Rio Rita

Ziegfeld made 'em big. So the film version of his Rio Rita matched the showman's grandeur with a musical that adhered to the source and earned kudos as "one of the best of the [Talkie Era's] Broadway adaptations" (Ethan Mordden, The Hollywood Musical). Bebe Daniels (often a Harold Lloyd co-star) plays Rita, wooed by a singing Texas Ranger (John Boles) who suspects her brother may be a notorious bandito. Meanwhile, a lawyer tries to arrange a divorce for a client who has (oops) two wives. Put the storylines together (somehow), add the wow of two-strip Technicolor for the lengthy finale aboard a pirate river barge, include lavish sets and the guffaws provided by Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey (reprising their stage roles) and Rio Rita was ready to -- and did -- pack audiences in!

• musical