Sombrero

This is a wonderful, enjoyable film with a retinue of fine actors having a lot of fun in an entertaining story set in Mexico. The tale is wonderfully Mexican with cock-fights, inter-village rivalry, tragedy and mystery: Pepe (Richardo Montalban-- Mr. Rourke of Fantasy Island) loves the Mayor's (Thomas Gomez) daughter, Eufemia (Pier Angeli) but needs some success to convince her father he's a worthy candidate for her hand. Vittorio Gassman is the local rich boy whose family want him to marry an appropriate girl from an appropriate family, Rick Jason is the third compañero in love with a gypsy girl (Cyd Charisse). Wonderful performances by the lovely Nina Foch as the set-aside sweetheart, the great Andaluzian Gypsy dancer, Jose Greco, the ever-lovely bubbly Thomas Gomez, plotting Kurt Kaszner and a bit part with one of my fav's, Alfonso Bedoya who doesn't say "We don' gotta chow you no stinkin' batches." Alas, no video for this fine, fun film, so you'll have to catch it on the late show. Check out especially, Ricardo Montalban, Rick Jason and Vittorio Gassman singing the lively, "¡Eufemia!" ¡Realmente macanudo!

A bizarre but thoroughly entertaining tamale pie of a movie focusing on the lives of various peasants in a Mexican village. Typical of Hollywood films in the '50s, there are several anglo actors playing Mexicans, but at least Ricardo Montalban (playing Pepe Gonzales!) is the real thing. And he's got charm TO BURN! As difficult as it is to believe, Rick Jason is possibly more handsome than Montalban - and certainly taller at 6'4". In his autobiography, Jason mentions that Montalban became concerned during the filming when Jason seemed to be stealing the scenes in the rushes.

I don't recall seeing so many beautiful stars assembled for a single film: Pier Angeli, Yvonne De Carlo, Cyd Charisse, Vittorio Gassman. Wow! That's reason enough for tuning in, but there's other stuff to treasure as well, such as the flamenco dance by Jose Greco, which is as spectacularly good as the dance number with Cyd Charisse is spectacularly bad.

Somewhat of an oddity, really. Wake-up from your afternoon siesta and enjoy this movie. And not to be missed. Made in Mexico with guts, gusto and gringos. While South-of-the-Border, Hollywood worships at the altar of the magical and(sometimes) hokey movie musical. And wins. The picture may cause some viewers to fall into a world of confusion. Whirlpool effect: three bachelors fall in-and-out of love with four beautiful girls. The odd lady out in this game of musical chairs: Yvonne Decarlo. Why? Jeolousy. The other women feel threatened by the sexy creature("Maria") down by the river. Decarlo's character does provide an unusual story wrinkle: she informs her ailing suitor, who loves and wishes to marry her, that she will not marry him. Her noble gesture is a selfless act. But not practical. The film's photography of the Mexican countryside reveals streams of priceless visuals. A modern hospital pops up to great effect. Ricardo Montalban has top billing and delivers an amiable and confident performance. But the other two male leads more than hold their own against the studio's choice. One fellow has a strange prop, a tray of trinkets, which he hauls from the village to the city. In addition, he has an uncanny feel for the opposite sex. Cyd Charise falls under his influence. She sings and dances up a storm in a rainfall. Miss Decarlo's song, "You Belong to My Heart," was cut from the finished print and can only be seen at TCM's web site. A good movie to catch late at night. Trust me. Health!

Gave this a a 10 just because it was worth it to see how beautiful Mexico was. And let's face it, for Hollywood to film on location in Mexico the 50s is a rarity . The fact that Metro even bankrolled a movie set in Mexico is a wonder. Also this is probably the only film to my knowledge where Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban actually portrayed a Mexican instead of the what Hollywood considered the "acceptable" Latin lover, eg. an Argentinian polo player I.e. European.

What were MGM thinking of in making this film ? The opening proudly proclaims how thankful the studio is in letting them make it in Mexico, but what on earth did the Mexicans make of the end product ? Hysteria runs throughout the film culminating with a completely mad dance on the top of a mountain. Three interlinking love stories try to make sense of this nonsense and despite a cast of fine actors no one really has a chance to shine. Only Rick Jason ( see him preferably if you can in ' The Wayward Bus ' ) gives what I call a performance, and poor Vittorio Gassmann lags a little behind. As for the women it is a total waste. Cyd Charisse dances one of her worst dances ( in choreographic terms ) and fights with bad dialogue. Pier Angeli is underused and so is Yvonne de Carlo. Nina Foch has a truly nasty scene with a blind man who is dying and melodrama of the worst sort comes to the fore. I am not surprised it was a flop. I hope the Mexicans asked for their money back at the cinemas. A disgrace to film making. A 4 for the actors who presumably had to attend the premiere.