Road to Rio $4.5 million in rental income in its initial release period in the United States and was placed sixth in the top-grossing films of 1947. The critics liked it, with "The New York Times" saying in its review of February 19, 1948, inter alia: "With Bing Crosby and Bob Hope on the tramp again in “Road to Rio,” recklessly scattering jokes and rescuing perennial girl friend Dorothy Lamour from dangerous hypnotic trances, there’s fun to be had at the Paramount. Maybe this is not the funniest picture ever made; maybe it is not even quite as rewarding as some of those
Road to ... to Hong Kong". There are also frequent instances in which Bob Hope breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly, such as in "Road to Bali", in which he says, "[Crosby]'s gonna sing, folks. Now's the time to go out and get the popcorn." Hope and Crosby would usually play some form of confidence men trying to make a lot of money, with Bing coming up with the ideas and Bob usually doing most of the dirty work. When confronted by the villain, Hope and Crosby would use a "patty cake" routine before throwing punches, though this would sometimes