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NANCY GOES TO RIO
Jane Powell and her breathtaking lyric soprano take center stage for a delightful MGM confection from 1950 called Nancy Goes to Rio. This film was produced by the Joe Pasternak division of MGM. Pasternak was a producer who preferred legit sopranos like Jane Powell and Deanna Durbin as the stars of his movies as opposed to belters like Judy Garland and this movie appears to be a real valentine to Powell from Pasternak as no expense was spared here.
Powell plays Nancy Barclay, the daughter of Broadway star Frances Elliott (Ann Southern), who is just as talented as her mother and has been toiling quietly in her college summer stock productions keeping boyfriend Scotty (Scotty Beckett) at arm's length, looking for her big break wherever it might come. Nancy gets her break when the author of a new musical (Fortunio Bononova) sees Nancy in a college production and offers her the lead in his new musical, a role that he had promised to Nancy's mother, even though the character in the new show is much closer to Nancy's age.
Nancy is sent to Brazil on a cruise ship to learn the role secretly and while on the ship meets a handsome playboy (Barry Sullivan) who overhears Nancy rehearsing lines from the play which he, of course, misinterprets leading to some classic musical comedy complications that find Nancy and her mother not only competing for the same role, but for the same man.
The MGM gloss makes this piece of fluff appear a lot more important than it really is and if you look at the basic plot, in this day it would be laughed off the screen because in 2016 a mother and daughter competing for the same part or the same man would not be nearly as considerate of each other's feelings as Frances and Nancy are in this movie, which is what makes this movie such a wonderful escape, and wasn't that what MGM musicals were all about?
Powell and Southern are wonderful together and their voices blend beautifully on "Magic is the Moonlight". Other musical highlights include "So This is Love", "Ca-Room Pa-Pa", "Shine on Harvest Moon", "Yipsee Ky-Ay", "Time and Time Again" and the title tune. Powell even offers a stunning rendition of "Musetta's Waltz" from LaBoheme.
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Carmen Miranda, in her second to last film, shines in her two musical numbers that disguise how pointless her role really is and Louis Calhern is a lot of fun as Nancy's grandfather. Only Sullivan misses the boat here, light comedy not really being his thing and failing to produce chemistry with either of the leading ladies, but it's a bit of a nitpick in a colorful and entertaining MGM musical package that is a pretty smooth ride.
Jane Powell and her breathtaking lyric soprano take center stage for a delightful MGM confection from 1950 called Nancy Goes to Rio. This film was produced by the Joe Pasternak division of MGM. Pasternak was a producer who preferred legit sopranos like Jane Powell and Deanna Durbin as the stars of his movies as opposed to belters like Judy Garland and this movie appears to be a real valentine to Powell from Pasternak as no expense was spared here.
Powell plays Nancy Barclay, the daughter of Broadway star Frances Elliott (Ann Southern), who is just as talented as her mother and has been toiling quietly in her college summer stock productions keeping boyfriend Scotty (Scotty Beckett) at arm's length, looking for her big break wherever it might come. Nancy gets her break when the author of a new musical (Fortunio Bononova) sees Nancy in a college production and offers her the lead in his new musical, a role that he had promised to Nancy's mother, even though the character in the new show is much closer to Nancy's age.
Nancy is sent to Brazil on a cruise ship to learn the role secretly and while on the ship meets a handsome playboy (Barry Sullivan) who overhears Nancy rehearsing lines from the play which he, of course, misinterprets leading to some classic musical comedy complications that find Nancy and her mother not only competing for the same role, but for the same man.
The MGM gloss makes this piece of fluff appear a lot more important than it really is and if you look at the basic plot, in this day it would be laughed off the screen because in 2016 a mother and daughter competing for the same part or the same man would not be nearly as considerate of each other's feelings as Frances and Nancy are in this movie, which is what makes this movie such a wonderful escape, and wasn't that what MGM musicals were all about?
Powell and Southern are wonderful together and their voices blend beautifully on "Magic is the Moonlight". Other musical highlights include "So This is Love", "Ca-Room Pa-Pa", "Shine on Harvest Moon", "Yipsee Ky-Ay", "Time and Time Again" and the title tune. Powell even offers a stunning rendition of "Musetta's Waltz" from LaBoheme.
Carmen Miranda, in her second to last film, shines in her two musical numbers that disguise how pointless her role really is and Louis Calhern is a lot of fun as Nancy's grandfather. Only Sullivan misses the boat here, light comedy not really being his thing and failing to produce chemistry with either of the leading ladies, but it's a bit of a nitpick in a colorful and entertaining MGM musical package that is a pretty smooth ride.