"Rio" has eluded me for a long time. In reading books on the subject of film noir, there have been passing references to "Rio" as an early example of the noir genre or a proto-noir.

I must confess that I was somewhat disappointed with "Rio." The movie was burdened with too many inconsequential musical numbers performed by Sigrid Gurie. Billy Gilbert and Leo Carrillo provide comic relief as the head waiter and owner of a South American night club. Robert Cummings is an ineffectual alcoholic who makes a play for Gurie while her husband, Basil Rathbone, a disgraced financier, is serving a term in a French penal colony.

Rathbone probably has the best role in the entire film. Director John Brahm, cinematographer Hal Mohr, story writer, Jean Negulesco, and supporting actors, Cummings and Irving Pichel, all had better noir credits in their future.

A handful of scenes inside the prison have a noir feeling, but overall the film misses the mark.