Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Jon Corelis On the Riviera is the third film made from a stage play called The Red Cat, the other two being L'homme des Folies Bergère (1935) with Maurice Chevalier and That Night in Rio (1941) with Don Ameche. The plot is an example of a genre that goes right back to Plautus and Shakespeare: the comedy and confusion that result when two people who happen to look identical keep getting mistaken for each other. In this case, the two people (both played by Danny Kaye) are a famous French transatlantic aviator and an American entertainer playing a club on the French Riviera. This seems like a very obscure film: it's not found in any of the half-dozen standard film guides I happen to have, though it's in IMDb.The film, directed by Hollywood workmanlike director Walter Lang (who made a number of other 50s musicals, like this one now mostly forgotten,) is a semi-musical; that is, there are plenty of song and dance numbers, but they are all stage performances. The most interesting aspect of the film is its display of Kaye's multiple talents as a singer, dancer, comic and impressionist -- he's the sort of performer popular in the thirties through early sixties, but now seems an almost extinct species.The film is an interesting period piece for its sumptuous female fashions and as an early example of what would become mainstream American Hollywood musical entertainment, and if you are interested in those topics, or in Kaye, this will be worth watching. Others may find it only moderately entertaining. There is some impressive landscape photography of the Riviera, though Hitchcock did this better in To Catch a Thief.The 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-Ray DVD is of good audio and video quality.

Scooter B First of all, I must confess that I haven't seen the original Chevalier film on which "On the Riviera" is based. However, Fox recycled the plot before this film for "That Night in Rio" with Don Ameche, Alice Faye, and Carmen Miranda in the Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney, and Corinne Calvet roles. I think "Rio" is far superior to "Riviera." The plot is much better paced, less frantic and frenetic (although that may simply be the difference between Ameche and Kaye as performers). For me, a little Kaye "shtick" goes a long way, and the more he uses it, the less amused I get. In this film, he lays it on with a trowel. Fox dipped into the well once too often. The only saving grace is the lustrous Tierney in luscious color.

donaldgreybarnhouse I can't imagine why anyone would dislike this marvelous film. Danny Kaye does a superb job playing a double role, showing a subtlety of acting ability that some might not have thought he had. He is not, for once, cast like a complete fool. Don't get me wrong; he plays those parts well, and is often hysterically funny, as in The Inspector General and The Court Jester. In that picture he does get to play a part that is not a fool, as he is hypnotized into thinking himself a swashbuckling hero, but it is a role that calls for him to lampoon the part he is playing. In On The Riviera, however, he plays a genuine masterful leading male role: a millionaire French airplane manufacturer with a gorgeous wife who is worth the price of admission. His other role is a traditional Kaye role: an American comedian. The gimmick is that he is an almost perfect double for the suave French romantic lead. He really plays three roles, and the subtlety with which he distinguishes them is superb. He is the American comic, he is the French millionaire looking a little like Yves Montand, and he is the American comic successfully passing himself off as the millionaire, fooling the wife and the valet as well as the general public. The role reminds me of Yves Montand in Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe: he plays the millionaire and he plays a poor guy trying to break into show business by passing for the millionaire. All in all, a triumph for Danny Kaye, well decorated with gorgeous females.

smithy-8 Danny Kaye has made many good movies, but "On the Riviera" and "White Christmas" are my favorites. Danny Kaye plays two men who look alike but have different personalities and lives. One is a philandering industrialist, who is elegant, and the other is an entertainer, who is silly. Each man has a beautiful woman in his life: the industrialist's wife (Gene Tierney) and the entertainer's girlfriend (Corinne Calvet). Both women are funny and this is their best comedy.