Movie designed to introduce Ricardo Montalban to American audiences. It's a drama--NOT a musical. There are a few musical numbers but that's it. This takes place in Mexico and has Montalban and Esther Williams playing twins. No--I'm not kidding! If you can swallow that you might like this. Their father is a great bullfighter and expects his son to be the same. However his son Mario (Mantalban) wants be a musician. His sister Maria (Williams) is better at bullfighting then him. You can probably guess the rest.
EXTREME PLOT SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!! Pretty forgettable as a drama. The situations are just silly, the dialogue pedestrian and you just KNOW how this is going to end. Also Williams isn't much of a dramatic actress. This film could have ended after an hour but this drags it out and gets REAL stupid during the second act. Williams has to bullfight in place of her brother--but nobody notices the difference! Seriously--everybody thought Williams was her brother???? Even for a 1940s movie that's pushing it.
Still it's not completely terrible. It's done with the usual MGM gloss and is shot in bright Technicolor. Montalban, Williams and Cyd Charisse are so young and beautiful and so full of life that it rubs off on the audience. The dance sequences with Montalban and Charisse are just incredible--I never knew he could dance! Williams even has a (brief) swimming scene. There's also some good acting from Akim Taminoff as Chato and Mary Astor as Williams and Montalbans mother. So it's silly but enjoyable as a no brainer. The dancing scenes alone make this worth seeing. I give it a 6.
EXTREME PLOT SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!! Pretty forgettable as a drama. The situations are just silly, the dialogue pedestrian and you just KNOW how this is going to end. Also Williams isn't much of a dramatic actress. This film could have ended after an hour but this drags it out and gets REAL stupid during the second act. Williams has to bullfight in place of her brother--but nobody notices the difference! Seriously--everybody thought Williams was her brother???? Even for a 1940s movie that's pushing it.
Still it's not completely terrible. It's done with the usual MGM gloss and is shot in bright Technicolor. Montalban, Williams and Cyd Charisse are so young and beautiful and so full of life that it rubs off on the audience. The dance sequences with Montalban and Charisse are just incredible--I never knew he could dance! Williams even has a (brief) swimming scene. There's also some good acting from Akim Taminoff as Chato and Mary Astor as Williams and Montalbans mother. So it's silly but enjoyable as a no brainer. The dancing scenes alone make this worth seeing. I give it a 6.