Customer Reviews

On the Riviera

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is probably one of the most underrated movies of all time.
Alright, some of the musical sequences are dated - especially the "Rhythm of a new romance"-number - but the dialogue and the story are still extremely witty and funny. And it's Danny Kaye at his best. Not as brilliant as in "The Court Jester" three years later, but more mature and refined than in "The secret Life of Walther Mitty" (which is a great movie, too!), Kaye gives a wonderful performance as nightclub entertainer Jack Martin ("Ballin' the Jack" and "Happy Ending" are just wonderful). And he plays rich aviator Henri Duran who neglects his wife and only comes to his senses when he thinks that she's betraying him with Martin. Kaye is believeable in both parts.
"On the Riviera" is a very entertaining musical comedy and it makes fun of every glamour cliché ever used in Hollywood.
Highly recommended!

It's double the fun and laughter as Danny Kaye (1913-1987) gives a dual-role Performance in the uproarios musical comedy , ON THE RIVERA, costarring Gene Tierney (1920-1991) and Corine Calvert (1925-2001). When celebrated French aviator and Ladies'man , Capitaine Henri Durant (Kaye) is unable to attend an all-important social soiree , his business partners hire an American nightclub entertainer , Jack Martin (Kaye , again) to take his place . Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the world famou-flier , Martin becomes the hit of the party , especially with Duran's long-suffering wife , Lili (Thierney), an amorous young woman who can't quit tell the two apart . A madcap tour de farce , those songs , dances and laughts sparkle as brightly as its Technicolor . High Quality Transfer . Recommended .

This is a great movie. A fun remake of "That Night in Rio with Don Ameche. Danny Kaye is a very verstile entertainer who can sing, dance and act. He really pulls off the double role he plays as an entertainer and a wealthy man who has a reputation as a ladies man. A couple of the songs in this movie harken back to my childhood and enhances the enjoyment of this movie. A must see!

Besides enjoying a really fun movie, "On The Riviera", I was so happy to get the bonus track special on Jack Cole. He is the "father of jazz" and to get his story was amazing. Thank you.

On the Riviera thoroughly displays the amazing talent of Danny Kaye as he doubles most convincingly as an entertainer and the flirtatious fellow the actor is paid to emulate, since they look so very alike. Danny Kaye is one of the very few that acted from the heart and can carry you unabashedly to tears at the moment of painful truth with him or clown around and behave so absolutely slapstick silly you cannot stop roaring! Few actors have ever been so gifted with talent in all areas as this man and to see him in action is a great privilege, even from the movie screen. I love this movie, it is clean, quality family entertainment that will keep you simultaneously riveted and charmed. Danny Kaye is fascinating in every performance and Riviera is dinner and dessert all in one.

I love Danny Kaye. Great for your collection though you may not view it more than once.

danny kaye, like so many comics from another era, is an acquired taste. his quirky faces, his voice that could accelerate from a soft high tenor to a keening wail in a matter of seconds and word driven patter songs were probably perfect on a 1940s broadway or nightclub stage. because, well, you can't clone someone live and in person--at least not outside the cirque du soleil.

but this film gives you two kayes in the third official remake of the fox musical 'folies bergere', which had to have been inspired by the lunt-fontanne classic 'the guardsman'. kaye, in the dual roles of a philandering head of state and the philandering nightclub entertainer that impersonates him, is overcompensating for his non present female leads. there is gene tierney as the trophy wife of the figurehead who has nothing more to do than look smashing in her array of lemaire gowns. the lush 1950s technicolor cinematography serves her raven haired beauty well. this role does not. then there is corinne calvet who was fairly new to films as the fiancee of the entertainer. she's pretty and overwhelmed by the fact that carmen miranda played her role in the 1941 version.

'on the riviera' is saved by jack cole's undersung choreography of the musical numbers, which feature his magically rapturous versions of east indian dance, nice tight groupings of toned, well-trained cole-style dancers and gwen verdon, minutes before she would take broadway on in michael kidd's choreography for 'can-can'. even though verdon's unique voice is dubbed, her body is not. she is a curvy, voluptuous delight as she leads the ensemble in the opening of the first number. her dancing is clean and precise and oh so feminine. she is a knock-out! if only she had gotten the calvet role...

1951's "On The Riviera" is a classy affair for the talented Danny Kaye, albeit, a slightly more somber one. Filmed twice before (with Maurice Chevalier and Don Ameche in the lead), Kaye does a fine job as a nightclub entertainer who bares a strong resemblance to a dashing French aviator (also Kaye, of course), and is eventually tapped to impersonate him for an important function. This gives the entertainer the chance to get to know the cavalier aviator's rather neglected wife (Gene Tierney).
As usual, there are some pleasing musical moments from Kaye (his wife Sylvia Fine composed once again). However, being more sophisticated & subtle, Kaye has to play it semi-serious, so this one might not appeal to all viewers, although it's still an extremely pleasant film.
The DVD transfer preserves the movie's splashy scenery, filled with plenty of lush "eye candy" Riviera shots. But seeing how this film's been out of circulation for a long time, it's worth adding to your Kaye collection!

Anything with Danny Kaye will be entertaining, I can watch him perform for hours. Being such a talent, he was given great scripts and parts to play. I don't think anyone will be disappointed watching him in any roll.

Its an exellent movie. Danny Kaye excells again in this movie. I have not seen a bad movie from Danny Kaye yet. The picture was very good.