Rumba

"Rumba" is a movie worth seeing only if you love seeing the Rumba and other ballroom style dances or if you are curious and never saw George Raft dance. Otherwise, I think it's a tedious affair...a film that is at best a time passer.

The story begins in Cuba. Joe (Raft) is a professional dancer who is just too good not to be seen on Broadway. A bored, insipid society girl, Diana (Carole Lombard) happens to see him while she's slumming. They initially hit it off, get into a fight and Diana disappears. In the meantime, Joe gets a new dance partner and begins to make a name for himself...but he refuses to return to the States because he's worried some gangsters might have put a hit out on him. Eventually, Diana returns, they fall in love, get in a spat and she storms away once again. It's goes on from there...but who really cares? I was just hoping some gangster would shoot him to not only add some excitement to the film but end it as well!

The relationship between Joe and Diana is tedious and annoying. This combined with LOTS of dancing just make this film a chore to watch and enjoy. Find any other film with Raft or Lombard....you'll be much happier.

The team of George Raft and Carole Lombard who at the time this film was made were doing a little off set kanoodling had scored well in Bolero, so much so that Paramount decided another dance film was in order for them. Instead of in Europe like Bolero, Rumba takes place in Cuba and then New York City, taking advantage of the current dance craze sweeping the country.

Raft's a half Cuban, half American living down there because he fled the country to avoid some gangsters he'd run afoul of. He's dancing first with Iris Adrian and then with Margo, but rich heiress Carole Lombard sweeps him off his nimble feet.

Carole and George do a mean Rumba in the film as well. The ending here unlike Bolero is not as dramatic or tragic, but that in itself makes Rumba a lesser feature. Lynne Overman is around as a former newspaperman and Raft's manager. Overman is quite adept at creating a media frenzy for Raft, in fact his talents are what causes the climax to occur.

It's not as good a film as Bolero and the team of Raft and Lombard broke up off screen as well so no more films were made with the two of them. Still it's a pleasant enough film and a chance to see George Raft the dancer on screen.

Joe is a dancer in Cuba with a chip on his shoulder. Diana is fascinated by this diamond in the rough. However, pride on both sides seems to thwart the union and Diana in despair returns to New York City and her less than exciting fiancé. Joe follows.

The main problem with this film is George Raft. His stone faced and monotone delivery mean that there is absolutely no chance for any chemistry to develop between himself and Lombard. And it is supposedly this magic between the two that propels them in and out of each others lives and causes both to risk their lives in the end to be together. The film is also weighed down by more that one overly long dance sequence. George Raft himself is an adequate dancer, but comes off as little more than a "dandy". He has non of the fire or charisma of say a Desi Arnaz, who truly comes alive with the spirit of Latin dance and rhythms.

Diana's father is here played by Samuel Hinds who also played the father in the Andy Hardy series. Monroe Owsley, who also co-stared with Lombard in the movie "Brief Moment", plays Diana's wealthy fiancé. His part here is considerably smaller, and amounts for the most part to "window dressing".

Carole Lombard does a good job here. If she had had a better leading man this film might even have been enjoyable. The production values and quality of the acting in general were actually pretty good. Supposedly George Raft was quite the ladies man in real life, and even enjoyed a clandestine affair with Lombard, but in this film he is a dud.

If you didn't know George Raft (also known as the man who turned down Casablanca) got his start as a ballroom dancer, you've got to rent one of his early movies, in which he shows off his dancing skills. I picked Rumba because I thought any movie full of rumba dances couldn't be bad.

Well, the laugh's on me. This movie is really stinky. George Raft may be very handsome, and it's fun to see him flapping his legs during a few specialty numbers with the beautiful Margo, but if you're actually looking for a good movie, this isn't it. Carole Lombard costars as a society girl who accidentally annoys George by winning a lottery ticket he got swindled out of. Later when she sees him dancing at a nightclub, she likes the way he moves and asks for private lessons. That's about it. You can watch it if you want to, but have another movie handy for a double feature.

"Rumba" is George Raft's best Latino film and that's not saying much. He at least gets to play a New Yorker, albeit a New Yorker of Cuban descent hanging out in Havana because gangsters in the States are out to get him. That idea is actually more exciting than the events that play out.

Carole Lombard gets some strong closeups and looks lovely. She plays a bored socialite a little too well, never seeming to rise above ennui even when she's dancing. She gets some nice little bits of dialogue but mostly could have phoned this one in.

Because of his sensual Latin looks, Paramount seemed insistent on making Raft do the sensual Latin dances. Sure, he could dance the rumba OK, but it is nothing like the hot style of dancing that made him famous as the "fastest dancer in New York" back in the '20s. Only in the first dance number in "Rumba" do we get a very brief glimpse of this.

Overall, this is hardly an important film for anyone - but look fast: Ann Sheridan is among the mass of dancers.