Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Fred F. Sears
[dámaso] Pérez Prado (king Of The Mambo) And His Orchestra
Mary Kaye Trio
Helen Grayco
Luis Arcaraz And His Orchestra
Lucerto Bárcenas
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In New York, Bill Haven, head of the talent department of Globe Records, is ordered by his boss, Harry Teasdale, to sign exciting, new acts for the company or lose his job. At a nightclub, Bill spots his girl friend, Debbie Farmer, head of talent at rival Starbright Records, dancing with her boss, George Evans, who graciously invites Bill to a party where he may be able to persuade a particular artist not to re-sign with Starbright and sign with Globe instead. Bill fails, however, and tells Debbie that he intends to make some career changes. The next morning, Bill summons his Cuban friend, Pablo Fernández, to his apartment, where he tells him that he has quit Globe and that he intends to start his own company. Bill then asks Pablo if he will act as his interpreter on a trip to Cuba to find new, Latin musical performers. After Bill informs Debbie of his plans, she persuades Evans to let her go to Havana on her own talent hunt. In Havana, Bill and Pablo check in to a hotel, then hold a press conference to announce that Bill is looking for a new type of Latin music. When Bill and Pablo attend a local nightclub, they see a novel dance team, Nita Munay and Elvarez. After their performance, Nita tells Bill about a new kind of music, but before she takes him to hear it, she insists that she go to New York as part of the deal. Bill agrees and the next day they drive six hours from Havana to a fiesta at a sugar plantation, where Dámaso Pérez Prado and his musicians are performing. Bill is impressed and, back in Havana, closes the deal with Nita, who then romances him until Debbie walks in on them. Bill, Pablo and all the musicians return to New York where Bill persuades singer Mary Kaye to allow the orchestra to put on a show aimed at potential investors in his company, at a club where she is appearing. Despite the audience's excellent reception of the Pérez Prado orchestra, as well as Nina and Elvarez' dance routine, the invited investors, who are older businessmen, appear unimpressed and ultimately decline to back Bill's company. Nita then goes to see Debbie, and after explaining that there is nothing between her and Bill, offers the talent package to Debbie and her company. After Debbie tells Nita to leave, she phones Bill and informs him that Nita is trying to find work with other companies. Bill then conceives of the idea of asking record store owners to invest a thousand dollars each, as equal partners, thus enabling him to raise the eighty-two thousand dollars needed to launch the label. He is reasonably successful until Teasdale threatens to cut off the supply of Globe's records to the investors' stores. Debbie, now reunited with Bill, decides to quit her job and arranges to have several artists, whose contracts are up for renewal with Globe, sign affidavits that they will not renew as long as Teasdale is running the company. Debbie also arranges for other artists to join the label and paves the way for Bill to take charge. Although Globe's board of directors is willing to have Bill take over the company, the directors want proof that the Pérez Prado music will be successful. Bill then arranges to stage a show at a local hotel that will be televised coast-to-coast. The show, featuring Helen Grayco, Nita and Elvarez, the Mary Kaye Trio and spotlighting the Pérez Prado ensemble, is very well received and the Globe directors congratulate Bill and Debbie, who plan to marry.
Director
Fred F. Sears
Cast
[dámaso] Pérez Prado (king Of The Mambo) And His Orchestra
Mary Kaye Trio
Helen Grayco
Luis Arcaraz And His Orchestra
Lucerto Bárcenas
Manny López And His Orchestra
Steve Dunne
Alix Talton
José Gonzáles Gonzáles
Sylvia Lewis
Dante De Paulo
Charles Evans
Howard Wright
Benny Rubin
Crew
Jack Allison
Harold Arlen
Gene Austin
Frances Maurine Barris
Earl Barton
Sidney Clifford
B. G. Desylva
George Duning
Alvaro Escobar
Ilus Geiger
James B. Gordon
Jorge Hernández
Fred Karger
Sam Katzman
Benjamin H. Kline
Ted Koehler
Manny López
Albrecht Marcuse
Rosemarie Mccoy
Carlos Molina
Paul Palmentola
Dámaso Pérez Prado
H. Ricardo Rico
Aguste G. Schmutz
Willard Sheldon
Al Sherman
Nathaniel Shilkret
Charles Singleton
Jerome Thoms
René Touzet
Bob Wells
Loyce Whiteman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Cha Cha Cha. As noted in a May 4, 1956 Daily Variety news item, singer Helen Grayco, who was married to band leader Spike Jones, made her film debut in Cha-Cha-Cha Boom!. Although a May 16, 1956 Hollywood Reporter news item adds Frank Senton to the cast, his appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed. Instead of utilizing the traditional "The End" title, the film closes with "Adiós, Amigos!"
