Nancy Goes to Rio (1950)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good movie but grossly overrated

best movie i've ever seen.

This would have been a significantly better movie if MGM had built it around Carmen Miranda. The two numbers she does are the high points of the film - especially the second number set in a night club. I would rate the scenes with Miranda a nine. The rest of the movie has a rating of 4.Another bright spot in the movie is Ann Sothern - one of my all time favorite actresses. While Sothern is given top billing, the star of the movie is clearly Jane Powell who plays her 17 year old daughter. Powell made some wonderful movies - this is not one of them. She does have a lovely singing voice, but her acting style is very dated. In this movie, she come across as very mannered and artificial. The movie is top notch in terms of cast and production values. Any single clip from this movie is far more appealing than the entire movie. The problem is with the script, no amount of talent can overcome a muddled mess of a plot. Think of this as a G rated movie which tries, never successfully, to introduce "adult themes" into standard plot. Jane Powell, the beacon of American Virginity, is mistakenly thought to be pregnant. While this may have been shocking 1950, it makes for a very tired and stale plot point in 2016.The other problem with this film is that it does not fit into any one specific genre. It is not strictly speaking a musical. In the traditional musical the songs are related to the story line - they serve to advance plot points. In this film they take what appears to be an overly short "women's picture" and pad it out with songs. None of the songs are in any way related to the rest of the movie - they are just randomly spliced into the movie.I do recommend this movie- if only for the scenes with Carmen Miranda. You can fast forward through the tiresome bits where Jane Powell tries "acting".

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.

There is "Magic in the Moonlight", as Ann Sothern and Jane Powell cast as mother and daughter is ingenious casting, just as Kay Francis and Deanna Durbin had been in the original version of this film, "It's a Date". Of course, the younger girl gets more focus here as far as story is concerned, and here, Nancy is a 17 year old drama student dying to follow in her mother's footsteps to become a musical star. Sothern starts off the film onstage in an extremely old fashioned operetta (very dated by 1950 standards) while Powell's finale is elaborate and seems a bit more up to date with its glamorous blue sets, bridges and beautiful fake trees sparkling onstage. They are both in love with the same man (Barry Sullivan) who believes that Powell is an unwed 19 year old expecting a baby. Of course, the complications are resolved in between musical numbers performed by Powell and the colorful Carmen Miranda, whose sole purpose here is to be Powell's confidante and flirt with Sothern's dashing widowed father (Louis Calhern).Miranda has one number wearing a hat made entirely out of cocktail umbrellas, and another where she deals with an obnoxious drunk. Powell and Scotty Beckett lead a chorus of youngsters in the title song which includes some silly rhymes but features a wonderful rhythm. "Magic in the Moonlight" (heard earlier sung in Spanish in "Bathing Beauty") is a sweet melody, first sung by Powell on stage, and later reprised as a duet with mama Sothern. Calhern gets to dance a bit, doing a neat little soft shoe as Powell and Sothern sing "Shine on Harvest Moon".While inconsequential as far as the MGM musicals go, it is colorful and diverting, and at times quite amusing. But it's nothing you haven't seen before, and basically harmless fun. It's most alive when the gorgeous ladies get to sing, nodding off a bit with the romantic plot which sometimes seems to be an afterthought around which the screenplay was written.

Every actor contributes significantly to this picture. Ann Sothern and Jane Powell deliver in ways they are expected to; and even Louis Calhern performs a number in a rare musical role. Barry Sullivan adds charm as the leading man, and Hans Conried, in a bit part, is letter-perfect as ever. But Carmen Miranda is the one that walks off with the movie, in two show-stopping numbers. Sidney Sheldon's script has a lot of humor in it. Filmed in glorious Technicolor with some good on-location footage of Rio, including the carnival and parade at night. This was a remake of Universal's earlier film It's a Date, where the young ingénue was Deanna Durbin, and the mother was played by Kay Francis (who did not sing).