Great production values highlight this musical comedy that revolves around a pair of misunderstandings that blossom to full effect.With her Debbie Reynolds looks and her operatic voice, Jane Powell is wonderful as 17-year-old Nancy Barklay, a budding actress. Her mother, Frances--also an actress--is played by Ann Sothern. The two of them are wonderful together. In fact the entire cast fits together nicely in this light-hearted story that deals with music more than romance. Barry Sullivan plays Paul Berten, the man who sort of comes between them. Louis Calhern is Frances' father, an old song and dance man himself. Carmen Miranda goes full fruit basket with a couple of catchy tunes. Hans Conreid is underused as the family butler.Technicolor brightens the screen and shows off some great sets, especially the family home in Rio. The wardrobe is striking.Jane Powell gets to display her classical credentials with a solo from La Boheme."Nancy Goes to Rio" is an enjoyable excursion designed to put a smile on the face of viewers. And it does just that.

Ann Sothern and Jane Powell play mother and daughter in Nancy Goes To Rio. Both are actresses, Sothern a star and Powell someone who would like to follow in the theater as her mother and grandfather Louis Calhern did. They both sing well, Jane in a much higher register.The plot here is rather silly as Brazilian playwright Fortunio Bonanova writes a work intended for Sothern, but Powell gets the idea the part is for her and she takes an ocean cruise and Sothern and Calhern take a plane to Rio De Janiero where all parts of the story both musical and romantic come together.We're asked here to believe that the worldly and sophisticated Barry Sullivan when he hears Jane rehearsing lines from the play will immediately think she's a girl in trouble. Not Jane Powell in 1950 by any stretch of the imagination.The silliness of the story which is a remake of the Deanna Durbin film It's A Date by the producer of both Joe Pasternak is made up for by the musical numbers. Powell and Sothern are in good voice and the best part of the film is the two songs done by Carmen Miranda. All of Miranda's films are made just a tad better by her being in them. Would MGM dare make a film set in Brazil without Carmen Miranda?For fans of Sothern and Powell and Carmen Miranda makes it good for everyone else.

Aspiring actress Jane Powell and mother and actress Ann Sothern find they're not only wanting the same play, but the same man in this musical comedy. Barry Sullivan is the man in question, who overhears Jane practicing her lines for a play, while sailing on a ship to Rio and is under the misapprehension that she is in the family way. So he proposes to her to keep her from being compromised. But when he sees her mother Ann Sothern, things get more complicated. I do agree with another reviewer that this is basically a pleasant little film, but for some reason, I had a problem with the storyline of his proposal and the love triangle. It all seemed a bit too ridiculous and frustrating to me. The highlights of the films really are the musical numbers, especially Carmen Miranda's. I really want to see this again, for two reasons, one to really give the film, on the whole, another shot, because the plot didn't seem to come off believable to me. (Maybe also, Barry Sullivan seemed too bland and not charming enough to make it believable that Jane Powell would fall for him. I don't know.) And, two, to see again the wonderful musical numbers. For what it is, it's enjoyable. But it's no Top Hat. Costarring Louis Calhern, this trip to Rio at least makes you forget your own problems and shows Carmen Miranda at her best!

Pleasant is a good word for this film. While not one of the top-five musicals, it is well made and enjoyable. Ann Sothern and Jane Powell play mother and daughter who fall for the same man while in South America (No location shoots here. The furthest south anybody working on this movie traveled was probably Long Beach). There are some interesting numbers here, in great part because some of the songs and styles included were rare by the time this movie was made. "Shine On Harvest Moon," an old song, is sung and danced by Sothern, Powell, and amazingly enough, Louis Calhern. "Time and Time Again" is a Nelson Eddy-Jeanette McDonald type number which features Sothern and is probably one of the last of that style to be filmed. The bulk of the musical numbers feature Jane Powell who sings well, as always. Yet, for me, the high point of the film is the number featuring Carmen Miranda. I think it's one of her best. This was Carmen Miranda's next-to-last film and also the last musical for Ann Sothern.