Rio Rita (1929)

Ziegfeld made 'em big. So the film version of his Rio Rita matched the showman's grandeur with a musical that adhered to the source and earned kudos as one of the best of the Talkie Era's] Broadway adaptations (Ethan Mordden, The Hollywood Musical). Bebe Daniels (often a Harold Lloyd co-star) plays Rita, wooed by a singing Texas Ranger (John Boles) who suspects her brother may be a notorious bandito. Meanwhile, a lawyer tries to arrange a divorce for a client who has (oops) two wives. Put the storylines together (somehow), add the wow of two-strip Technicolor for the lengthy finale aboard a pirate river barge, include lavish sets and the guffaws provided by Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey (reprising their stage roles) and Rio Rita was ready to and did pack audiences in!