''Girl of the Rio'' is a 1932 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
starred
Dolores del Río
María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...
and
Leo Carrillo
Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist.
He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...
. Directed by
Herbert Brenon
Herbert Brenon (born Alexander Herbert Reginald St. John Brenon; 13 January 1880 – 21 June 1958) was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through the 1930s.
Brenon was among the early film ...
, the screenplay was written by
Elizabeth Meehan
Elizabeth Meehan (22 August 1894 – 24 April 1967) was a British screenwriter who worked in both Britain and Hollywood.
Early life
Meehan was born on the Isle of Wight, and lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Career
As a young woman, B ...
and
Louis Stevens, based on the play, ''The Dove'' by
Willard Mack
Willard Mack (September 18, 1873 – November 18, 1934) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and playwright.
Life and career
He was born Charles Willard McLaughlin in Morrisburg, Ontario. At an early age his family moved to Brooklyn, New ...
, which was itself based on a magazine article by
Gerald Beaumont. The film is a remake of the 1927 silent film, ''
The Dove'', starring
Norma Talmadge
Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among ...
.
Plot
South of the U.S. border, Don José Tostado, a
Mexican caballero, falls in love with Dolores Romero, a dance-hall girl. Owning one of the larger ranches in the area, Tostado is not used to people telling him no. When Romero resists his advances, using a fictional boyfriend as her excuse, this only increases his interest in her, and his attempts to win her favor. As part of that attempt, he plans to throw a gala in her honor.
Meanwhile, Romero falls for Johnny Powell, a dealer at a nearby casino. She confides in him that she has no interest in Tostado, but doesn't know how to get him to leave her alone. Powell offers to take her away and get married. They make their plans, but before they can carry them out, Tostado learns of them and hatches a plot of his own: he frames Powell for a murder and has him arrested. When Dolores hears that Tostado has paid the jailer to kill Johnny during an escape attempt, she makes a deal with Tostado to give herself to him in exchange for Johnny's life and freedom. Tostado agrees.
When Johnny is freed, Dolores makes it clear that she is no longer interested in him, and that she intends to marry Tostado. Dolores leaves with Tostado, heading for his ranch. On the way, she attempts to commit suicide, but is stopped by Tostado, who is startled to discover that she would rather be dead than be stuck with him for the rest of her life. When they arrive back at his hacienda, they are surprised by Johnny, who fights Tostado. When they police arrive, they arrest Johnny, and are ready to execute him summarily, on Tostado's orders. Dolores intercedes on Johnny's behalf, and her pleas have their desired effect. Realizing that he's beaten, Tostado calls off the police, and lets Dolores leave with Johnny.
Cast
[
* ]Dolores del Río
María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...
as Dolores Romero
* Leo Carrillo
Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist.
He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...
as Don José Tostado
* Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
as Johnny Powell
* Stanley Fields as Mike Marovich
* Frank Campeau
Frank Campeau (December 14, 1864 – November 5, 1943) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1911 and 1940 and made many appearances in films starring Douglas Fairbanks.
On Broadway, Campeau appeared in ''Rio Gr ...
as Bill
* Lucille Webster Gleason as Madame Double Chin
* Ralph Ince
Ralph Waldo Ince (January 16, 1887 – April 10, 1937) was an American pioneer film actor, director and screenwriter whose career began near the dawn of the silent film era. Ralph Ince was the brother of John E. Ince and Thomas H. Ince.
Biogr ...
as O'Grady
* Edna Murphy
Edna Murphy (November 17, 1899 – August 3, 1974) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 80 films between 1918 and 1933. Murphy was voted "Most Photographed Movie Star of 1925" by '' ScreenLand Magazine''.
For part of ...
as Madge
Production
The short story, "The Blue Ribbon", written by Gerald Beaumont, was printed in Red Book Magazine in their January 1923 issue. Willard Mack
Willard Mack (September 18, 1873 – November 18, 1934) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and playwright.
Life and career
He was born Charles Willard McLaughlin in Morrisburg, Ontario. At an early age his family moved to Brooklyn, New ...
used that story as the basis for his play, ''The Dove'', which was produced by David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...
on Broadway at the Empire Theatre, premiering on August 24, 1925. In the leads were Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...
as Dolores, Holbrook Blinn
Holbrook Blinn was an American stage and film actor.
Early years
Blinn was the son of Civil War veteran Col. Charles Blinn and actress Nellie Holbrook-Blinn. He was born in San Francisco and attended Stanford University before he began a career ...
as Tostado, and William Harrigan
William Harrigan (March 27, 1894 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor who performed in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s and on stage.
Early years
Harrigan was born in New York City and attended New York Military Academy. Harrigan was ...
as Johnny. In 1927 United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
purchased the rights to the play, and produced a silent version of Mack's play, '' The Dove'', starring Norma Talmadge
Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among ...
, Noah Beery, Sr.
Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...
, and Gilbert Roland
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...
. RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
purchased the rights in 1931. The film was in production from September to November 1931. The film was Dolores del Río's first feature for RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
.
Notes
In 1939, RKO would remake the film, this time under the title ''The Girl and the Gambler
''The Girl and the Gambler'' is a 1939 Western film, from RKO Radio Pictures, starring Tim Holt. It was an early starring Western for Holt, who soon replaced George O'Brien as the studio's main Western star.
The film was based on a play which ...
'', starring Tim Holt as Johnny and Steffi Duna
Steffi Duna (born Erzsébet Berindey; 8 February 1910 – 22 April 1992) was a Hungarian-born film actress.
Hungarian dancer
Born in the Eastern name order in Budapest of Czech extraction and nicknamed Stefi (Stefánia) by her friends and fam ...
as Dolores. Carillo would reprise his role as the Don, although this time the character's name would be El Rayo.
References
External links
*
{{Herbert Brenon
1932 films
1932 musical comedy films
1932 romantic comedy films
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic musical films
American black-and-white films
American films based on plays
Remakes of American films
RKO Pictures films
Films directed by Herbert Brenon
Sound film remakes of silent films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films