When I could not find Road to Rio (1947) on any of my usual streaming platforms, I presumed it was because it contains material Paramount (the studio that released most of the Road to . . . series) would rather not be seen.  This happens sometimes, too, when a movie is of a certain age and it has not been updated into newer formats.  Celluloid has a shelf life, and there are some motion pictures lost to time due to the only existing physical copy rotting.  Others are full of outdated cultural and social mores that those in charge do not want associated with them.  Since today’s film deals with Latin America, I figured it would be the latter of these possibilities.  Now that I have viewed it, I do not understand why anyone would quibble about it.  The representation of Brazilian customs is not pejorative, though there is nothing about the rich Catholic heritage in the country, unfortunately.  If there is anything negative, it is a brief song performed towards the beginning that can be related to a certain longing for the Old American South and all that entails, though it has nothing to do with Brazil.  Otherwise, this one is pretty much just like its cousins, if more of a musical.

Speaking of music, that is how Hot Lips Barton (Bob Hope) and Scat Sweeney (Bing Crosby) earn a living on the Road to Rio.  I cannot say their planned destination is the title Brazilian city, but rather anywhere they can get work and, oddly, avoid women.  Why they make this last commitment is beyond me, particularly when they are constantly breaking this vow, but I am simply reporting.  In keeping with series tradition, Scat is often scamming Hot Lips into performing stunts that he hopes will earn them extra money.  Following the number about the South mentioned in the introduction, Hot Lips is essentially forced to ride a bicycle across a tight rope.  When the inevitable disaster occurs, resulting in him hanging from the line and knocking light bulbs off kilter, the result is the burning down of the circus that had hired the pair.  Their only option is to escape.  Being in New Orleans, they stow away on a cruise ship headed for Rio de Janeiro.  Scat finds them a lifeboat in which they can hide.  They would have spent the entire voyage in relative peace, too, had it not been for them hearing the sobbing of the beautiful Lucia Maria de Andrade (Dorothy Lamour).  I emphasize her looks because, of course, it is Scat who is first willing to cast aside their agreement to avoid females due to her looks.  They find her crying because she no longer wants to live, trying to jump into the ocean.  It is Scat who walks with her a little while to calm her down, which makes sense since he is the Catholic and the Faith is not keen on suicide.  While they are together, she explains how she is traveling with her aunt, Catherine Vail (Gale Sondergaard), to marry a man named Sherman Mallory (George Meeker).  Lucia does not seem convinced that this is the right thing to do, but she claims that Catherine has her niece’s best interest at heart.  We know this is not the case because Aunt Catherine and a pair of her henchman observe Lucia walking with Scat back to his hideout.  The older woman wants Lucia’s papers, but what those are we are never told because comedy.  Once Aunt Catherine and Lucia return to their stateroom, the guardian hypnotizes her charge into despising Hot Lips and Scat and turning them in as stowaways.  Given the special moment they shared, Scat is especially befuddled by the behavior.  This feeling is not dispelled when a little while later, Lucia comes to visit them in the brig.  She is confused as to what has come over her, but she has convinced Captain Harmon (Stanley Andrews) to take the pair on as performers for the rest of the trip.  Once in port, having decided that Aunt Catherine is no good for Lucia, Scat devises a way of smuggling her off the ship.  It does not take long for Aunt Catherine to figure out what has happened, especially when this new trios first move is to form a band to make a living with Lucia as their singer.  Despite their performance being a hit with the nightclub’s manager, their three Brazilian bandmates are discovered as not being American and they are kicked out.  Lucia, though, is taken in by Aunt Catherine, who has come to watch them play.  She immediately re-hypnotizes her niece, and it is back to getting her away for the wedding with Sherman.  To better ensure no more interference, Aunt Catherine has Hot Lips and Scat come to her home where she uses the same trick to convince the men to fight a duel with one another.  Hot Lips is the first to snap out of it, but Scat continues until he fires a shot. While Hot Lips feigns death, Scat confesses all the bad things he ever did to his friend.  It is not quite a reference to the Catholic Sacrament, but I will take it.  In trying to figure out how they are going to make it to the city 300 miles away where the nuptials are to take place, they are approached by a man named Rodrigues (Frank Puglia).  He is after Aunt Catherine for several crimes and bank rolls their trip to the proper destination.  Once there, another set of comedic shenanigans take place, the long and short of which is that Lucia is prevented from marrying against her will and Aunt Catherine and her minions are taken into custody.  The final scene takes place in Niagara Falls where a confused Scat wonders how Hot Lips and Lucia could have gotten married, until he peers through the keyhole and sees Hot Lips hypnotizing her.

When you get to Road to Rio, the fifth in a series, you begin to wonder what you can say about it that you have not already discussed about the previous four.  Luckily, there is a theme throughout this one that caught this Catholic reviewer’s attention: hypnotism.  What the Church says about hypnotism is neither condemnatory or supportive.  It recognizes that, in certain cases, it can be a useful tool in helping someone overcome difficulties.  The key caveat in whatever it is used for is the consent of the person to which the technique is being applied.  The problem with hypnotism, and this is underscored throughout the film, is that it subverts the subject’s will.  Of course, much of what you see here is stereotypical, with it being used by nefarious people to nefarious ends.  Even when meant for comparatively harmless purposes, there are many of us who wish that we could find a way to get somebody to do what we want them to do.  The problem for us, not for God, is that He gave us free will.  Indeed, free will is at the heart of Faith.  One common gripe about religion, and specifically Christianity, is that if God was real, He would make all of us believe in Him, either by force or showing something as definitive proof.  Yet, that is neither in keeping with doctrine, or the actual meaning of the word “faith.”  It takes a conscious decision on our part, every day, to follow Him.  That is what hypnotism strives to rob an individual of, the ability to choose.  We may want to quit smoking, sleep better, or make someone marry the right person as in the movie, but that is not how God made us.  Instead, he made us to choose Him out of our love for our Creator, and I pray that is the choice you make.

It also would not be a bad decision to watch Road to Rio, despite some of its warts.  However, good luck finding it.  I had to download some obscure streaming service on my Roku, the name of which I have already forgotten (it does have the word “reel” in it), and one without a search bar.  I had to do a lot of scrolling before I found this one.  It is probably not worth the effort for you, but now you know.