tavm Review of Road to Rio

Road to Rio (1947)

Road to Rio is another enjoyable series outing from Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour

[8/10 · 23 March 2016]

With this-the fifth in the Road series-there are a couple notable firsts: the first time Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour are billed above the title instead of after and the first time that Hope and Crosby are profit participants in a series entry as the copyright is assigned to them while the beginning logo says "A Paramount Release" instead of "Picture". Anyway, after a not very funny beginning involving a circus and a bike on a tightrope, the fun comes fast and furious after the boys stowaway on a ship to the title city with Ms. Lamour on board. Also on board is Gale Sondergaard as the villainess with one of her henchman played by Frank Faylen-a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, of which I always like to cite when someone involved in that one is involved in something else. Of previous Road players, Nestor Paiva-who was one of the bad guys in Road to Utopia-and Jerry Colonna-Hope's sidekick on radio who was also in Road to Singapore-return here. Also good to see The Andrews Sisters do a number with Bing and The Wiere Brothers do both comedy and music well. It's also the second consecutive time that Bob ends up with Dottie though here, it's not as nicely settled in as last time... In summary, Road to Rio is another highly enjoyable Road movie. Next up, Road to Bali.