My Man and I

i was very surprised. the script was first rate. the story had a lot of twists and turns. seeing jack elam play a Mexican is reason enough to see this movie. was never much of a shelley winters fan but she was good. previously knew ricardo motalban as khan and the joker. he gives a very good performance but it is the script that is the key. some may call the story corny or idealistic but it still holds up today. the Mexican are portrayed very sympathetically probably much more so than the way they are perceived today. The movie is a commentary on the American dream circa 1952 but if you replace the mexicans with just about any non-elite group, including every day Americans it still is relevant

The ambitious Chu Chu Ramirez comes to America as a proud new citizen, only to be gypped out of money owed him by farmer Ames. At the same time, he meets downtrodden bar girl Nancy, whom he becomes romantically involved with. But her troubles are deep and difficult. Plus, farmer Ames frames him for an accidental shooting. Will Chu Chu somehow get the breaks he needs and deserves.

I'm not sure what the writers were trying to say here. It looks like something noble since Chu Chu (Montalban) is admirable in so many ways. Plus, he delivers nice little speeches about the virtues of America, suitable for the Cold War, McCarthyite year of 1952. But much of this, however well intentioned, is undone by a turgid script and an absolutely awful performance by Shelley Winters (Nancy). Her constant whining and sour expression (not a single smile) for 90-some minutes almost had me reaching for the "off" button. I realize she's a hard-luck gal, barely surviving at society's lower reaches, but did she have to spread it on so relentlessly and so thick. It made me think the sensible Chu Chu must be some kind of masochist to put up with it. Hers has got to be one of the dreariest turns in Hollywood annals.

At least there's the well-cast iceberg Wendell Corey as the heartless farmer Ames, and a de-glamorized Claire Trevor as his faithless wife. I was expecting their dark pairing to explode at any moment. At the same time, holding the film together is a handsome Montalban, quite winning as the ambitious immigrant. Looks to me like this was a B-production from Dore Schary's brief tenure as MGM head, when he tried to steer the studio away from Louis B. Mayer's relentlessly sunny film fare. Certainly, the settings and photography here are about as bleakly gray as possible. Maybe with a better, more focused script and a less dreary Nancy, the movie might have succeeded in its good intentions. But as things stand, the overall result lacks impact of any discernible kind.

My Man and I (1952)

** (out of 4)

Chu Chu Ramirez (Ricardo Montalban), a Mexican immigrant, becomes a U.S. citizen and plans on living the American dream of working, making a home and being happy. He gets a job with a racist couple (Claire Trevor, Wendell Corey) but after the work is done they refuse to pay him and go as far as to falsely accuse him of a crime, which might land him in jail. This film has a good heart behind it but the screenplay just wonders around and never really focuses on anything. The film follows a pretty standard storyline, which takes away any possible drama since we can see where everything is going. Montalban is excellent in his role but it's a shame he didn't have a better screenplay to work with. Both Corey and Trevor are great as well and they come off very easy to hate. Shelley Winters plays a troubled woman who is befriended by Chu Chu. The most interesting aspect is how Chu Chu views America as a place of good and where nothing can go wrong. When he's accused of the crime he has a hard time figuring out how an innocent man can go to jail and I wish the film would have centered more on these issues. Seeing how a foreigner views America is something interesting to work with but the film goes all over the place.

Ricardo Montalban as an upstanding, proud new immigrant to America, Wendel Corey as a cheating slimeball with a bitter, unsatisfied wife and Shelley Winters as an alcoholic floozie. Perfectly casting. You'll be impressed for its positive portrayal of immigrants and Montalban's narrow waist in ratio to his broad shoulders.

Don't read the online synopsis of My Man and I; it's inaccurate and will have you waiting for an event than never happens. Instead, just go into it knowing it stars Ricardo Montalban as a Mexican-American who gets some bad breaks. He's an extremely hard worker, has a constant positive attitude, and keeps a letter from the President, congratulating him on his recent citizenship, as his most prized possession. He's also pretty cute, so it's no wonder Claire Trevor makes a play for him even though her mean husband (Wendell Corey, who else?) has hired Ricardo for some farm work. An affair would get both of them in enormous trouble, so it's a good think he (almost literally) kicks her out of bed. He's drawn, instead, to Shelley Winters, a depressive alcoholic who keeps pushing him away. His charm wins her over eventually, but she's no good. Can she give up her tramp-y ways for a handsome, upstanding citizen?

I'd definitely recommend this obscure romantic drama, if only to respect its daring storyline at the time. Ricardo has two blondes fighting over a place in his bed, and in one scene, when he plants a big kiss on Shelley, she moans - what happened to the Production Code? There are some clever cuts away from the couple's smooches, like following his hat as it rolls across the floor, but I can't help but wonder if the studio thought those camera angles were necessary because audiences weren't ready for interracial kisses. In any case, this movie tried to make audiences ready, and even though it didn't do well at the box office at the time, we can still appreciate him - I mean the movie - now that the romance is no longer a big deal.