Nancy Goes to Rio
Encyclopedia
Nancy Goes to Rio is a musical
comedy film
released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
in 1950. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard
and produced by Joe Pasternak
from a screenplay
by Sidney Sheldon
, based on a story by Ralph Block, Frederick Kohner and Jane Hall. The music was directed and supervised by George Stoll and includes compositions by George
and Ira Gershwin
, Giacomo Puccini
, Jack Norworth
and Stoll.
The film stars Ann Sothern
, Jane Powell
, Barry Sullivan
, Carmen Miranda
, Louis Calhern
and Scotty Beckett
.
Nancy Goes to Rio is a remake of the 1940 film It's a Date
, also based on the story by Block, Kohner and Hall, starring Deanna Durbin
. Kay Francis
and Walter Pidgeon
starred in the roles of Durbin's mother and step-father.
Frances eagerly pursues the part in Ricardo's play, and though she is virtually assured of the role, Ricardo asks her not publicize the news until a final decision is made. Later, Ricardo privately tells Frances' producer that Frances may not be right for the part and that he had a younger actress in mind. Then, when Ricardo meets Nancy, he instantly knows that he has found the perfect young woman for the role.
The next day, Frances sets sail for Rio de Janeiro
, where she intends to vacation and devote herself to studying her lines. Gregory accompanies Frances to Rio, while Nancy, who is about to star in a small stock company play, goes to Connecticut. After observing Nancy's acting abilities, Ricardo offers her the part that he promised Frances. Nancy accepts the role, though she is unaware that Ricardo has already promised it to her mother.
Seeking the quiet she needs to study for the part, Nancy follows her mother and grandfather to Rio. On board the ship, businessman Paul Berten overhears Nancy rehearsing her lines and mistakenly concludes that she is a deserted wife and an expectant mother. Paul takes pity on Nancy and enlists the help of his business partner, Marina Rodrigues (Carmen Miranda), to counsel the young girl.
Nancy does not know that Paul is trying to help her and mistakes his paternal concern for a marriage proposal. She rejects Paul's apparent proposal, and bids him farewell when the ship reaches Rio.
Soon after she is reunited with her mother, Nancy overhears her rehearsing her lines and immediately realizes that they are studying for the same part. The revelation devastates Nancy and prompts her to bow out of the play. She does not tell her mother that she was set to star in Ricardo's play, and instead informs her that she came to Rio to get married.
Confusion abounds when Nancy later visits Paul at his office and tries to accept the marriage proposal she thought he had made. Paul is perplexed by her behavior, and still thinks that Nancy is pregnant and troubled. He sends her home to talk to her mother about her situation, but Nancy misunderstands him and thinks that he meant for her to discuss their impending marriage with her mother.
Marina follows Nancy to her mother's house, and privately tells Frances about Nancy's supposed pregnancy. The confusion is heightened when Frances misunderstands her daughter's anguish and concludes that she must be pregnant by Paul.
Frances demands a private meeting with Paul, during which he reveals his romantic attraction to Frances. Frances leaves Paul in disgust, but the situation is soon clarified when Paul tells Gregory that he had only just met Nancy on the boat. Gregory immediately recognizes Nancy's supposed predicament from the story of the play that Frances was reading, and explains the situation to Frances.
When Frances learns the truth about Paul, she changes her impression of him and they embark on a romance. After announcing her engagement to Paul, Frances withdraws from Ricardo's play and suggests Nancy as her replacement. All ends happily when the show opens in New York with Nancy in the starring role.
This was the final film of Ann Sothern's MGM contract; she soon moved on to appear in a series of television sitcoms.
as part of the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 3. The set also included several other Powell films, such as Hit the Deck and Deep in My Heart.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in 1950. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Z. Leonard
Robert Zigler Leonard was an American film director, actor, producer and screenwriter.He was born in Chicago, Illinois...
and produced by Joe Pasternak
Joe Pasternak
thumb|right|250px|Pasterrnak receiving his star on [[Hollywood Boulevard]] from [[Johnny Grant |Johnny Grant]] with [[Gene Kelly]] on the left on July 29, 1991....
from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
, based on a story by Ralph Block, Frederick Kohner and Jane Hall. The music was directed and supervised by George Stoll and includes compositions by George
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, Jack Norworth
Jack Norworth
Jack Norworth was a U.S. songwriter, singer and vaudeville performer.Norworth is credited as co-writer of a number of Tin Pan Alley hits. He wrote the lyrics of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908, his most long lasting hit. But it wasn't until 1940 that he actually witnessed a Major...
and Stoll.
The film stars Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
, Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
, Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
, Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
, Louis Calhern
Louis Calhern
Louis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
and Scotty Beckett
Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings "Scotty" Beckett was an American child actor. He starred in the Our Gang and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger series.-Early career:...
.
Nancy Goes to Rio is a remake of the 1940 film It's a Date
It's a Date
It's a Date is a 1940 Universal musical film directed by William A. Seiter. The film was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio.-Plot:The movie begins with Georgia Drake performing on the stage singing, "Gypsy Lullaby" while her daughter, Pamela , watches with her boyfriend Freddie Miller...
, also based on the story by Block, Kohner and Hall, starring Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
. Kay Francis
Kay Francis
Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio, and the highest paid American film actress...
and Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
starred in the roles of Durbin's mother and step-father.
