So much average

Just perfect...

Excellent but underrated film

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It's interesting to speculate whether or not Anthony Hope had any idea what he was doing when he penned The Prisoner Of Zenda and had a lookalike commoner stand in for nobility as an emergency measure. The plot surfaced again in the eighties via Moon Over Parador when it was Actor/Dictator rather than Commoner/King and here, at the start of the forties it segued into Entertainer/Titled Businessman with Don Ameche pitting himself against Ronald Coleman and Richard Dreyfus (Zenda was filmed again in the fifties but Stewart Granger barely qualified as an actor so it needn't detain us here). This version starts explosively with Carmen Miranda in full spate and in fact the opening Production number - in which she is soon joined by Ameche - ensures that there is no spoken dialogue for virtually the first reel. Having established Ameche as a cabaret star we then meet his other self, the businessman with a cash-flow problem, who checks out the nightclub with wife Alice Faye. Faye is under used in this film with no solos and only two duets whilst Carmen Miranda gets the lion's share of music. It's a pleasant enough concoction and it's nice to be reminded once again of REALLY glorious Technicolor.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the other viewers of this wretched film. The only reason why I didn't rate it 1 for awful was due to the great talent of Carmen Miranda. The beginning and end are the best parents due to her gifted singing and dancing.The problem is with the rest of the picture. Alice Faye comes off quite hollow. Don Ameche has a great singing voice but with the wretched writing material, he comes off so terribly corny.The plot is a real stiff here with Ameche assuming two parts as a song and dance man and a baron not happily married to Faye.It seems that by playing the song and dance man, Ameche's marriage gets a second change to reignite. Some silly nonsense about the baron having to clear up business and being away allows him to play both parts.S.Z. Sakal is given little to do here and so his comedic gifts are not given the opportunity to shine. Ditto for J. Carrol Naish who actually appears uncomfortable in his role.This is a chica chica boom bomb of a film.

Charming,funny movie with Don Ameche playing two parts,a baron and a nightclub entertainer. The entertainer has Carmen Mirande for a hot-tempered girlfriend so it's fun already. Alice Faye plays the baroness looking lovely in her Travis Banton gowns. I especially liked the gold dress and magnificent ruby bib necklace she wears. Surprisingly,Alice doesn't sing much,on the DVD it shows a number that was cut. The film has a short running time so it's odd they cut it out. The numbers Carmen does are fantastic. The film is more of a romantic comedy with songs than an actual musical. I laughed out loud at scene where don Ameche carries Alice upstairs and film dissolves to hand thrusting in and out of a drum,seems Hitchcok wasn't the only one who could do suggestive scenes.

During a nice night out with his wife, Cecilia (Alice Faye), Baron Manuel Duarte (Don Ameche) watches a performance by entertainer, Larry Martin (also played by Don Ameche), who impersonates him...and he does it very well. Impressed by the performance, the baron goes backstage to meet the young actor. Little does the baron know that the actor chats with is wife. When the baron is missing for work, his associates hire Larry to impersonate the baron (and has no idea what he's doing either). And the rest is history.A comical 1940's film this is, also starring the one and only Carmen Miranda, who plays Larry's hot-tempered girlfriend, Carmen, who of course is also a singer at the club where Larry performs.What I love about the old films from the 1940's is the old fashion Hollywood glamour with the fancy dresses and evening gowns, etc., and not to mention, the fine jewelry the women wear (i.e. the baronesses anniversary gift from her husband). But it's a far cry from what you see today: Lack of long term kissing, sex, violence, and of course, swearing. Lots of music and ditsy characters.I found "That Night In Rio" quite delightful when I watched it on AMC. It was bubbly with a lot of really lighthearted music and comedy, and sophisticated fashions worn by Carmen Miranda and Alice Faye. I got a kick out of Carmen's hot-tempered character, who kept on throwing her shoes at Larry when he made her angry. Not to mention, Don Ameche was a brilliant actor who could play two different characters quite well, and can compare each of them onscreen. :)Good film...enjoyable for anyone who likes old movies! :)