Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Toweled off and frisky - Gene Raymond in Flying Down to Rio, 1933



I always squirm a bit when, in Flying down to Rio, an immaculate, glowingly blond and freshly washed Gene Raymond suddenly appears toweled, then untoweled, and proceeds to dress himself, all in full view of his best pal, the droopy, rather matronly Raul Roulien.  Throughout the floor show, Raymond rhapsodizes about the young lady he's just met, neither of the men realizing that the young lady, Belinha - Dolores del Rio, to be exact - is in fact the fiancée of Roulien's character. 

It's actually a shot of the tightly towel-clad bottom of the very animated Mr. Raymond that launches the scene:

"Old man Cupid didn't fire an arrow, this time."
 "No sir!
"He sunk a harpoon!"
The towel comes off.
Yes, I might need a drink at this point, too.
The towel is still off.
Some dressing begins.
Seems a shame, but pants might be a wise choice right now.
"She's like an orchid, a white orchid... Every time I think about her, I wanna bite myself - and that's news!"
Raymond searches for a shirt stud, Roulien polishes the bed post.
Safely dressed, with a little help from a friend.

 ***

Spoiler alert:  Raymond gets the girl. 
And Roulien parachutes out of a plane, landing point unknown.


***

(I'd like to thank and give credit to the blogger who originally posted all these screen captures (and many more from the film), but I've forgotten where I got them.  Very sorry, energetic blogger - and thank you!)


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