This was supposed to be a musical, but it is deficient in that regard. It is too bad director Robert Z. Leonard who oversaw such greats as "The Great Ziegfield" with its award-winning musical extravaganzas can only turn in one decent duet between these two women.
If you're a Carmen Miranda fan, then that would be a bonus for you. But, this does not a musical make. Luckily, leaving this out, the rest of the film is light, bouncy, and a great deal of fun.
The plot is entertaining and has minor mixups, reminiscent of a Lucille Ball television show, but there is joy is watching young Jane Powell and the wonderful Ann Southern interact with each other as daughter and mother. This MGM "gloss" worked because you were kept from noticing it.
The vibrant colors (for the time) and the expansiveness of the "boat" to Rio kept your mind away from the fact that this was all a Culver City creation.
But the film transforms all this by being good enough. You're with it. You're there. That's why this film works. This is how we'll remember Jane Pewell and Ann Southern, too.
If you're a Carmen Miranda fan, then that would be a bonus for you. But, this does not a musical make. Luckily, leaving this out, the rest of the film is light, bouncy, and a great deal of fun.
The plot is entertaining and has minor mixups, reminiscent of a Lucille Ball television show, but there is joy is watching young Jane Powell and the wonderful Ann Southern interact with each other as daughter and mother. This MGM "gloss" worked because you were kept from noticing it.
The vibrant colors (for the time) and the expansiveness of the "boat" to Rio kept your mind away from the fact that this was all a Culver City creation.
But the film transforms all this by being good enough. You're with it. You're there. That's why this film works. This is how we'll remember Jane Pewell and Ann Southern, too.