Rio Rita (1929 film)
| Rio Rita | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Luther Reed |
| Produced by |
William LeBaron Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. |
| Written by | Luther Reed |
| Based on | the play by Guy Bolton and Frederick A. Thompson |
| Starring |
Bebe Daniels John Boles Bert Wheeler Robert Woolsey Dorothy Lee |
| Music by |
Victor Baravalle (director) Joseph McCarthy (lyrics) Harry Tierney (music) |
| Cinematography |
Robert Kurrle (Technicolor) Lloyd Knechtel |
| Edited by | William Hamilton |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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September 15, 1929 |
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Running time
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Originally 141 minutes; Surviving reissue print: 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $678,000 |
| Box office | $2,400,000 |
Rio Rita is a 1929 American Pre-Code RKO musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous. The film was the biggest and most expensive RKO production of 1929 as well as the studio's biggest box office hit until King Kong (1933). Its finale was photographed in two-color Technicolor. Rio Rita was chosen as one of the ten best films of 1929 by Film Daily.
Bert Wheeler plays Chick Bean, a New York bootlegger who comes to the Mexican town of San Lucas to get a divorce so he can marry Dolly (Dorothy Lee). After the wedding, Ned Levitt (Robert Woolsey), Chick's lawyer, informs Chick the divorce was invalid, and advises Wheeler to stay away from his bride.
The Wheeler-Woolsey plot is actually a subplot of the film, and the main story features Bebe Daniels (in her first "talkie") as Rita Ferguson, a south-of-the-border beauty pursued by both Texas Ranger Jim Stewart (John Boles) and local warlord General Ravenoff (Georges Renavent). Ranger Jim is pursuing the notorious bandit Kinkajou along the Rio Grande, but is reluctant to openly accuse Rita's brother, Roberto (Don Alvarado), as the Kinkajou because he is in love with Rita.
Ravenoff successfully convinces Rita to spurn Ranger Jim on the pretext that Jim will arrest Roberto. Rita unhappily agrees to marry Ravenoff to prevent him from exposing Roberto as the Kinkajou. Meanwhile, Wheeler's first wife, Katie (Helen Kaiser), shows up to accuse him of bigamy, but conveniently falls in love with Woolsey.
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