Synopsis
Viva! viva! velez!
Newlyweds Dennis and Carmelita have several obstacles to deal with in their new marriage: Carmelita's fiery Latin temper, a meddling aunt and a conniving ex-fiancee who's determined to break up their marriage.
Mexican Spitfire
Cast
Lupe Vélez Leon Errol Donald Woods Linda Hayes Elisabeth Risdon Cecil Kellaway Charles Coleman Brooks Benedict Lester Dorr Jack Gargan Kirby Grant Charlie Hall Earle Hodgins Donald Kerr Harold Miller William J. O'Brien Cyril Ring Julian Rivero John Sheehan Larry Steers Max Wagner Frank Yaconelli Joey Ray
Director
Producer
Writers
Editor
Cinematography
Art Direction
Costume Design
Genre
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USANR
Releases by Country
USA
12 Jan 1940
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Lupe Vélez has such a great screen presence that I can definitely understand why RKO made seven of these movies. Vélez mocks the bigoted, preconceived notions of some of the characters in the film seamlessly and for a film made in the 40s it is very culturally progressive as well.
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Hollywood stories hardly get more tragic than the one featuring the Mexican Spitfire herself: Lupe Velez. Just five years after having started this (low budget) film series with The Girl From Mexico in 1939 the beauty from Mexico would commit suicide. The series would total eight films, the last one to be released in 1943.
I mistakenly thought that this Mexican Spitfire was the start of the series, but it is actually a sequel in which the main character Carmelita Fuentes (Lupe Velez) is already married to Dennis Lindsay (Donald Woods), a successful businessman whose family - well his aunt Della (Elisabeth Risdon) mostly - doesn't approve of him marrying Carmelita and will try to do anything to get him…
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Leon Errol wasn't always the funniest comedian, but for some reason teaming with the Mexican Spitfire (1940) Lupe Velez brings out the best in them! What a party this second installment of the series is! Errol as a eccentric Englishman and Velez as temperamental as she can be as a rival invades her union with the bland cluck Donald Woods. Food fight!!!!
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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… -
While part it relies pretty heavily on xenophobic and racist ideas in terms of its exposition and narrative elements, it's how Lupe Vélez's Carmelita deftly maneuvers through those preconceptions and manages to weaponize them against the bigots in her life that really gives the film its charm. It's a riot, hilarious in its situational comedy, elements of slapstick, and physical comedy from Vélez.
At a time when Mexican-American audiences were going to the movies at significantly higher rates than other demographics in the U.S., it's significant that a film broaches the subjects inherent to the interactions between Latinx people and Anglo America, and while Mexican Spitfire isn't perfect in how it does this, it manages to take preconceptions and stereotypes and quickly reinforce the fact that this is a Vélez vehicle. It's her picture, and the rest of the characters are lucky enough to be on screen with her.
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“I am through with double-timing American husbands. I am now out for a career.”
Every extant moment of film with Lupe Vélez is a treasure. I especially like the solid first 35 minutes or so, which plays like a Lucy episode (both her and Errol are Lucy) and, played a little looser (i.e. live with an audience), it could cut into a classic sitcom episode.I am very stressed that I didn’t catch the first one because I thought this was the first one. Is it anywhere besides TCM? I won’t miss the rest!
SPOILERS
I am dumb maybe but I didn’t realize Errol was also playing Epping until the change in quality in one shot gave away an incoming… -
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Stop ordering eggs! You don't like them! Remember? You look smarter than that Mr Epping sir.
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When The Girl from Mexico, a low-budget programmer starring Lupe Velez, found unexpected success in connecting with audiences, RKO Radio Pictures rushed a sequel only six months later titled Mexican Spitfire, giving the namesake to a series that would last a total of eight films. Unlike the Maisie series (which was happening concurrently with the Mexican Spitfire films), this second installment picks up almost exactly where the last one left off, including the same characters and continuing the action established in the first picture. And, in almost every way, it is a total improvement. For starters is that Leon Errol is treated as the asset that he was (so much so that he risks overexposure in a dual performance), and…
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Ok so this is hilarious. You definitely have to have seen The Girl from Mexico first in order to fully enjoy Mexican Spitfire, as it picks up exactly where Girl from Mexico left off, but Spitfire is the superior screwball comedy. With the exposition out of the way, Lupe Vélez and Leon Errol are free to jump right into their comedy routine. Errol also gets to do a very hilarious double role (disguises and misconceptions are a screwball hallmark). The comedic tone feels way more even with the established parameters; Girl from Mexico was more like, "Wow! This woman is crazy!" and Spitfire is more like, "This woman is crazy. Deal with it."
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