Product Details

• Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson, John Carroll, Patricia Dane
• Directors: S. Sylvan Simon
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MGM
• DVD Release Date: June 27, 2011
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004VULIWY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,032 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

It's fiesta time in Vista Del Rio, and that means much musical celebration. It's also a time of global war. So, in the updated plot of this exuberant World War II-era remake of the 1929 Wheeler and Woolsey romp, that means little Vista Del Rio is a jalapen?o hotbed of Axis spies. The agents intend to use a fiesta radio show to send a coded message, a scheme that may be scrambled silly when stumblebums Doc and Wishy stumble onto it. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play the inept duo in this musical comedy that - from riffing on the word "pekinese" to Lou's hunger-fueled food mirage (tastes like chicken!) to his loopy spin within an oversized washing machine - has the famed funnymen fracturing any situation into goofy glee. Enjoy!

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

This product is expected to play back in DVD Video "play only" devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of A&C's best! January 23, 2007

By Joshua Small

Format:VHS Tape

For what it's worth, "Rio Rita" (1942) is actually the first of Abbott and Costello's three films for MGM, while "Abbott And Costello In Hollywood" (1945) is the last. (The second was 1944's "Lost In A Harem.") All three are quite good - in some ways better than the more famous films the duo made for Universal - and well worth a look by anyone whose idea of GOOD comedy is something more substantial than Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell, whose popularity will forever be a source of mystery to me.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rio Rio!!! October 22, 2003

By Shyblader

Format:VHS Tape

Great Classic A&C film. The best Abbott & Costello film i've seen since "Time Of Their Lives." This is funny from beginning to end. Some really hysterical routines in this one. Highly recommend to any old time comedy fans and Abbott & Costello films. Great, Great film!!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE TEAM'S BEST FILMS September 3, 2005

By BILLY ANTIMISIARIS

Format:VHS Tape

RIO RITA
Release Date: April 1942

Directed by:
S. Sylvan Simon

Writing credits:
Richard Connell (screenplay) and
Gladys Lehman (screenplay)
John Grant (special material for A & C)

Cast (in credits order):
Bud Abbott........Doc
Lou Costello......Wishy Dunn
Kathryn Grayson...Rita Winslow
John Carroll......Ricardo Montera
Patricia Dane.....Lucette Brunswick
Tom Conway........Maurice Craindall
Peter Whitney.....Jake
Barry Nelson......Harry Gantley (hotel announcer)
Arthur Space......Trask
Dick Rich.........Gus
Eva Puig..........Marianna (Rita's maid)
Joan Valerie......Dotty
Mitchell Lewis....Julio (Credits)/Pete, the Mechanic
Eros Volusia......Herself (dancer)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eros Volusia Brazilian Dancers....Themselves
King Baggott....Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Janet Barrett...Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Vangie Beilby...Club woman (uncredited)
Robert Bradford...Whistling solo (uncredited)
Diane Brook.....Woman (uncredited)(unconfirmed)
Ruth Cherrington..Club woman (uncredited)
Mina Farragut...Woman (uncredited)(unconfirmed)
Nano Galindo.....Soloist in "The Ranger's Song" (uncredited)
Alfred Garmo.....Soloist in "The Ranger's Song" (uncredited)
Dorthory Gilmore...Woman (uncredited)
Delos Jewkes.....Soloist in "The Ranger's Song" (uncredited)
Eleanore Kallejian.....Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Jennie Mac.........Club woman (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack...........Fiesta guest (uncredited)
Anita Maisnik.........Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Mary Manners..........Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Johnny Mitchell.......Control man (uncredited)
Dorthory Morris.......Gas station attendant (uncredited)
Lee Murray............Little Mexican (uncredited)
David Oliver..........Golfer (uncredited)
Frank Penny...........Chef (uncredited)
Charles Ray...........Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Marjorie Raymond........Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Grace Ritchie.........Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Julian Rivero.........Mexican agent (uncredited)
Mercedes Ruffino........Woman (uncredited)
Morton Scott..........Man (uncredited)
Flores Brothers Trio....Group Performers (uncredited)
The Guadalajara Trio.....Group Performers (uncredited)
Dorthory Ward.........Woman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Tudor Williams.........Man (uncredited)

