From director John Brahm, the visionary filmmaker behind The Undying Monster, The Lodger, Hangover Square and Singapore, comes a journey into the dark and dangerous corners of Rio, starring screen greats Basil Rathbone (If I Were King) and Victor McLaglen (Murder at the Vanities). Crooked Parisian financier Paul Reynard (Rathbone) is arrested for bank fraud and sentenced to a penal colony off the coast of South America. His wife Irene (Sigrid Gurie, Algiers) and faithful servant Dirk (McLaglen) travel to Rio de Janeiro to arrange for Paul’s escape. But once they’ve landed in the Brazilian capital, Irene falls in love with an American engineer (Robert Cummings, The Last Train from Madrid). After his escape, Paul realizes that he’s lost his wife forever to a better man, and seeks revenge. From a story by Jean Negulesco (Road House), the noir-drenched adventure Rio also stars Leo Carrillo (Four Frightened People).

For thoughts on Rio (1939), please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/8VuXnHIaTrw?t=1437]

Video Quality

Rio (1939) makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p master from a 2K master. The film might be over 80 years old, but this presentation does a decent job of giving it a second life. The contrast is fairly defined, and the track only experiences a very minor amount of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. The film looks the most rough during the optical transitions, but these moments do not last long.

The new transfer shows off a striking amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. The black-and-white photography impresses in high definition with natural grain intact. Black levels are passable with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. There is an enjoyable amount of detail present with nice textures on the outfits and within the various settings. This transfer exhibits a consistent layer of minor nicks and scratches, but the transfer is more than watchable. Kino Classics has done a pretty fine job here.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a good enough DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track which holds up well considering its place in early cinema. The presentation does show its age at times when it comes to the music elements, as cues can sound a bit thin which can likely be traced back to the condition of the source elements. The score is not a prominent element, but when it shows up it is never aggressively harsh. The track otherwise only presents with a minor amount of age related wear and tear and some hissing and crackles. Dialogue and background noises can sound slightly hollow, but they are balanced well with all competing elements. Kino Classics has done their best with this one. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Film Historian Samm Deighan delivers a really informative commentary track in which she discusses the origins of the film, how it fit into the career of John Brahm, the background of the performers involved, the themes on display, the public reception of the film, the deficiencies in some of the storytelling aspects and more.

Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Mad Doctor, The Undying Monster, The Lodger and Singapore.

Final Thoughts

Rio (1939) never really exhibits any traits that make it stand out in a sea of old Hollywood melodramas. There is some decent intrigue, but even core elements of the narrative are hard to distinguish long after the movie has ended. The performances are the strongest element of this film, but even they are not worth going out of your way to seek out. The film is not a disaster, but it does not feel special in the slightest. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports both a fine A/V presentation and an entertaining commentary track. This one is for the die hard fans of old Hollywood exclusively.

Rio (1939) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.