Nancy Goes to Rio

Nancy Goes to Rio
MGM, 1950, Color, 99 minutes, ***
Released March, 1950

Pert and precocious Nancy Barklay (Jane Powell) is up for the leading role in a Broadway musical set in Brazil, but her seasoned stage-star mother, Frances (Ann Sothern, thinks she's got the part! A sticky situation becomes impossibly complicated after Nancy follows her mother to Rio - where they both fall for the same man!

Sidney Sheldon's witty screenplay provides a comedy of errors in which no one except Nancy's skirt-chasing grandfather (Louis Calhern) seems to know what anyone else is up to, least of all Barry Sullivan as the beleaguered Brazilian, Paul Berten! Filled with classic songs like "Embraceable You" and "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and spiced with the one and only Carmen Miranda, this extravagantly well-made musical sparkles with humor as it sambas to a Latin beat.
A remake of It's a Date starring Deanna Durbin (1941). It falls a bit short of Deanna's version, in my opinion, but Jane Powell is completely irresistible, as always! Musical highlights include "Magic Is the Moonlight," "Nancy Goes to Rio" and "Love Is Like This."



Produced by: Joe Pasternak
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard
Screen Play by: Sidney Sheldon
Based on a Story by Jane Hall, Frederick Kohner and Ralph Block
Musical Direction: Georgie Stoll
Songs by: Ray Gilbert
"Time and Time Again" by Earl Brent and Fred Spielman
Miss Miranda Accompanied by Bando da Lua
Dances Created by: Nick Castle
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith
Special Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Richard A. Pefferle
Costumes: Helen Rose
Hair Styles Designed by: Sydney Guilaroff
Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Ray June
Special Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie
Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultants: Henri Jaffa, James Gooch
Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan

Cast: Ann Sothern [Frances Elliott], Jane Powell [Nancy Barklay], Barry Sullivan [Paul Berten], Carmen Miranda [Marina Rodriguez], Louis Calhern [Gregory Elliott], Scotty Beckett [Scotty Sheldon], Fortunio Bonanova [Ricardo Domingos], Glenn Anders [Arthur Barrett], Nella Walker [Mrs. Harrison], Hans Conried [Alfredo], Frank Fontaine [Masher], Additional Cast: Leon Belasco [Prof. Gama], Leonid Kinskey [Ivan Putroff], Danny Scholl [Charles], Ransom Sherman [Dr. Ballard], Sig Arno [Captain of Waiters], Pierre Watkin [Kenneth], Forbes Murray, Bess Flowers [Party Guests], Charles Smith [Stock player], Bando da Lua [Carmen Miranda's Accompanists]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:02] Time and Time Again (sung by Ann Sothern, unidentified male singer and Chorus); [0:07] Time and Time Again (reprised on piano in background at party); [0:16] Shine On Harvest Moon (sung and danced by Jane Powell, Ann Sothern and Louis Calhern); [0:21] Magic Is the Moonlight (sung by Jane Powell accompanied by Bando da Lua); [0:27] Nancy Goes to Rio / Cae Cae (sung by Scotty Beckett, Jane Powell, Charles Smith and the Summer Stock Troupe); [0:39] Yipsee-I-O (sung by Carmen Miranda and Bando da Lua); [0:52] Magic Is the Moonlight (sung by Jane Powell and Ann Sothern); [1:16] Embraceable You (sung by Jane Powell at the piano [onscreen]); [1:23] Ca-Room' Pa Pa (sung and danced by Carmen Miranda, Bando da Lua and Chorus -- visually stunning!); [1:29] Musetta's Waltz (from the opera LA BOHÉME, sung by Jane Powell); [1:35] Love is Like This (sung and danced by Jane Powell and Chorus)