Produced by:
Pandro S. Berman....producer

Original Music by:
Harold Arlen....songs - "LONG BEFORE YOU CAME ALONG",
"A COUPLE OF CABALLEROS", "POOR WHIPPOORWILL", and
"SUCH UNSUAL WEATHER" (uncredited)
Herbert Stohart....(uncredited)
Non-Original Music by:
Harry Tierney....(songs-"RIO RITA"/"THE RANGER'S SONG"
Nilo Barnet......(song-"BRAZLIAN DANCE")(uncredited)
Werner R. Heymann....(stock music)(uncredited)
Bronislau Kaper..(stock music)(uncredited)
Lacerdo..........(song "ORA O CONGA")(uncredited)
Giacomo Meyerbeer....(songs "OMBRES LEGERES"{SHADOW SONG}from opera "DINORAH, OU LE PARDON DE PLOEMEL)(uncredited)
Franz Waxman.....(stock music)(uncredited)

Cinematography by:
George J. Folsey....(director of photograpy)(uncredited)

Film Editing by:
Ben Lewis

Art Direction by:
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by:
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by:
Robert Kalloch...(gowns)(as Kalloch)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director:
William Ryan...assitant director (uncredited)

Art Department:
Eddie Imazu....associate art director
Buford Robert..associate set director (uncredited)

Sound Department:
Douglas Shearer....recording director

Special Effects by:
Warren Newcombe....special effects

Stunts:
Pat Costello....stunts/stunt double: Lou Costello
(uncredited)

Other crew:
Leo Arnaud....music arranger:vocals/orchestrator
Murray Cutter...music arranger:vocals/orchestrator
E.Y. Harburg....lyricist: "LONG BEFORE YOU CAME ALONG"
Paul Marquardt..music arranger: vocals/orchestrator
Joseph McCarthy....lyricist: "RIO RITA" and "THE RANGER'S SONG"
Gile Steele....men wardrober
Herbert Stothart...musical director
Jules Barbier.....librettist: "OMBRES LEGERES{"SHADOW SONG"}from opera "DINORAH, OU LE PARDON DE PLOEMEL" (uncredited)
Lorraine Bridges...vocal stand-in Kathryn Grayson
(uncredited)
Michael Carre............libberttist: "OMBRES LEGERES {"SHADOW SONG"} from opera "DINORAH, OU LE PARDON DE PLOEMEL" (uncredited)
Clyde De Vinna...........location director of photography
(uncredited)
E.Y. Harburg..............lyricist: "A COUPLE OF CABABELLROS", "POOR WHIPPOORWILL", and "SUCH UNSUAL WEATHER" (uncredited)
Harold Lipstein....location director of photography
(uncredited)
David Ropel........dance director (uncredited)

PLOT OUTLINE:
Doc and Wishy take a wrong turn somewhere and end up near the Mexican border. There they run into some Nazi-agents, who want to smuggle bombs into the USA through a hotel business. With the help of Rita, the daughter of the hotel owner, and her love interest Hecktor, they expose the Nazi-spies.

ROUTINES & HILARIOUS MOMENTS:
Pike's Peke
You've got 20, I've got 20 too
Drunk Visions
Washing machine sequence
Kiss a girl

(1)In order to make more money from Abbott and Costello, Universal agreed to loan out the team to MGM for picture per year. This was the first MGM production made under that deal.(2)The musical "RIO RITA" opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 2 February 1927 and closed on 7 April 1938 after 494 performances. The cast included Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey who reprised their roles in the 1929 movie of the same name. Only 2 songs were used in this 1942 movie, and the screenplay bears no resemblance to the plot of the 1929 version. In fact the SAB designated the 1942 version as an original story.(3)Some modern credits erroneously list the sone "LONG BEFORE YOU CAME ALONG" as appearing in the 1929 version. It was written for the 1942 version.(4)William Tannen is listed in the studio records for the role of "Pet Shop Owner", but he did not appear in the movie.