Quando a Mulher Vira Bicho

Now that Lupe Velez and Donald Woods are safely married from The Girl From Mexico, this sequel film is the first with Mexican Spitfire in the title. Lupe is back with her broken English, a female version of Ricky Ricardo.

Now that she' married to the upper crust Woods, will it work? You've got Woods's Aunt Elizabeth Risdon and his former fiance Linda Hayes trying to make sure it doesn't. Lupe's ally however is indulgent Uncle Matt played Leon Errol.

Errol unveils his Lord Epping character as well, the slightly inebriated and titled Lord Epping character. Errol's drunk shtick served hi well through years of vaudeville, music hall, Broadway and finally movies which also include several short subjects.

Lupe and Errol are a funny team each with their own shtick. This was a good start for The Mexican Spitfire series.

Carmelita Lindsay (Lupe Velez) is the Mexican Spitfire. She has various misadventures with her husband Dennis Lindsay (Donald Woods). A client mistakenly assumes Carmelita to be Dennis' secretary. It's a sitcom misunderstanding and let the ensuring wacky hijinks begin.

This is basically a network sitcom. Lupe Velez is Lucille Ball with Desi Arnaz accent. She is the alpha and the omega of this show. Donald Woods is the straight man. The rest of the cast is a lot of wacky chaos and loveable obstacles. I like Lupe despite the stereotypical Latina portrayal. I like the dinner party, but the movie keeps going on and on. It loses steam in the second half.

Leon Errol handles his double role of Uncle Matt Lindsay and Lord Basil Epping superbly, but I have trouble liking the "Mexican Spitfire" Series because they all are contrived to produce mistaken identities, and these are telegraphed way in advance. Errol is funny as the stuffy Lord Epping, but I would have preferred a lot more wit and much less repetition.

Lupe Velez. Remember that name. Lupe Velez, the Mexican Spitfire. In a series of extremely funny comedies for RKO she played the title character, Carmelita Lindsay. Wife of Dennis Lindsay, a Caucasian, the films were practically a reverse "I Love Lucy" over a decade ahead of time. Lupe Velez was a vivacious, energetic, beautiful AND funny comedienne. I'd even go so far as to say that her of portrayal of Carmelita Lindsay was a blueprint for Lucielle Ball's Lucy Ricardo. Lupe even had her own humorous way of crying, much as Lucy did. She was also forever getting herself into silly situation after situation and hair brained scheme after hair brained scheme. While she was always married to the same man, (played by different actors) the other constant of the series was character actor Leon Errol as Uncle Matt. Together, Lupe Velez and Leon Errol made a great comedy team! A BIG THANKS to TCM for airing every one of these films back to back. Every time I think that the Hollywood well has run dry of anything I haven't seen that I'd like to, TCM finds something else worthy of attention. I hope TCM runs them again soon so I can see the ones I missed. Solid, funny, well done movies all! The only sad thing connected with them is the fact that Lupe Velez died a suicide in her mid-thirties. If only she had known how much laughter and enjoyment she would have certainly brought to future audiences, perhaps she would had she lived through her depression. If you really love funny films from the 1930s and 40s, these are your kinds of films! Certifiable reasons why it was known as The Golden Age of Hollywood.

Pros:

• Lupe Velez is a bundle of energy, and brings some diversity which has always been lacking in Hollywood.
• Leon Errol's dual performance as the uncle and the British businessman, which includes the uncle dressing up as the businessman and small differences in how he played it, is well done. Also, his combative relationship with his wife (Elisabeth Risdon) is funny in just how far they go to get on each other's nerves.

Cons:

• It's a screwball comedy so one doesn't expect the plot to be airtight or anything, but the story gets so silly that at some point I found myself thinking, 'this is just stupid', and hoping for it to end.
• Despite the attempts at zaniness, there isn't much that's original here, from the marriage the aunt wants to break up, to the impersonation (of course the real guy soon shows up), to the cake fight at the end (ok, it's not pie but...), etc
• Donald Woods is as bland as a piece of cardboard.
• As the second in a series of films, 8 total from 1939-1943(!), with the first actually being 'The Girl from Mexico', this one already has that retread / sequel feeling. I'll go back and watch the first, but not the next six.