Rio Rita

Lesser A&C romp. The boys are in Mexico, where they get mixed up with Nazi agents.

This was the boys first production at MGM and frankly it looks like the big-budget studio wasn't sure how to duplicate the team's surging success over at Universal. That whirling car- lift is a heck of an effect, but is more impressive than funny. Then too, operatic singer Kathryn Grayson seems an odd choice for musical interludes in a knock-about comedy. In fact, it's a more high-profile supporting cast than usual, with John Carroll (Ricardo) getting as much screen time as A&C.

There are, of course, some amusing bits as could be expected from the duo (mainly the puns), but the Nazi part is left sketchy without the menace it should have provided Costello's brand of comedy. This also looks like a try-out for the Volusia dancers. Their costumes are eye-catchers, but this is their only movie credit. Of the three MGM productions (Lost in a Harem, {1944}), and (A&C in Hollywood, {1945}), this one in my view is the least. All in all, they really did belong at low-budget Universal where there was less concern with prestige.

Rio Rita used to run on TV along with the other Abbott and Costello features back in the 1970s, but it seemed to disappear in the video age. It has shown up recently on cable in what looks to me like a well restored version.

Bud and Lou get mixed up with Nazi spies while working at a ranch hotel in the desert. It's got some decent gags and some good songs, but I think most people will enjoy it because it looks good. There are good southwestern sets, good scenes of the Rangers riding along singing, and Bud and Lou are still in their youth. It's not the best Abbott and Costello movie you'll ever see. This was their first feature with MGM, and they were better with Universal, but I missed this one from the TV days, so I was happy to finally see it again.

Corny but likable Abbott and Costello comedy about the duo working at a dude ranch and discovering a Nazi plot (this was filmed during WWII after all). Most of the the comedy is their usual Who's-On-First-like word play and like a lot of Marx Brothers and other comedy pictures of the time, this one features several musical numbers. You also have Tom Conway and Kathryn Grayson, so there's a solid supporting cast, for this otherwise forgettable but entertaining enough of Abbott and Costello picture.

Best friends Doc (Bud Abbott) and Wishey (Lou Costello) get fired from their jobs. They sneak into a car trunk thinking it's a ride to NYC. Instead, they arrive in a Texas resort border town and stumble upon a Nazi spy ring.

Abbott and Costello are basically in their own movie as the story unfolds. They are a duet while the rest of the movie is playing different tunes. I don't mind it that much since I like the duet plenty. It's not perfect but I like the idiotic banter. Costello is always good for some fun idiocy. If only the movie is about them...

Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson.

Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

Abbott & Costello's three MGM films (RIO RITA, LOST IN A HAREM and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN Hollywood) are slicker, more polished and slightly more sophisticated in tone than their Universal series begun with BUCK PRIVATES. They also lack the brash energy that makes those films so enduring in entertainment value.

Even so, one personally finds RIO RITA to be one of the better movies the classic comedy team were associated with. It must, however, be approached with the understanding that it is a Musical with comedy rather than the other way around.

RIO RITA is an updated, entirely re-written version of Florenz Ziegfeld's comic operetta, previously filmed in 1929 with star comics Wheeler and Woolsey repeating their roles from the Broadway blockbuster.

Bud and Lou receive first billing due to their great popularity, but the new production is a primarily a vehicle for pretty young soprano Kathryn Grayson (ANCHORS AWEIGH, SHOW BOAT, KISS ME KATE!) who was then being groomed for MGM stardom as an answer to Universal's Deanna Durbin. Hence the focus is on Grayson who performs several good songs (including two from the original show) and an operatic aria which displays her formidable vocal ability.

Even more than A&C's other early movies, comedy takes rather a back seat to music and romance. Even the dated dramatic situation involving Nazis infiltrating a Western ranch, original to this version, is secondary to the charms of the leading lady.

RIO RITA is, not unlike Abbott and Costello's introductory Musical Comedy film ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS, a matter of taste. Fortunately, it is a taste that can be acquired. Personally, one loves Musicals, is fond of Kathryn Grayson and is an admirer of Abbott & Costello; therefore one was thoroughly primed to enjoy this. The movie is recommended to all fans of the comedy team, but some may need several viewings, music and all, to come to terms with it.

Rating: GOOD.