By Richard Harland Smith
The Girl from Mexico
Brief Synopsis
An ad man tours Mexico trying to cast a new radio show.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Lupe Velez
Carmelita Fuentes
Donald Woods
Dennis Lindsey
Leon Errol
Uncle Matt
Linda Hayes
Elizabeth Price
Donald Macbride
Renner
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Jun
2,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,424ft
Synopsis
Dennis Lindsey, an advertising executive, goes to Mexico to find a singer for one of his client's radio shows. There, he hears the hot-tempered Carmelita Fuentes sing, and after several incendiary confrontations with Dennis, Carmelita accedes to her family's wishes and signs a singing contract with him. After Dennis promises to look after her welfare in New York and invites her to stay with him, his aunt Della and uncle Matt, she decides to steal him from his fiancée, Elizabeth Price. Although she is told to stay home on the day before her audition, Carmelita persuades Uncle Matt to take her to a baseball game and a wrestling match, where she loses her voice cheering on wrestler Mexican Pete. At the audition, Carmelita croaks out her songs, causing the sponsor to cancel the show. To cover for Uncle Matt, Carmelita tells Dennis that she was out with an unnamed man, prompting Dennis to threaten to send her back to Mexico. An angry Carmelita blames Mexican Pete for her bad luck, and the wrestler offers her a job in his nightclub as compensation. That night, Dennis entertains a divorced client, Tony Romano, at the club, and Romano, impressed by Carmelita's performance, hires her to advertise his perfume. As the night progresses, Elizabeth becomes jealous of Dennis' concern for Carmelita, while Dennis becomes jealous of Romano's attention to Carmelita. After the performance, Uncle Matt and Carmelita stay out all night at the bike races, and Carmelita leads Dennis to believe that she was out with Romano. While at a photo session at Romano's house, Carmelita calls Dennis and tells him that she is moving in with Romano. When Dennis decides to leave his wedding rehearsal to rescue Carmelita, Elizabeth breaks their engagement and Dennis rushes to Romano's house, scoops up Carmelita and carries her to the altar.
Director
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Cast
Lupe Velez
Carmelita Fuentes
Donald Woods
Dennis Lindsey
Leon Errol
Uncle Matt
Linda Hayes
Elizabeth Price
Donald Macbride
Renner
Edward Raquello
Tony Romano
Elisabeth Risdon
Aunt Della
Ward Bond
Mexican Pete
Crew
John L. Cass
Recording
Albert D'agostino
Art Director Associate
Joseph A. Fields
Screenwriter
Lionel Houser
Screenwriter
Lionel Houser
Story
Jack Mackenzie
Photography
Lee Marcus
Prod Executive
Desmond Marquette
Editing
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Renie
Wardrobe
Sam Ruman
Assistant Director
Robert Sisk
Producer
Roy Webb
Music Director
Videos
Movie Clip
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Jun
2,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 9m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,424ft
Articles
The Girl From Mexico
Lupe Velez got her big break in Hollywood when Dolores del Rio proved unavailable to costar in The Gaucho (1927) opposite Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Though Velez often acted in dramatic roles early in her career, she had been discovered for Hollywood pictures by producer Hal Roach and later distinguished herself as a comic talent in Fox's Hot Pepper (1933), United Artists' Palooka (1934), and Strictly Dynamite (1934) from RKO Radio Pictures. RKO tapped the fiery Latina again to play The Girl from Mexico (1939), a songbird from South of the Border spirited away by ad man Donald Woods to New York City and a spot on national radio. Velez's fractured English, elastic beauty, and penchant for calamity made her a hit with moviegoers, who packed New York's Rialto for three weeks during the film's initial theatrical run, and with critics, who branded Velez "a first rate comedienne." The success of The Girl from Mexico prompted RKO to give the actress her own film series, beginning with Mexican Spitfire (1940) and running to six sequels. (Series regular Leon Errol would stay with the franchise to the very end, while Donald Woods was replaced in subsequent films as Velez's long-suffering husband by Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Walter Reed.) Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943) marked Velez's final American film before her untimely death in 1944 at the age of only 36 - a tragic demise that fueled endless speculation and a particularly unsavory chapter of Kenneth Anger's muckraking Hollywood Babylon.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
The Girl From Mexico
Lupe Velez got her big break in Hollywood when Dolores del Rio proved unavailable to costar in The Gaucho (1927) opposite Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Though Velez often acted in dramatic roles early in her career, she had been discovered for Hollywood pictures by producer Hal Roach and later distinguished herself as a comic talent in Fox's Hot Pepper (1933), United Artists' Palooka (1934), and Strictly Dynamite (1934) from RKO Radio Pictures. RKO tapped the fiery Latina again to play The Girl from Mexico (1939), a songbird from South of the Border spirited away by ad man Donald Woods to New York City and a spot on national radio. Velez's fractured English, elastic beauty, and penchant for calamity made her a hit with moviegoers, who packed New York's Rialto for three weeks during the film's initial theatrical run, and with critics, who branded Velez "a first rate comedienne." The success of The Girl from Mexico prompted RKO to give the actress her own film series, beginning with Mexican Spitfire (1940) and running to six sequels. (Series regular Leon Errol would stay with the franchise to the very end, while Donald Woods was replaced in subsequent films as Velez's long-suffering husband by Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Walter Reed.) Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943) marked Velez's final American film before her untimely death in 1944 at the age of only 36 - a tragic demise that fueled endless speculation and a particularly unsavory chapter of Kenneth Anger's muckraking Hollywood Babylon.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Marriage is like a mousetrap - easy to get in but hard to get out. And the husband is the piece of cheese.- Uncle Matt
Trivia
RKO wasn't planning a series while this film was being made, but the series developed after it was such a big hit.
Notes
According to an article in Los Angeles Times, this picture marked Lupe Velez's return to the screen after an eighteen month absence. A news item in Hollywood Reporter adds that actress Linda Hayes, a former San Francisco hat check girl, was discovered in the Lasky "Gateway to Hollywood" contest. Modern sources note that this film was the prototype for the "Mexican Spitfire" series, which starred Velez, although RKO had no plans for the series when the picture was made. For more information about the series, consult the series index and for Mexican Spitfire.
