RIO RITA is the sixth starring vehicle of Abbott and Costello and the first made by MGM. It was also released only three weeks after their last feature, RIDE ‘EM COWBOY! Yes, these films were being released at a fast and furious pace these first few years and the public and studio did not seem to mind as they were still making a fine profit. There was a film called RIO RITA in 1929 that shares a little, if not too much of the same plot as the film we are discussing this week. It happened to be RKO’s biggest hit until KING KONG came out four years later. It also was the film debut of Wheeler and Woolsey, yet they were not top billed and were strictly comedy relief - their ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS, if you will. To give you the difference between film comedy 13 years earlier, the comic relief was actually billed as such in 1929. By the time the forties rolled around, usually the comic relief to the main plot was billed as the stars, as is the case here and in most other Bud and Lou films. Wheeler and Woolsey would go on to make starring vehicles where they were central to the plot. Bud and Lou would have to wait later for that. At this time, MGM also just lost the Marx Brothers and I’m sure looked at Bud and Lou, as well as Laurel and Hardy, as replacements.
Usually a comedian or comedy team appearing at MGM softens their image, but in the case of Abbott and Costello, that did not happen. The formula of having star comedians appear among music and romance was an MGM specialty and that is mostly how Bud and Lou made films at Universal. Therefore, the culture shock was not as significant. If anything, the main difference is in the romance and music material. At Universal, we get Martha Raye, The Andrews Sisters and Ella Fitzgerald swinging it up and the couples appear a bit more middle class. At MGM, the couples and music is strictly a stuffed shirt and gown affair, lots of almost opera like material. If you know me, Universal is more my style. The couple in this case is just like at Universal in the sense I could care less about their plight. The romance is just there and the Nazi subplot starts at the beginning but gets glossed over until the end. Just like at Universal, RIO RITA is all over the place plot wise and does not make a good linear film. Instead, I’m here for the Bud and Lou moments and they do not disappoint.
While the comedy is mostly similar, there are two very mechanical physical gags that are more unique to MGM. I’m referring to the gag where Lou is on the spinning car above the cliff and Lou being caught in that giant washing machine. They are both wonderful moments and while I do not know this for a fact, I’m willing to bet Buster Keaton had a hand in their creation. It is a fact Buster was a gag man with MGM at this time and he has stated he worked with Bud and Lou, though his memories weren’t too fond. Buster or not, happy collaboration or not, I enjoy both gags immensely.
We do get a lot of standard Bud and Lou bits in Rio Rita and unlike RIDE ‘EM COWBOY, they actually give Bud a lot to do. In addition to Bud’s little side romance, there are classic burlesque style routines where the two comedians work together wonderfully. The routine where the pretty girls wearing numbers are lined up and a game is made where somebody turns their back and had to guess which numbered girl was kissed has always been a favorite - and also, like a lot of these routines, shows up in a more pure Bud and Lou environment - their TV show. The twenty - twenty two/too bit is also very clever and as is the bit of Bud describing a food mirage to Lou only to see them both discover real food and devour it. I’m very fond of all these routines and would have fit nicely at either Universal or MGM. No out of character Bud and Lou moments, they’re fine at MGM.
RIO RITA is another in a line of Abbott and Costello vehicles that will never be mistaken for a great film, but works as pure entertainment and a good showcase for the star comedians. Nice routines and a bit more high brow than usual in non comic parts due to the MGM factor. Another movie that should satisfy any Bud and Lou fan who likes the film style of their early work as long as you can live without the swing numbers.
