Director:
Luther Reed
Year: 1930
Rating: 5.5
After The Jazz Singer broke the sound barrier in 1927, there was a rush from
the film studios to start making sound films. Many of these were musicals
which fully embraced the new technology and were popular with the audiences
(sadly, many of these have been lost). RKO had its biggest hit with Rio Rita
in 1929 and brought back the director (Luther Reed) and three of the stars
to make this film. But by then musicals were on the outs temporarily and
the film lost money. Which is a shame because though it feels very much like
an artifact today it is rather fun with lots of musical numbers. One issue
seeing it today is that the camera is very static so that it feels like you
are watching a staged show. Within a few years camera movement was greatly
improved and the musical came roaring back with Busby Berkeley.