''That Night in Rio'' is a 1941

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

American musical comedy film directed by Irving Cummings and starring

Alice Faye Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as '' On the Avenue'' (1937) and ''Alexander's Ragtime ...

, Don Ameche (in a dual role as an American entertainer and an aristocratic businessman he is asked to impersonate temporarily) and

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The Br ...

. It is one of several film adaptations of the 1934 play ''The Red Cat'' by Rudolf Lothar and Hans Adler. Others are ''

Folies Bergère de Paris ''Folies Bergère de Paris'' is a 1935 American musical comedy film produced by Darryl Zanuck for 20th Century Films, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Maurice Chevalier, Merle Oberon and Ann Southern. At the 8th Academy Awards, the “Str ...

'' (1935) and '' On the Riviera'' (1951). The original songs for the film were written by the musical partnership of Harry Warren and

Mack Gordon Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American composer and lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years betwee ...

. These include: "Boa Noite", "They Met in Rio (A Midnight Serenade)", "Chica Chica Boom Chic" and " I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)".

Plot

Larry Martin ( Don Ameche) is an American entertainer in the Casino Samba in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. He has a skit in his show, making fun of the womanizing Baron Manuel Duarte (also Ameche). On one particular evening, the Baron and his wife, Baroness Cecilia Duarte (

) come to see Larry's impersonation. To the surprise of the couple, the act is amazingly realistic. Backstage, the Baron meets Larry's girlfriend, Carmen (

), and invites her to a party he is going to hold. Carmen declines. Later in the evening, Larry meets Cecilia and is attracted to her singing and her beauty. He does an impersonation of the Baron for her. But the real Baron receives a telegram that his airline is in danger because a contract is not being renewed and he has already purchased 51% of the stock. Needing money to repay the bank he borrowed it from, he flies down to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Larry is hired to play the Baron to confuse his rival, Machado ( J. Carrol Naish), but at the stock market, he buys the remainder of the airline stock. That evening, at the party, Larry is hired again to play the Baron. He does not want the Baroness to know, but Cecilia is informed without his knowing. He sweeps her off her feet and they stay close to each other for the remainder of the evening. Meanwhile, Carmen is furious to discover that Larry is at the party and decides to go there as well, where she discovers that he is impersonating the Baron. To make matter worse, the real Baron returns to his house, confusing all involved. Machado corners Larry instead and talks to him in French, which Larry can't understand. After the party, the Baron discovers that Cecilia was flirting with Larry for the evening and tries to play the joke on her. She, however, inadvertently turns the tables on him. To get back at his wife, the next morning, the Baron calls and tells Cecilia that his plane has just landed. Cecilia fears that she has been unfaithful to Manuel but Larry later tells her the truth. At the office, Machado gives the Baron a payment of $32 million for his airline, the topic of his conversation with Larry. The Baron heads home but Cecilia tries one more time to get back at him by pretending to make violent love (in the old-fashioned sense) to Larry. It turns out to be the Baron and all is soon resolved in the end.

Cast

* Don Ameche as Larry Martin / Baron Manuel Duarte *

as Baroness Cecilia Duarte *

as Carmen, Larry's girlfriend * S. Z. Sakall as Arthur Penna * J. Carrol Naish as Machado, Manuel Duarte's business rival *

Curt Bois Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in ''Casablanca'' (1942) and the poet Homer in ''Wings of Desi ...

as Felicio Salles *

Leonid Kinskey Leonid Kinskey (1893/1894 – September 8, 1998) was a Russian-born American film and television actor, best known for his role as "Sascha" in the film ''Casablanca'' (1942). His last name was sometimes spelled Kinsky. Life and career Kinskey ...

as Monsieur Pierre Dufond *

Frank Puglia Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian-American film actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including ''Casablanca'' (a Moroccan rug merchant), ''Now, Voyager'' and ''The Jungle Book''. ...

as Pedro, Manuel's valet * Lillian Porter as Luiza, Cecilia's maid *

Maria Montez María África Gracia Vidal (6 June 1912 – 7 September 1951), known professionally as Maria Montez, was a Dominican motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume ...

