RIO RITA

RIO RITA (1942). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

Bud and Lou think they're traveling by automobile trunk to New York but wind up in the Southwest, where they dally with a famous crooner, Ricardo Montera (John Carroll), his old girlfriend (Kathryn Grayson), an undercover agent, Lucette Brunswick(Patricia Dane), and a nest of Nazi spies headed by Tom Conway. Barry Nelson also has a small part. There are a few nice song numbers, a couple of laughs, and amiable performances by all. Some of the humor is a bit risque, especially when Costello -- under the tablecloth -- traverses a table full of old biddies and makes them all go "whooee," as well as a line Lou delivers to Bud about a cow girl: "She didn't get her calves together."

Verdict: Fun of a minor kind, with appealing players. ***.