Mexican Spitfire at Sea

This little gem is one part the Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and another part a backwards I Love Lucy.

It is a model "B" film- short, inexpensive, but a clever script and some good work by an experienced cast.

I haven't seen any other of the "Mexican Spitfire" series but I will be looking for them. You might give them a try.

Mexican SPITFIRE AT SEA is a typical door-slamming, vaudevillesque comedy for the fairly popular film series, an endless string of malapropisms, mistaken identities, and double-crossing pushed with gusto by a talented cast working hard to ring out every possible laugh. Carmelita and Dennis (Lupe Velez, Charles Buddy Rogers) are on a cruise ship on what she believes will be a second honeymoon but is actually an attempt to gain the business account of the social climbing George Skinners (Eddie Dunn, Florence Bates), eager to meet Uncle Matt's friend, Lord Basil Epping (both roles played by Leon Errol). When Carmelita learns the truth she throws a fit and threatens to leave and Skinner mistakenly believes blonde bombshell Fifi (Marion Martin) is actually Dennis' wife forcing him to continue the fib. Uncle Matt meanwhile believes Lord Epping is not onboard and is forced to impersonate him - with passenger ZaSu Pitts, a stagestruck wanna-be actress, persuaded to impersonate Lady Epping.

The comedy is frantic and often quite funny, particularly Lupe and her fractured tirades (informed Dennis has "another wife" she screams, "That's bigotry!") Veteran character comic Leon Errol gets the lion's share of screen time in the dual role of Uncle Matt and Lord Epping and while he's funny, many of the scenes seem like repeats from scenes just moments before and it can be a bit much. The role of Carmelita's husband is always a thankless one and it's disappointing to see the appealing Charles Buddy Rogers wasted in the smallish part (which would eventually be played by no less than three actors in the seven film series). Character actress Elisabeth Risdon is around as usual as Matt's rather haughty wife who can't stand Carmelita and she's very good, as is the excellent comedienne Florence Bates as a barge of a social climber.

Dennis (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) takes Carmelita (Lupe Velez) on a trip to Hawaii for their second honeymoon. All Dennis really wants is to land some big contract. So he brings along Uncle Matt (Leon Errol) to pretend to be Lord Epping but, of course, the real Lord Epping is also on the ship. Because what would a Mexican Spitfire movie be without Leon Errol as the star? When Carmelita finds out the real reason for the trip, she becomes enraged and threatens, once again, to leave Dennis.

Honestly this series tires me out. Watching Carmelita shout and carry on like a child with a tantrum in front of a whole crowd of people is not funny. It just makes me want to fast forward to whenever she's not on the screen anymore. Don't even get me started on stupid Dennis, who apparently has no sex drive. But with the way he parts his hair I'm not surprised. There are some characters from the last movie that are shoehorned into this one. I might complain about Zasu Pitts but I would never complain about any excuse to look at beautiful Marion Martin again. Elisabeth Risdon also returns as Uncle Matt's wife, who remains just about one of the most unlikable people ever. It's a very repetitive series with the same material recycled over and over. If you have never seen a Mexican Spitfire movie, then this one is no better or worse than any other. But if you have seen others, you'll find yourself bored because of the lack of originality.

Lupe Velez is "the Mexican Spitfire" in the follow up, but it's everyone else that makes this chapter fun. My personal favorite is Florence Bates.. she made a limited number of films, and every one is a gem (Rebecca !) Bates has such an interesting life story. then there's Zasu Pitts who had started in silents, moved into talkies, and finished with Mad, Mad World. Character actor Leon Errol. The plot is too goofy to explain, and i don't think even the actors really knew what the plot was, but the whole idea is for Leon Errol to pretend to be someone else, and then the caper can began. Mistaken identies, clever one and two liners, and much muttering jokes under one's breath. and of course the usual language mixups by Carmelita (Velez). It's all very silly, but the word play keeps it interesting, like a Marx Brothers film. Directed by Les Goodwins, who had directed so many Spitfires with Velez. Shows now and then on Turner Classics. It's a fun one!

The fifth entry in the "Mexicn Spitfire" series consists mostly of aimless running around without going anywhere, and people behaving like collective morons; despite the ship setting, it is almost totally static as well. Lupe Velez is still funny, but wasted in a minor supporting (!) role. It is obvious to anyone that this series is operating on fumes at this point - and even the fumes are getting exhausted. ** out of 4.