Por Uns Olhos Negros

Several characters in this film make it difficult to like. The worst of these is the leading man (Pat O'Brien). He is very abrasive, rather mean-spirited, fast-talking and an alcoholic! In fact, there's really little to recommend this guy. Additionally, Leo Carillo plays a guy who is a cheat and a thief. With characters like these, it's hard to understand what was going through the writer's mind when they created this bizarro film.

"In Caliente" begins in New York. Larry McArthur (O'Brien) is awakening from a bender and this friend and business partner Harold (Edward Everett Horton) marvels that the drunk writes his theater reviews without even going to see the performances! You assume it's because he's an alcoholic jerk and soon he's drunk again--dead to the world after drinking a bottle of whiskey. Harold is concerned about Larry's self-destructive life as well as his upcoming wedding to a gold-digger (Glenda Farrell) he barely knows, so he whisks the unconscious Larry to a resort town in Mexico, Caliente, to dry him out and get him away from this girl. Unfortunately, Rita Gomez (Delores Del Rio) is there performing--and Larry savaged her some time ago in one of his reviews. Naturally, he also never saw her in person and he truly deserves her to destroy him--which she plans on doing. However, over time they start to fall in love with each other--though I have no idea why. Why would he love her--she's not a whiskey bottle! And, he is just nasty and a drunk--and what sane woman would want that?! For comic relief, we have Horton, though he isn't really used well here. His role is more serious than usual. Also, Leo Carillo plays Rita's uncle. As I mentioned above, he's pretty much a thief and this alone is supposed to make him funny--it didn't.

In addition to the romance and comedy, there is a lot of music and dancing--particularly later in the film. These production numbers are the typical Busby Berkeley sort of thing--where the dance numbers are too large for a stadium, let alone a nightclub! One number in particular is notable. "The Lady in Red" is a shockingly risqué number--with very sexily clad ladies who look much more Pre-Code than what you'd expect in 1935 when things were SUPPOSED to be much more sanitized. Oddly, however, the sexiness and beauty of this routine is pretty much ruined when Judy Canova inexplicably enters and begins singing like a slow-witted hillbilly....in Mexico! Huh?! Interestingly, the song morphed into a HUGE and very long production number that lasted a whopping 20 minutes--too long, much too long for my taste.

So, we have unlikable characters, alcoholism, musical numbers that are too long and comedy that isn't very funny. Overall, a complete misfire and waste of talent. See it if you must, I think pretty much everyone in the film did better films than this.

Larry MacArthur (Pat O'Brien) is a hard-drinking fast-talking magazine editor. His publisher Harold Brandon Shanghais him to Mexico to sober him up and escape his gold-digging girlfriend Clara. He is about to run back home to marry the three-time successful gold-digger. Brandon recruits Mexican dancer Rita Gómez (Dolores Del Río) to seduce MacArthur although the men seem to have forgotten that MacArthur had written a scathing review of her. She certainly hasn't.

Busby Berkeley did the big musical numbers. This showcased Mexican entertainer Dolores Del Río to the American audience. I do like the starting premise. I just wish that she does more to get back at MacArthur. The possibilities are endless. She could get embarrassing photos of him. She could steal all his money. She could leave him stranded in the desert. It's endless. So she gets to whip him once. First, it's not that imaginative and it's a bit violent. It needs to be funnier.

Like the much better *Flying Down to Rio* from several years before, this movie left me wondering what audiences saw in Dolores del Rio. She wasn't particularly attractive, and the bathing suit scenes don't show her to have had a particularly good figure. In one of the big dance numbers, "La Muchacha," she shows that she can dance, but not spectacularly so. She remains a mystery to me.

The best things in this movie, for me, were the two big dance numbers - though the ones in *Flying down to Rio* are much better - and Edward Everett Horton. Pat O'Brien, whom I've enjoyed in other movies, doesn't make for much of a romantic leading man.

In general, it's a problem when you make a dance musical in which one of the leads, O'Brien, can neither dance nor sing, and the other, Del Rio, doesn't shine in either. We spend the movie assuming that we will see Del Rio in a spectacular dance number that will show how mistaken O'Brien's character was in submitting a negative review of her New York appearance without having attended her performance (he was too drunk at the time), but that's not the case. She dances in *La Muchacha*, but not in a striking way.

Yes, the movie is full of negative stereotypes of Mexicans, but then, most of the characters are stereotypes. There just isn't much to this movie, other than the two big Busbey Berkeley-staged dance numbers.

