Flying Down to Rio

Flying Down to Rio
Film poster by Harold Seroy
Directed byThornton Freeland
George Nicholls Jr. (associate)
Ray Lissner (assistant)
Screenplay byCyril Hume
H.W. Hanemann
Erwin Gelsey
Story byLou Brock
Based on1933 unpublished play
by Anne Caldwell
Produced byMerian C. Cooper
Lou Brock
StarringDolores del Río
Gene Raymond
Ginger Rogers
Fred Astaire
CinematographyJ. Roy Hunt
Edited byJack Kitchin
Music bySongs - Music:
Vincent Youmans
Songs - Lyrics:
Gus Kahn
Edward Eliscu
Score:
Max Steiner
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • December 21, 1933 (1933-12-21) (New York)
[1]
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$462,000[2]
Box office$1,545,000[2]
A couple in traditional pre-code pose
Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond in the film
A movie trailer card featuring two performers
The first screen announcement of the Astaire–Rogers partnership, in the trailer for Flying Down to Rio

Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although lead actors Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing. Among the featured players are Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore. The songs in the film were written by Vincent Youmans (music), Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu (lyrics), with musical direction and additional music by Max Steiner. During the 7th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the new category of Best Original Song for "Carioca", but it lost to "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee, the next Astaire and Rogers film (and their first with top billing).

The black-and-white film, which had a color-tinted sequence,[3] was directed by Thornton Freeland and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Lou Brock. The screenplay was written by Erwin S. Gelsey, H. W. Hanemann and Cyril Hume, based on a story by Lou Brock and a play by Anne Caldwell. Linwood Dunn did the special effects for the celebrated airplane-wing dance sequence at the end of the film. In this film, Dolores del Río became the first major actress to wear a two-piece women's bathing suit onscreen.[4]

The film follows composer Roger Bond as he falls in love with Brazilian woman Belinha De Rezende, although she is actually already engaged to a friend of Roger's. Roger's bandmate Fred Ayres and Ayres' companion Honey Hales support Roger through various musical misadventures.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference open was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p. 55
  3. ^ Croce, Arlene (1972). The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book.
  4. ^ History of Sex in Cinema: The Greatest and Most Influential Sexual Films and Scenes