https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_5_nm_3_q_rio%2520ritaJust like Abbott and Costello had One Night in the Tropics and Martin and Lewis had My Friend Irma, Wheeler and Woolsey had Rio Rita. The film they made their debut in, but were not top billed. This follows many early sound films that were based on stage plays and has all the trademarks, a romantic love story as the main draw, along with comedic relief and musical numbers, so I'll look at it from these areas.
Bebe Daniels is top billed, the same Bebe Daniels who co-starred with Harold Lloyd in several short films. In the meantime she became a huge star in her own right. I was bothered by the age difference between the two, but she was great at comedy. I was hoping to see some of the same here, but was given an honestly forgettable role, despite playing the titular Rita. I would have preferred to see her in the Wheeler and Woolsey subplot. A bandit is on the loose, people are looking for him, and of course, everything gets resolved and Rita gets to marry her true love interest. If it wasn't for the fact it was Bebe Daniels playing this part, I would not cared one bit for this main plot.
Wheeler and Woolsey's story is actually quite similar, in that Bert's character is stuck with a woman he doesn't want, until he gets to marry the woman he likes at the end, played by Dorothy Lee. I know she will feature a lot in these films. The interactions between Wheeler and Woolsey remind me of Abbott and Costello, and fittingly, the two would remake this film in the 1940s, even borrowing some of the gags, notably the part when they get so drunk they star hallucinating. Woolsey feels like a mix of George Burns, Groucho Marx, and Bud Abbott. One notable way this is pre-code is the fact that Bert's wife ends up agreeing to the divorce and he can marry the woman he truly loves, post-code films would have certainly brought them two back together, though Woolsey conveniently gets with her.
There is a long Technicolor sequence that thankfully focuses a lot on the duo, while also letting us know this is a big-budget film. The musical numbers in this movie are not to my liking, as they feature the loud speaking vaudeville-style music that was common in early talkies.
This movie would become a smash hit and lead to Wheeler and Woolsey starring in several films for RKO. Not the greatest film, but with a larger focus on Wheeler and Woolsey in the future, I'm thinking I will like what's to come.