IN CALIENTE (First National, 1935), directed by Lloyd Bacon, is a musical tribute to a then popular Mexican resort town south of the border from San Diego, California, most noted for its horse racing and gambling. It stars hot tamale Mexican-born actress Dolores Del Rio in a lightweight story with an overly familiar plot redeemed by a good score and fine choreography by Busby Berkeley. With Berkeley on hand, instead of focusing on his trademark dance numbers of geometric patterns and overhead camera shots, he leans heavily on the current trend of ballroom dancing popularized by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The dancers in question for IN CALIENTE are the now obscure names of DeMarcos, Tony and Sally.

The story centers upon Larry MacArthur (Pat O'Brien), president, critic and editor of New York City's smartest magazine, Manhattan Madness, who has a habit of writing bad reviews without ever seeing a performance. Harold Brandon (Edward Everett Horton), vice president, wants to break up Larry's engagement to Clara Thorne (Glenda Farrell), a gold digger who not only prefers to get married on a Thursday, but has had won three previous breach of promise suits. Knowing the upcoming marriage will be a mistake, Harold succeeds in getting Larry drunk enough to take him unconscious from both his job and Clara via airplane to Aqua Caliente, a Mexican resort. While there, the conscious Larry at first demands to be returned to New York, but once he meets up with Rita Gomez (Dolores Del Rio), he decides to have his holiday in Mexico and remain, unaware that Rita, a concert dancer, was one of the performers he criticized in his review. Recognizing Larry as the man who had given her a bad write-up, Rita plots on humiliating him, with the help of Jose Gomez (Leo Carrillo), her uncle and manager who pleasures in cheating "suckers" at cards. More problems arise when Clara arrives to claim Larry.

On the musical program, songs include: "Mexicando/In Caliente" (several reprises, mostly sung by Mariachis); "To Call You My Own" (sung by Phil Regan, danced by Dolores Del Rio and unidentified partner); "The Lady in Red" (sung by Winifred Shaw, chorus, Judy Canova), by Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel; and "Muchacha" by Harry Warren and Al Dubin (sung by Phil Regan, Dolores Del Rio, and chorus).

Long on story and comedy, with songs spread apart while the two Berkeley production numbers are saved for the near conclusion. Of the songs presented, only "The Lady in Red" is notable. While introduced in IN CALIENTE by Winifred Shaw, and given the reprise "hillbilly treatment" by comedienne Judy Canova, it's best remembered as a dance number sung and performed by Desi Arnaz in one of the classic episodes to the 1950s TV comedy series, I LOVE LUCY (CBS, 1951-1957) starring Lucille Ball. Phil Regan, an Irish tenor, playing the role of Pat Casey, but acting the part as Pedro Casinova, is the male vocalist. He heads the grand finale of "Muchacha" opposite Del Rio, in a rare opportunity in which she sings (briefly) on film. Her vocalization is adequate, but at times sounds more like the singing of Kitty Carlisle from two Bing Crosby musicals, HERE IS MY HEART and SHE LOVES ME NOT (Paramount, 1934). Carlisle, however, is best noted for her performance opposite The Marx Brothers in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (MGM, 1935).

While this is essentially a showcase for Dolores Del Rio and Pat O'Brien, Edward Everett Horton not only comes close in stealing his many scenes in his overly familiar performance from his leading actor, concluding the story with a funny fadeout. Another plus is the location filming at Agua Caliente. Chris Pin-Martin, as one of the mariachis, recites the catch phrase, "English not so very good looking." IN CALIENTE is typical yet manages to be entertaining as 1930s movies go. For more enjoyment with this south of the border musical comedy, watch IN CALIENTE whenever it plays on Turner Classic Movies. (***).

A typical fast paced Pat O'Brien movie that includes the alluring Deloris De Rio, the normally befuddled Edward Everett Horton, Leo Carrillo - popular 1930s talent, and much music and dancing. Watch for Judy Canova doing a great scene as "the Lady in Red" with Edward Everett Horton!!

One error that is repeated in both the IMDb cast listing and a number of viewer comments, is that the "Sally" De Marco in this film is actually "Renee" De Marco (Tony's second wife/dancing partner). Sally didn't start dancing with Tony until 1941, this film was made in 1935! Also, Sally and Renee had very different dancing styles, with Sally always having a most exciting and polished performance. I suspect because Sally had been a ballet dancer and had a very intense stage presence – plus she was quite beautiful. Renee was a good solid dancer, but typical smooth Ballroom dancer, not flashy but very, very smooth. Sally's performances, in comparison, would cause you to watch in awe.

All in all a very entertaining, albeit sort of "whacky", movie to watch!! Don't miss it!