Theatrical Release Date: December 29, 1933
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Editorial Review:
In 1933, RKO Pictures had the bright idea of pairing Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond for their new musical blockbuster, Flying Down to Rio. The film was a smash, but not for the reasons anyone expected. The fourth- and fifth-billed stars were an RKO bit player and a Broadway man breaking into Hollywood. Their names were Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and their pairing in this and eight subsequent RKO films would rewrite cinematic history. Most of Rio's screen time is spent on a humdrum romantic triangle involving Del Rio, Raymond, and Raul Roulien, but Fred (as Fred Ayres) and Ginger (as Honey Hayes) are still able to establish many of the trademarks of their later films. Ginger fronts the band (with Fred on accordian!) in the saucy "Music Makes Me," and Fred does some solo tap, then sings and leads the band for the spectacular airborne finale featuring chorus girls perched on the wings of biplanes. The heart of the film is "The Carioca," a company dance extravaganza that would be imitated by "The Continental" and "The Piccolino" in later films. Here Fred and Ginger take the floor together for the first time; their eyes meet and their foreheads touch. Their dance lasts only a few minutes, but it was the highlight of the film and audiences wanted more. The most prophetic moment occurs toward the beginning of the dance, when, after watching for a while, Fred grabs Ginger and tells her, "I want to try this. Come on, Honey." She declares, "We'll show 'em a thing or three." They did indeed. It was magic, and it was only the beginning. --David Horiuchi
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Pre Code musical launching Astaire and Rogers
"Flying down to Rio" was a large scale, for studio RKO, pre-code musical starring the long forgotton very blonde Gene Raymond and the very beautiful dark Dolores Del Rio. The reason why the film is remembered at all is due, of course, to the presence of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in supporting roles.
Del Rio strikes poses rather than acts (she did reach stardom in silent films) and Raymond is a spritely but hammy leading man. Astaire has some good lines and Rogers is still in the ... Read More
Rating: - Sappy but fun
This is a truly sappy musical; the sophistication in RKO musicals was a year away. But the film is a lot of fun, in large part because of the generally good music, slightly awkward musical numbers, the stunts, and the uncensored shots of lots of beautiful girls. Indeed, this movie may well have hastened the introduction of meaningful film censorship in 1934. Fred and Ginger don't, in fact, do very much together, but in retrospect you can see what's coming. As for stars Delores Del Rio and Gene ... Read More
Rating:  - The plot is thin--but it hatched Fred and Ginger !!!
Flying Down To Rio featured the great Delores Del Rio as Belinha De Rezende, a wealthy Brazilian young lady who must enter into an arranged marriage; and Gene Raymond playing Roger Bond, an American band manager who falls in love with her practically at first sight. RKO intended for Flying Down To Rio to be a vehicle for Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio. Rather unexpectedly, however, two other people stole the show: Fred Astaire as Fred Ayres, the band's accordionist and Ginger Rogers as Honey Hale. ... Read More
Rating: - Fred and Ginger's first film together...
Fred and Ginger are the main attraction in this film in which they had second billing to stars Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio, who is the most beautiful woman ever to have graced a Hollywood film.
The sets are incredible, especially the over-the-top Aviation Club with air motif decor and the band in motion, suspended above the patrons in a balloon-gondola. Zowie! This film, and that scene, prompted Stanley Donan to make the motion picture musical his life's work. We can understand ... Read More
Rating: - A delightful 1930's hallucination
Audiences wanted escapism then and boy did they get it! This film is far more surreal than anything coming out of Hollywood now. In fact, modern viewers accustomed only to contemporary films would be almost disoriented watching this, because we can't seem to bend reality to quite the same degree now.
A fun artificial dream world (and a dream Brazil) were joyfully created here with the purpose of removing the viewer from the real world. This film is a wonderful warm hallucination, not unlike a drug ... Read More
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