Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

LeonLouisRicci The Haughty MGM Studios had to Have it All. Borrowing Abbott and Costello from Universal, because the Comedy Team was a Big Hit, the Studio Managed to Cobble Together a Number of Elements in this Awkward Amalgamation of Opera On a Ranch, and Nazis Out West, and Set A & C Loose Among this Bizarre Combination. None of it Works. There is an Awful Lot of Awful Singing with Crooners on Horseback and Operatic Scale Sliding. The Comedy Team's Routines are OK and Quite Amusing with Slapstick, Sight Gags, and Word Play.But the Combination of Bud and Lou with the Other Parts Never Come Together. The Nazi Threat is Hardly Realized, and the Ranch Setting is Never Used for Any Advantage. The Love Interest is Never Interesting and the Only Thing Worth Watching is When Abbot and Costello are On the Screen. Everything Else is Embarrassing at Best and Atrocious at Worst.

Doctor_Mabuse1 Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson.Director: S. Sylvan Simon.Abbott & Costello's three MGM films (RIO RITA, LOST IN A HAREM and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN Hollywood) are slicker, more polished and slightly more sophisticated in tone than their Universal series begun with BUCK PRIVATES. They also lack the brash energy that makes those films so enduring in entertainment value.Even so, one personally finds RIO RITA to be one of the better movies the classic comedy team were associated with. It must, however, be approached with the understanding that it is a Musical with comedy rather than the other way around. RIO RITA is an updated, entirely re-written version of Florenz Ziegfeld's comic operetta, previously filmed in 1929 with star comics Wheeler and Woolsey repeating their roles from the Broadway blockbuster. Bud and Lou receive first billing due to their great popularity, but the new production is a primarily a vehicle for pretty young soprano Kathryn Grayson (ANCHORS AWEIGH, SHOW BOAT, KISS ME KATE!) who was then being groomed for MGM stardom as an answer to Universal's Deanna Durbin. Hence the focus is on Grayson who performs several good songs (including two from the original show) and an operatic aria which displays her formidable vocal ability.Even more than A&C's other early movies, comedy takes rather a back seat to music and romance. Even the dated dramatic situation involving Nazis infiltrating a Western ranch, original to this version, is secondary to the charms of the leading lady. RIO RITA is, not unlike Abbott and Costello's introductory Musical Comedy film ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS, a matter of taste. Fortunately, it is a taste that can be acquired. Personally, one loves Musicals, is fond of Kathryn Grayson and is an admirer of Abbott & Costello; therefore one was thoroughly primed to enjoy this. The movie is recommended to all fans of the comedy team, but some may need several viewings, music and all, to come to terms with it.Rating: GOOD.

www1125 For me, this film is a weaker attempt compared to the films Abbott and Costello were making at Universal. This fact is actually shocking, because MGM was one of the biggest and most important studios around at that time, and comedy wasn't new for them. The opening scenes in the pet shop are hilarious, and the film has its share of funny jokes, such as the car repair shop, and the washing machine scenes. However, I think the scene where the donkey(having swallowed a Nazi radio) sticks its head in the window, and speaks in Hitler's voice, is my favorite in the film. I always crack up laughing at that moment, and Lou's comment, "I've heard your voice, but this is the first time I've ever seen your face."

sryder@judson-il.edu This was Bud and Lou's only film for MGM, which was their good fortune. It's surprising that Universal Studios, for which A and C were prime money-makers, would have lent them out. They must have sent someone to Universal in exchange. Most of the team's Universal films, no matter how silly the premise, were usually tightly constructed around their personalities and abilities, which were mostly a series of set pieces within a flimsy plot, except The Time of Their Lives, when they portrayed characters in the story line, without any of their routines. Many consider this their best film, though I don't agree, despite its departure from their formula. At any rate, MGM showed itself unable to use their talents to the foremost, as was the case in their use of the Marx Brothers in their three last MGM films. There are several excellent routines, but they are submerged in a tedious and unbelievable plot of romance and espionage. MGM was developing Kathryn Grayson (who does not get star billing) as a contract player, and would probably have taken advantage of A and C's box office appeal to showcase her. Unfortunately, her performance is quite wooden; though perhaps she could not do much with the material given. Later on she developed at least a degree of charm, if not strong acting talent, in some of MGM's large-scale musicals, especially Show Boat. If you are an A and C fan, make good use of your fast-forward.