En route vers Rio

"Road to Rio" is perhaps not the best of the "Road" films but I think it has the most entertaining interludes. Bing and the Andrews Sisters' rendition of "You Don't Have to Know the Language" is my favourite "Road" musical interlude. I love Bing's seemingly effortless movements and singing. Bing apparently rehearsed for many hours in order to make his dance movements look as though he had made them up on the spot. Of his singing he once said that he tried to make it seem to any man that he could sound as good whilst in the shower.His casual style masks his dedication to his craft. The Andrews Sisters performance is a match for Bing's class and style. Has any singing group sounded so right?

The second interlude is performed by the Wiere Brothers. I have never seen anything as charmingly eccentric and clever. Their routine has you guessing what they will come up with next and what comes next is unexpected and delightfully witty. I am so glad to have seen the brothers in "Road to Rio" because apparently there is very little of their routines on film.

It is also good to see Gale Sondergaard in a type of role she made her own - mysterious evil with a beautiful face and body. Disney used her as the model for the evil Queen in Sleeping Beauty. Sondergaard was to play the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz" until it was decided that the witch should be ugly. Sondergaard rejected the role and she was right. Her portrayals of evil were not the ugly kind; they were sensual, sophisticated, dark and hypnotic.