Film/Video ILLUMINATING THE SILVER SCREEN: DOLORES DEL RIO FLYING DOWN TO RIO DIRECTED BY THORNTON FREELAND WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2002, 8 PM $6 ($4 WALKER MEMBERS) AUDITORIUM

The ravishing del Rio received top billing--and gowns with outrageously large sleeves--in this giddy romantic musical comedy in which she plays a Brazilian debutante who falls for an American bandleader (Gene Raymond). As the screen debut of dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Flying Down to Rio features not only some Brazilian-influenced tapping but also an astonishing finale with showgirls strapped to airplane wings, dancing in flight. 1933, U.S., B/W, 35mm, 89 minutes.

SPECIAL THANKS TO BILL ROBENS AND R. P. MAY (WARNER BROS.), ROB STONE (UCLA FILM AND TELEVISION ARCHIVE), BRIAN CLAUSSEN (SWANK) AND BRYAN COFFEY (MOMA CIRCULATING FILM DEPARTMENT) FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND FOR PROVIDING THE PRINTS.