as Inez *

Georges Renavent Georges Renavent (born Georges DeChaux, April 23, 1892 – January 2, 1969) was a French-American actor in film, Broadway plays and operator of American Grand Guignol. He was born in Paris, France. In 1914, he immigrated to the United Stat ...

as Ambassador * Eddie Conrad as Alfonso *

Fortunio Bonanova Fortunio Bonanova, pseudonym of Josep Lluís Moll, (13 January 1895 – 2 April 1969) was a Spanish baritone singer and a film, theater, and television actor. He occasionally worked as a producer and director. According to Lluis Fàbregas Cuixar ...

as Pereira

Production

Photo Don Ameche, Alice Faye, and Carmen Miranda in THAT NIGHT IN RIO (1941)

The film was a follow-up to the successful '' Down Argentine Way'' and involved many of the same people. The movie's working titles were "A Latin from Manhattan", "Rings on Her Fingers", "They Met in Rio" and "The Road to Rio". According to ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' of November 15, 1940, Paramount objected to the proposed title The Road to Rio because it created confusion with that studio's '' Road to Zanzibar'' starring Bing Crosby and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

. That Night in Rio marked the sixth and final teaming of Don Ameche and

, one of Fox's most popular teams. Faye and Ameche recorded and filmed the song "

Chica Chica Boom Chic Chica, Chica, Boom, Chic is a song composed by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon (lyrics in Portuguese by Aloysio de Oliveira) and recorded by Carmen Miranda for her 1941 film ''That Night in Rio''. A recording by Xavier Cugat and His Waldorf-Astoria ...

" as a dance number, but only the sequence of Miranda and Ameche singing the song is in the released picture. Irving Cummings directed the screenplay by George Seaton, Bess Meredyth and Hal Long. According to a letter from studio head

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

, the script for That Night in Rio had been submitted to the Brazilian Ambassador in Washington, D.C., who approved it and described it as "the kind of picture that will be helpful to North and South America relations." A report in the

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

/ PCA filed noted that the picture was rejected for distribution in Ireland, although no reason was given.

Soundtrack

* "

" — Don Ameche and Carmen Miranda * "The Baron Is in Conference" — Mary Ann Hyde, Vivian Mason, Barbara Lynn, Jean O'Donnell * "The Conference" — Don Ameche * "They Met in Rio (A Midnight Serenade)" - Don Ameche (in Portuguese) and Alice Faye (in English) * "Cai Cai" — Carmen Miranda * " I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" — Carmen Miranda * "Boa Noite (Good-Night)" — Don Ameche, Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda

Reception

The film was released in theaters on April 11, 1941, to enthusiastic audiences and mildly appreciative critics, with Miranda stealing the notices. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that "Ameche is very capable in a dual role, and Miss Faye is eye-appealing, but it's the tempestuous Miranda who really gets away to a flying start from the first sequence." ''

'' described her as "vivid, fiery and tempestuous," and '' The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner'' wrote that she was "outfitted in smart, barbaric colors, waving articulate hips and rollicking through the most fun of her Hollywood career." The Sydney ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', said that "Apparently exotic Carmen Miranda's lips are as fascinating as her hands."

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' dryly noted that "In spite of its hot Latin rhythms and the presence of Carmen Miranda in the cast, ''That Night in Rio'' departs but little from the stock musical comedy formula, which inevitably sacrifices originality... In fact, the only departure of even slightly revolutionary degree is the employment of Don Ameche in dual roles, instead of his customary single one - and that, in the eyes of some people (including ourself), is hardly a step in the right direction." In a much later review for the '' Chicago Reader'' newspaper, Dave Kehr wrote: "Shrieking Technicolor and

are the main attractions in this routine Fox musical from 1941." The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: * 2006:

AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Holl ...

– Nominated

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:That Night In Rio 1941 films 1941 musical comedy films American musical comedy films 1940s English-language films American films based on plays Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) 20th Century Fox films Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Films directed by Irving Cummings Remakes of American films 1940s American films