Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 black and white musical "romance" film (I'm hesitant to call it that) that follows Gene Raymond, who falls in love with Dolores Del Rio. He gets his band fired from a gig, and offers to fly her back to Brazil, but they get stranded on an island, fall in "love," get into a fight, and split up. Gene Raymond soon gets back to Brazil, and meets Dolores Del Rio's fiance. Complications ensue, including her father's new hotel, but they soon get back together.So, Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio's romance is unbelievable. He dances with her once, then they get stranded on an island. He purposefully sabotages his plane so he can spend more time with her, instead of getting her back to Brazil. I guess they make out? Then they fight, and he hits her, then once they're back in Brazil....she's in love with him?Okay?I don't understand why Dolores Del Rio didn't just stay with her fiance. He seemed like a caring guy who actually loved her. Gene Raymond saw her, didn't even know her name, and fell for her just for her looks. He didn't even know anything about her.Now Gene Raymond's character is awful and unlikable. He constantly gets his band fired from gigs because all he cares about is sex/women. He feels little sympathy afterwards, and just continues his ways every time. Besides that, I really can't tell you anything else about his character. He likes sex. He's a "bandleader." He abandons Fred Astaire in Miami so he can take Dolores Del Rio with him instead of him.At least Gene Raymond actually HAS a character. Dolores Del Rio is so bland and has no personality. She's only there for Gene Raymond to fall for. No character, at all. She really doesn't do much the whole film, either. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are easily the best characters in the movie, even if they do have little personality. At least they have more than Dolores Del Rio. Ginger Rogers is a wise cracker. Fred Astaire wants to keep Gene Raymond in line so they don't get fired. I wish they had more screen time, because their "romance/friendship" was so much more believable. You know that they traveled together for a long time, and must've built up some chemistry.And as this is a Rogers/Astaire film, the dancing is amazing. The "Carioca" number is easily the best scene in the movie, and of course, they dance beautifully. But sadly, that was their only dance together in the movie, because of course, we had to make time for Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio. Ginger Roger's "Music Makes Me" number in the beginning is kind of weak, but it was still catchy and enjoyable. I really don't like her singing voice that much, but the song is still pretty fun."Orchids in the Moonlight" is a sweet, romantic ballad. I liked it when Dolores Del Rio's fiance sang it to her.The end, where the girls were dancing on the planes, was a pretty fun sequence, but in my opinion, it was a bit too short.The humor was somewhat funny. I never had any laugh out loud moments, but I smiled a lot, especially at Ginger's Roger's comments and the scene where Fred Astaire was carried out of the bakery.All in all, this movie wasn't good. Paper thin plot and unlikable/virtually non existent characters were abundant. But the dance numbers were amazing, and some of the humor worked. So if this movie wasn't a musical, I would probably hate it and give it a one star. But at least we had a fun dance number, some okay humor, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So, I don't recommend it, but if you're a die hard Astaire/Rogers fan, just watch it (even though they're not even main characters.) But if you're new to them, I recommend watching Top Hat, Swing Time, Follow the Fleet, or Shall We Dance first.

So-so musical notable for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Unfortunately they aren't the stars of this, just supporting players. The stars are Gene Raymond and Dolores del Rio. Band leader Gene falls for Dolores but she's already in an arranged engagement. Not very interesting (the stars or the romance). The support outshines the leads in this case, with Fred and Ginger displaying their likable personalities and that classic screen chemistry. Fred has a nice dance number and Ginger gets to sing a tune early in the movie wearing a dress with a plunging neckline that's pretty sexy stuff. Later they have a fun dance number together to a song called "The Carioca." That's one of two great numbers in the film; the other being the climactic sequence with girls dancing on airplane wings. See it for those two numbers or for the Fred & Ginger scenes, which are always fun.

From little acorns...Best known as the first on-screen pairing of Astaire and Rogers, I forgot that they were only playing supporting characters here, leaving me occasionally scratching my head at their extended absence from the film. Of the two, Fred gets far more screen-time. Their parts of frontline competing lovers in fact are taken by the named leads, the rather anodyne Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio. The other points of interest for me were the occasional camera tricks involved, for example when Raymond and Del Rio are tormented by their consciences and the off-screen depiction of the sinister gentlemen-financiers conspiring against the hotel's success, as well as the pre-Hays Code values (or lack of same) on show, quite literally on occasions, indeed our first view of Ginger sees her apparently dancing in a see-through negligee, not to mention the scantily-clad girl wing-walkers improbably assembled on the squadron of planes flown in for the big opening night.The story is typical light-comedy fluff, although I'm not sure I agreed with the conclusion which has Raymond breaking up the engagement of Del Rio and her Brazilian fiancé. The songs aren't exactly of the quality of a Kern, Gershwin or Berlin with one of them boasting, if that's the right word, the memorable phrase "wicky, wacky, wicky" to rhyme with "tricky", naturally. The humour is a bit forced at times but again there are one or two racy ribald moments which catch the ear. There's certainly a degree of ambition in some of the camera shots, particularly the extended Astaire and Rogers number "The Carioca" and the air-show at the end, obvious as the projection work is to modern eyes although some of the stunts are hilarious in their execution, notably the flying save of the girl who falls from the airborne trapeze, trust me this does happen!Otherwise the wooden doe-eyed acting of the leads and their stiff, prissy dialogue at times, plus the light-operatic musical style of some of the numbers makes the movie a little hard-going at times, but Fred and Ginger just about make it watching all the way through. I can't think when I'll ever wish to see another film starring Raymond or Del Rio but as the springboard for the greatest dance partnership in movies, I guess this feature serves its purpose.

Flying Down to Rio (1933)This is the debut picture for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Neither is top billing (they are 5th and 4th, respectively), but they made enough of an impression to get their own movies from here on. See this if just for a bit of history.Astaire in particular steals the show, but even Rogers is more compelling than the leading lady, who is made to be pretty but a bit stiff. The leading man is also a tad boring, and Astaire steals every scene from him, even when he's not dancing.And when they dance? Sparks and fireworks.Why else see the movie? Well, not for the boilerplate plot, and not for the rest of the cast in particular. Or the direction. But wait, there is a ten minute climax that is worth every minute. Amazing, cheesy, sexist, wonderful stuff (depending on your vantage point). The female dancers start getting strapped in (yes!), to the tops of simple airplanes, around 1:12:10 into the film. (The young women even make slightly suggestive comments about it, glad that their "parents" don't know about this). Then the planes take off and the weirdest funniest choreography takes over, with some of the most absurd costumes (propellor hats, little planes around the collar, and even some clothes that the wind tears off with parachutes). It's bad and terrific because it's so bad. Meaning it's really rather good. Remember, this is a 1930s musical. And so the movie goes. It's pre-code, so there is a hint of liberty with the relationships that won't occur in later Astaire/Rogers films (and I don't mean between them, but between the two leads). There is some good music, too, including genuine seeming Brazilian jazz/pop from 1933, a dance and style called the Carioca. Of course, American pre-swing styling known as the foxtrot wins the day. All is always well in these kinds of musicals.Check it out. Not a masterpiece, but with some historic and quite fantastic moments. And never a dull patch.