mburr-96579 My reason for posting a review is to counter in a small way the negative and what I consider to be be the hypercritical comments about such a wonderful and entertaining movie as Flying Down To Rio. Unfortunately there are some people who, on obtaining a soap box to air their views, go off on a tangent which has little or nothing to do with the subject on hand.these pseudo, erstwhile and would be experts attempt to show the world their knowledge . I would ask any fair minded person what's not to like about this movie.i first got it as a VHS tape and the other day I got it on DVD and played it twice.it is one of those movies which seems to improve with every viewing. I feel sorry for those people who criticize for the sake of criticizing.

kijii This is the first movie paring of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Although they only had third and fourth billings in the movie, and they only do one dance number together (a portion of "The Carioca"); the chemistry was enough to start the tradition that would lead to nine more movies with them as dancing co-stars. That, alone, would make this movie interesting from an historical perspective. But, this movie is loaded with fun, and there are two fantastic production pieces that must have made Busby Berkeley jealous. With songs by Vincent Youmans and choreography by Astaire and Hermes Pan, this is pure fantasy and one shouldn't expect anything less, for that's what 'makes the movie'!!The movie starts in a Miami hotel and ends in Rio. The story involves a love triangle among a bandleader/aviator (Gene Raymond), the heiress of a rich Brazilian hotel owner (Dolores Del Rio), and the rich Brazilian aviator that she is expected to marry (Raul Roulien). However, I am sure that I will watch this movie over and over JUST for the two elaborate— and I mean VERY elaborate--production pieces: "The Carioca," and "Flying Down to Rio." The song, "Orchids in the Moonlight," is also impressively sung by Roulinen to Del Rio, even though it was written by Raymond's character for Del Rio's character. Now, for the real fun: dozens of chorines dance, swing, and sway on airplane wings as their planes fly over an outdoor audience while the band (on the ground below) plays "Flying Down to Rio." Everything about this 'musical extravaganza stage in the clouds' is beyond the laws of physics and way beyond belief, but that just makes it all the more fun to watch."Flying down to Rio" is just a lot of fun.

vert001 The greatest miracle about FLYING DOWN TO RIO must be the fact that contemporary audiences were able to notice the brilliance of its fourth and fifth leads, who had relatively little to do in it. This was Fred Astaire's first real film (he'd briefly played himself in a Joan Crawford movie) and as such was crucial to his career. Already a major star on the New York and London stages (and before that in vaudeville), a failure with RIO might have sent him back to the stage permanently, which would have left Astaire nothing but a footnote to history. But FLYING DOWN TO RIO was a major hit with the public, and Fred was about to become a runaway sensation alongside Ginger Rogers, mixed blessing though that may have seemed to both of them.Eleven years younger than Astaire, Rogers was also a veteran of vaudeville and Broadway, but she also sported a fair amount of film experience, generally having played female leads in small pictures and supporting roles in major pictures over the previous three years, most notably in the mega-hits 42nd STREET and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933. She had just been signed to an exclusive contract by RKO and under that contract her first assignment would be to replace Dorothy Jordan in FLYING DOWN TO RIO. A very happy accident, though one would assume that she would soon enough have been teamed with Astaire as RKO really had no one nearly as natural a fit for dancing musicals as was Ginger.Vincent Youmans produced a very nice musical score for the picture, the highlight of which for me is 'Music Makes Me', the kind of bouncy, sexy, comical song that suited Ginger Rogers vocally (sung by her while wearing what must be the most revealing dress of Ginger's career!) while it also provides wonderful accompaniment to a terrific, if brief, tap dance solo from Fred Astaire, the dancing highlight of the film. Most famous, of course, is the lengthy Carioca number, something of a giant mess aesthetically, I'm afraid, and surely the least of all the Astaire/Rogers duets. There is also the final production number featuring scantily clad chorus girls on the wings of airplanes. It's not something you're likely to forget once you've seen it, also a bit of a mixed blessing in my opinion.For the rest, there isn't much. A nice joke concerning cannibals who turn out not to be so, some stirring vocalizing from Etta Motten, a pair of leads who are very pretty and nothing else, a guy who seemed to get lost in the movie and in Hollywood in general, Raul Roulien, who really isn't that bad if you can pay any attention to him. RIO is an obvious pre-Code film though not one of the best ones. It's obviously of interest to those interested in the partnership of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, though about the very last place you should look for their inimitable genius. It did what it was supposed to do for RKO: It got them out of bankruptcy, and inspired the pairing that would keep them out of bankruptcy for the rest of the decade. I suppose that not many films have ever been so successful as that.

atlasmb This film is entertaining for two reasons: the first teaming of Astaire and Rogers, and as a glimpse into the America of the early 1930s.Ginger Rogers was billed fourth in this film and Fred Astaire was fifth billed. Ginger appeared in ten films in 1933, whereas Fred was appearing in only his second Hollywood film. He was no stranger to the stage, but his film career was just beginning. The duo would eventually appear in ten films together, based upon their chemistry and her ability to follow his dance direction. In just a couple of years,they were performing much more sophisticated dances in more entertaining films.Flying Down to Rio also showcases many aspects of American culture at the time, including the corny witticisms and mugging that were considered hep humor. Also note the wing-walkers (in the aerial circus) and the reference to the Culbertson Sytem (a popular bridge bidding system). Check out the beautiful seaplane and the daring preCode fashions, some which are stunning, some which are tacky.The narrative of this film seems little more than an excuse to bring the characters (and the audience) to venues where dancing and singing can be showcased. The sets for the Carioca Casino and the Aviators Club were beautiful. The montage of Rio was like a 30s postcard.Speaking of montages, the performance pieces in Flying Down to Rio are typical of Busby Berkley spectaculars--montages of dancing, and groups of dancers in large production scenes. Compare the Astaire dance numbers which, in contrast, follow the dance performance in single or extended shots, emphasizing the technical excellence of the dancers. This technique of filming dance would revolutionize dance performance in film.The director looked to dazzle his audience with every variation of novelty cuts and what must have been seen as cutting-edge special effects (the images of performers on the wings of flying planes).Because the humor in the movie is played so broadly, the acting is not very good, but they got what they were aiming for--a light excuse for entertainment that was just what America wanted during the Great Depression.I am a fan of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, singly and in tandem. As an early snapshot of the beginnings of their film history, Flying Down to Rio is required viewing, I feel.