Silver Screen Standards: That Night in Rio (1941)

Silver Screen Standards: That Night in Rio (1941)

I turn to Fox’s cheerful Technicolor musicals whenever I really need a morale booster, and That Night in Rio (1941) is one my favorites. Directed by Irving Cummings, this effervescent musical comedy has more plot than some of its peers but plenty of songs from the studio’s most reliable singing stars, with Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda in the lead roles. The talented cast, catchy songs, and lively comedy combine to make a truly entertaining picture, even if its vision of Rio is pure soundstage fiction. Watching That Night in Rio is the cinematic equivalent of Vitamin C; everything about it is fun, bright, and lively, but best of all is a scene-stealing performance from the incomparable Carmen Miranda, who moves up to leading lady status alongside her frequent Fox costars.

Don Ameche stars in a dual role as both American actor Larry Martin and lookalike playboy Baron Manuel Duarte, with Larry impersonating the Baron after a shady business scheme lands the Baron and his colleagues in big trouble. Larry is keen to take the job in order to romance the Baron’s beautiful American wife, Cecilia (Alice Faye), even though his hands are already full with his jealous girlfriend, Carmen (Carmen Miranda). While the Baron’s suspicious business rival Machado (J. Carrol Naish) watches for signs of financial weakness, the Baron’s pals (S.Z. Sakall, Leonid Kinskey, and Curt Bois) try to keep Larry from being discovered, but Larry seems more interested in wooing Cecilia.

The plot of That Night in Rio is hardly original, as it’s one of several films based on the 1934 play, The Red Cat. Maurice Chevalier, Ann Sothern, and Merle Oberon had starred in a 1935 adaptation called Folies Bergère de Paris, and in 1951 Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney, and Corinne Calvet would revisit the material in On the Riviera. For the 1941 version, the setting was moved to Rio de Janeiro as part of Hollywood’s charm offensive toward South America; the United States’ “Good Neighbor Policy” encouraged positive depictions of North and South American relations, which led to similar Fox movies like Down Argentine Way (1940), Week-End in Havana (1941), and The Gang’s All Here (1943), as well as Disney’s Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944). You don’t have to be aware of the material’s history or the propaganda angle to enjoy the movie, but it’s worth noting that Fox gave Carmen Miranda more opportunities as part of its effort to woo South American viewers, and for that reason musical fans should be eternally grateful.

It’s ironic that such a frothy, light comedy focuses on a story about two couples attempting infidelity, but Ameche’s dual role helps smooth the way for hijinks that might otherwise have raised eyebrows with the censors. Larry wants to romance Cecilia in spite of being in a relationship with Carmen, and it’s clear that Carmen’s jealousy has some grounds from Larry’s past behavior. The Baron has a little address book that he still carries even though he has been married to Cecilia for several years, and his reputation as a Don Juan is so well known that Larry’s stage impersonation of the Baron reveals him dallying with dozens of pretty girls. Fed up with their partners’ bad behavior, Carmen and Cecilia decide that turnabout is fair play, but the doppelgangers make it hard to know if it’s Larry or the Baron they’re embracing. Everything works out in the end, of course, and a split screen finally allows Ameche to appear as both characters at the same time, each with his respective lady.

Alice Faye is soulful and glamorous as Cecilia, and her songs highlight her beautiful, low voice, while Ameche plays both Larry and the Baron with aplomb, but this is Carmen Miranda’s movie every second she’s onscreen, and she’s so amazingly charismatic that it doesn’t even matter what she’s doing. Tiny, feisty, and decked in beads, Miranda proves her tremendous talent for comedy in this picture, and she manages to convey everything the audience needs to know even when she isn’t speaking English. Her songs are, of course, fantastic, but she’s just as much fun when throwing her shoes at Larry’s head or gushing over his latest gift. While it’s true that there’s a stereotypical “Latin firecracker” element to Hollywood’s presentation of Miranda, her joy as a performer and her impeccable comic timing transcend all labels, and it’s a shame she wasn’t allowed to become a top-billed comedy icon on her own terms. In this movie, at least, she gets a big role, lots of screen time, several great songs, and is treated as an equal star instead of a specialty act. She doesn’t waste the opportunity, and even her costar Don Ameche seems on the verge of cracking up during some of their scenes. From her opening number, “Chica Chica Boom Chic,” all the way to the finale, Miranda keeps the audience enraptured; you simply can’t watch her without grinning from ear to ear at her talent, humor, and enthusiasm.

Sadly, Carmen Miranda only appeared in 22 films, and mostly as a musical act, but for more of her Hollywood career see Down Argentine Way (1940), The Gang’s All Here (1943), and Copacabana (1947). For more movies starring both Alice Faye and Don Ameche, try In Old Chicago (1938), Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938), Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), and Lillian Russell (1940). Irving Cummings, a veteran of the silent era, also directed several of these Fox musicals as well as The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939). Despite his popularity in the 30s and 40s, Don Ameche did not win an Oscar until 1986, when his performance in Cocoon (1985) earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a PhD in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.