Spanish Fiesta

Spanish Fiesta (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol" is brought to life by MGM and The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. I'm not overly familiar with the original Spanish folk melodies but I somewhat enjoyed this glossy version from MGM. The biggest reason to watch this film is for its Technicolor, which really jumps off the screen and grabs you. I really loved the darkish tone that haunted the entire look of the picture and just keep your eyes on the floors and walls and the blue tone that they have. The costumes are all made out to where their full color will jump off the screen so the vibrant reds and terrific to look at as well. The "story" isn't all that bad with the cast doing a very nice job bringing it to life. The music as well is extremely good so those who are familiar with the subject will certainly enjoy this production.

The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo made a couple of shorts for Jean Negulesco at Vitagraph at this time; I haven't checked, but I imagine the troupe was 'resting' in the United States at the time. Léonide Massine gets the lead here, as she does in THE GAY PARISIAN. Good music, good dancing, nice Technicolor. What more do you want?

This is the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as directed by Jean Negulesco for Warner Bros. and The Vitaphone Company. A narrator tells the story as various male and female dancers then do their thing in glorious Technicolor. The whole thing seems to be about 30 minutes long. This was one of the extras on the Warner Night at the Movies link of the In This Our Life DVD. The print was in good enough condition. Oh, and there are some people in animal costumes at the end. There's supposed to be ten lines for this review to be submitted on this site but I'm running out of things to say. Maybe I'll just mention some newsreel footage also on the disc that shows celebs like Laruel & Hardy and Desi Arnaz shaking hands with some government officials and traveling in Washington, D.C. that I also enjoyed watching. Okay, so on that note, I recommend Spanish Fiesta.