“Mexico makes every man a great lover — a Casanova!”
|
Synopsis:
An expelled college student (Eddie Cantor) unwittingly abets a bank robbery and flees with his friend (Robert Young) to Mexico, where he pretends to be a famous bull fighter in order to elude a suspicious detective (Robert Emmett O’Connor), and falls in love with the blonde friend (Lyda Roberti) of Young’s girlfriend (Ruth Hall).
|
|
Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
- Bullfighting
- Busby Berkeley Films
- Comedy
- Eddie Cantor Films
- Leo McCarey Films
- Mistaken Identities
- Mexico
- Musicals
- Robert Young Films
Review:
This dated Eddie Cantor comedy was a big money maker for MGM, but hasn’t aged well at all. Other than a couple of innovative Busby Berkeley dance sequences (featuring several pre-fame starlets — if you blink, you’ll miss them), everything else about the screenplay is simply tiresome or offensive. Stereotypes abound — not just about Mexico and Mexicans (what’s up with Cantor being from Spain in the title, anyway?), but about African-Americans (Cantor does a blackface routine) and women (Cantor’s love interest is a complete ditz). Gregg Toland was cinematographer on the picture, but his innovative touch is only evident in a few scenes.
At least the final sequence — in which Cantor runs for his life from a ferocious, fence-jumping bull — is unlike any other bullfight you’ve ever seen on-screen.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
- Busby Berkeley’s “Goldwyn Girl” sequences
Must See?
No. Despite its historical significance as a popular Eddie Cantor film, it’s ultimately too tedious to recommend.
Links:
|
One thought on “Kid From Spain, The (1932)”
First viewing. Skip it.
Aside from a few minor ‘plus’ factors mentioned in the assessment given (which would include an occasional joke here and there that actually works), this is mostly one large yawn.