Rio Rita
About Rio Rita
Texas Ranger Jim Stewart (John Boles) hunts the bandit called the Kinkajou along the border and loves Rita Ferguson (Bebe Daniels), so he will not say her brother Roberto (Don Alvarado) is the outlaw. General Ravinoff (Georges Renavent) pushes Rita to marry him or he will expose Roberto. On Ravinoff's gambling barge the film switches to two-color Technicolor. Jim cuts the ropes so the barge drifts north of the Rio Grande. The Rangers take Ravinoff, who is the real Kinkajou. Roberto is a Mexican secret-service man. Jim and Rita marry. In the comic plot, bootlegger Chick Bean (Bert Wheeler) and lawyer Ned Lovett (Robert Woolsey) tangle with a bad divorce and a second wife.
Cast & crew
More about Rio Rita
Luther Reed directed. William LeBaron and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. produced. RKO released it on 15 September 1929. It was the studio's biggest and most expensive production that year, and its largest box-office hit until King Kong (1933). The finale was shot in two-color Technicolor. Harry Tierney wrote the music and Joseph McCarthy the lyrics of the 1927 Ziegfeld stage show.
Themes
Background
An RKO musical of 1929, taken from Ziegfeld's 1927 Broadway show and released in the first season of all-talking pictures.
Reviews
Film Daily named it one of the ten best films of 1929.
Look
Robert Kurrle photographed the Technicolor finale. Lloyd Knechtel is also credited.
Technique
The wedding on the barge and the finish were photographed in two-color Technicolor. The rest of the film is black and white.
Music
Victor Baravalle directed the music. Harry Tierney wrote the songs and Joseph McCarthy the lyrics, from the Ziegfeld score. The original roadshow track survives on Vitaphone discs.
Preservation
The usually seen copy is the 103-minute 1932 reissue. About five reels of the 141-minute original are believed lost. The roadshow soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs.
Notes
- Wheeler and Woolsey's first film in starring roles. The stage show had already paired them.
- The 1932 reissue runs 103 minutes, cut from 15 reels to 10.
- Film Daily put it among the 10 best films of 1929.
- The full roadshow soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs. Picture and sound survive for at least two numbers from the long version: "When You're In Love, You'll Waltz" and "The Kinkajou".
- A full-length print once at the Museum of Modern Art is lost or was stolen. About five reels are believed lost.
Scenes
- The picture turns to two-color Technicolor as the wedding starts on the barge.
- Jim cuts the ropes and the barge drifts north of the Rio Grande.
Influenced by
- The 1927 Ziegfeld stage musical Rio Rita
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Rio Rita (1929).webm)
