Rio Rita (1929 film)

For other uses, see Rio Rita (disambiguation).

Rio Rita
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLuther Reed
Written byLuther Reed
Based onthe play
by Guy Bolton and
Frederick A. Thompson
Produced byWilliam LeBaron
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
StarringBebe Daniels
John Boles
Bert Wheeler
Robert Woolsey
Dorothy Lee
CinematographyRobert Kurrle (Technicolor)
Lloyd Knechtel
Edited byWilliam Hamilton
Music byVictor Baravalle (director)
Joseph McCarthy (lyrics)
Harry Tierney (music)
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • September 15, 1929 (1929-09-15)
Running time
Original release: 141 minutes;
Surviving reissue:
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$678,000[1]
Box office$2,400,000[1]

Rio Rita is a 1929 American pre-Code RKO musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey (Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in their first starring role in a film).[2] The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous. The film was the biggest and most expensive RKO production of 1929 as well as the studio's biggest box office hit until King Kong (1933).[3] Its finale was photographed in two-color Technicolor. Rio Rita was chosen as one of the 10 best films of 1929 by Film Daily.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference rko was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LATKing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).