Plot
On the closing night of a Broadway play, leading actress Frances Elliott {Ann Sothern) hosts a party attended by many guests, including her eccentric father Gregory (Louis Calhern), who is also an actor; her seventeen-year-old daughter, Nancy Barklay (Jane Powell), an aspiring actress; and Brazilian playwright Ricardo Domingos, who is considering starring Frances in his next play.Frances eagerly pursues the part in Ricardo's play, and though she is virtually assured of the role, Ricardo asks her not publicize the news until a final decision is made. Later, Ricardo privately tells Frances' producer that Frances may not be right for the part and that he had a younger actress in mind. Then, when Ricardo meets Nancy, he instantly knows that he has found the perfect young woman for the role.
The next day, Frances sets sail for Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, where she intends to vacation and devote herself to studying her lines. Gregory accompanies Frances to Rio, while Nancy, who is about to star in a small stock company play, goes to Connecticut. After observing Nancy's acting abilities, Ricardo offers her the part that he promised Frances. Nancy accepts the role, though she is unaware that Ricardo has already promised it to her mother.
Seeking the quiet she needs to study for the part, Nancy follows her mother and grandfather to Rio. On board the ship, businessman Paul Berten overhears Nancy rehearsing her lines and mistakenly concludes that she is a deserted wife and an expectant mother. Paul takes pity on Nancy and enlists the help of his business partner, Marina Rodrigues (Carmen Miranda), to counsel the young girl.
Nancy does not know that Paul is trying to help her and mistakes his paternal concern for a marriage proposal. She rejects Paul's apparent proposal, and bids him farewell when the ship reaches Rio.
Soon after she is reunited with her mother, Nancy overhears her rehearsing her lines and immediately realizes that they are studying for the same part. The revelation devastates Nancy and prompts her to bow out of the play. She does not tell her mother that she was set to star in Ricardo's play, and instead informs her that she came to Rio to get married.
Confusion abounds when Nancy later visits Paul at his office and tries to accept the marriage proposal she thought he had made. Paul is perplexed by her behavior, and still thinks that Nancy is pregnant and troubled. He sends her home to talk to her mother about her situation, but Nancy misunderstands him and thinks that he meant for her to discuss their impending marriage with her mother.
Marina follows Nancy to her mother's house, and privately tells Frances about Nancy's supposed pregnancy. The confusion is heightened when Frances misunderstands her daughter's anguish and concludes that she must be pregnant by Paul.
Frances demands a private meeting with Paul, during which he reveals his romantic attraction to Frances. Frances leaves Paul in disgust, but the situation is soon clarified when Paul tells Gregory that he had only just met Nancy on the boat. Gregory immediately recognizes Nancy's supposed predicament from the story of the play that Frances was reading, and explains the situation to Frances.
When Frances learns the truth about Paul, she changes her impression of him and they embark on a romance. After announcing her engagement to Paul, Frances withdraws from Ricardo's play and suggests Nancy as her replacement. All ends happily when the show opens in New York with Nancy in the starring role.
Cast
- Ann SothernAnn SothernAnn Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
as Frances Elliott - Jane PowellJane PowellJane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
as Nancy Barklay - Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan (actor)Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
as Paul Berten - Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
as Marina Rodrigues - Louis CalhernLouis CalhernLouis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
as Gregory Elliott - Scotty BeckettScotty BeckettScott Hastings "Scotty" Beckett was an American child actor. He starred in the Our Gang and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger series.-Early career:...
as Scotty Sheridan - Fortunio BonanovaFortunio BonanovaFortunio Bonanova is the pseudonym of Josep Lluís Moll , who was a baritone singer and a film, theater, and television actor...
as Ricardo Domingos - Glenn Anders as Arthur Barrett
- Nella Walker as Mrs. Harrison
- Hans ConriedHans ConriedHans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...
as Alfredo - Frank FontaineFrank FontaineFrank Fontaine was an American comedian and singer.Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is best known for his appearances on television shows of the 1950s and 1960s, including The Jackie Gleason Show, The Jack Benny Show, and The Tonight Show.One of his earliest appearances was on the radio show,...
as The Masher
Musical numbers
- "Time and Time Again", music by Fred Spielman, lyrics by Earl Brent
- "Shine On, Harvest Moon", music by Nora Bayes, lyrics by Jack Norworth
- "Magic Is the Moonlight", music and lyrics by María Grever (song "Te quiero dijiste"), English lyrics by Charles Pasquale
- "Nancy's Goin' to Rio", music by Georgie Stoll, lyrics by Earl Brent
- "Cae Cae", music by Roberto Martins, lyrics by Pedro Barrios, English lyrics by John Latouche
- "Yipsee-I-O", music and lyrics by Ray Gilbert
- "Embraceable You", music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
- "Baião (Ca-Room' Pa Pa)", written by Humberto Teixeira and Luiz Gonzaga, English lyrics by Ray Gilbert
- "Musetta's Waltz" from the opera La Bohème, music by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica
- "Love is Like This" music by Pixinguinha, lyrics by João de Barro (song "Carinhoso"), English lyrics by Ray Gilbert
Production
Despite the title and some colorful second unit footage, the film was filmed mostly on MGM's soundstages. The production makes use of lavish, elegant "New Look" gowns and colorful sets, typical of the top-notch MGM standards.This was the final film of Ann Sothern's MGM contract; she soon moved on to appear in a series of television sitcoms.
Home media
The film was released on DVD along with Two Weeks with LoveTwo Weeks with Love
Two Weeks with Love is a 1950 romantic musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Roy Rowland, based on story by John Larkin who co-wrote the screenplay with Dorothy Kingsley.Set in the early 1900s, the film focuses on the Robinson family...
as part of the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 3. The set also included several other Powell films, such as Hit the Deck and Deep in My Heart.