By Violet LeVoit
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
Brief Synopsis
A temperamental Latina and her family get caught in the search for a rare art treasure.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Lupe Velez
Carmelita Lindsey
Leon Errol
Uncle Matt Lindsey/Lord Basil Epping
Walter Reed
Dennis Lindsey
Elisabeth Risdon
Aunt Della Lindsey
Lydia Bilbrook
Lady Ada Epping
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adventure
Release Date
Sep
11,
1942
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,736ft
Synopsis
To divert the customs agents, diamond runners Diana Decaro and Reddy Madison decide to use Lord Basil Epping, a fellow passenger on their cruise ship, to smuggle a gem into the country. Pretending to know Epping, Diana presents him with an elephant trinket in which the diamond is hidden. Lord Epping and his wife Ada are traveling to New York to assist in a benefit for Della Lindsey's Women's War Relief organization. Della, who detests her nephew Dennis' wife Carmelita, excludes the hot-tempered Latin from the Eppings' welcoming party. Dennis and Della greet the Eppings at dockside, and when Diana asks Lord Epping to return her elephant, he responds that he has locked it in his trunk. Diana follows them to the Hotel Regal where, to avoid trouble with his wife, Lord Epping introduces her as Dennis' friend. Della's husband Matt and Carmelita are attending a meeting at the hotel, and when Carmelita sees Dennis in the elevator with Diana, she accepts a job dancing at the café Villa Luigi to spite him. The next night, Diana meets Lord Epping at the café and asks him for the elephant. As Reddy Madison then approaches their table and demands the trinket, Carmelita witnesses them threatening Lord Epping convinces Matt to impersonate the lord to discover what Diana and Reddy are plotting. After Epping leaves the table to go to the bar, Matt takes his place, and when Reddy gives him two hours to return the elephant, Matt, taking his threat literally, tells Carmelita to borrow an elephant. Carmelita delivers the elephant to the café, causing a tipsy Lord Epping to think that he is hallucinating. In hopes of reconciling Carmelita and Dennis, Matt convinces Lady Epping to include Luigi's dancers in the charity show. At the club, Carmelita, determined to unravel the mystery of the elephant, instructs Matt to tell Reddy that he has given the trinket to her because he has fallen in love with her. Posing as Epping, Matt meets Reddy and informs him that Carmelita has the elephant. Matt then leaves the table and the real Lord Epping, who has come to audition the dancers, takes his place. Carmelita, thinking that he is Matt, begins to kiss him. Lady Epping and Della then arrive at the café, and when Della spies Matt removing his Lord Epping disguise, she complains to Luigi about him. When Reddy threatens Carmelita, Matt dons a police uniform and chases him away while Della orders the bouncer to eject Epping, who she thinks is Matt. At curbside, Della pushes Epping into a puddle just as Matt and Carmelita walk out the stage door. Lord Epping, furious, refuses to attend the benefit the next evening and Carmelita convinces Matt to impersonate the lord once again. As they walk past the hotel desk, the clerk hands Matt the elephant trinket that the cleaners found in his jacket pocket. At the performance, a mind reader picks Matt as his subject and produces the elephant. After leaving the stage, Matt goes to Carmelita's dressing room, where he finds Reddy and Diana holding her captive. Just as they take the elephant from Matt, the customs agents break in and Reddy slugs Dennis while trying to escape. After the agents seize the smugglers and the diamond, Carmelita takes pity on her injured husband and forgives him. Meanwhile, Matt, still dressed as Lord Epping, chastises Della for her behavior, but when she realizes that he is really her husband in disguise, she chases him into the hotel lobby with an umbrella. There she sees the real Epping and, mistaking him for Matt, whacks him.
Director
Leslie Goodwins
Director
Cast
Lupe Velez
Carmelita Lindsey
Leon Errol
Uncle Matt Lindsey/Lord Basil Epping
Walter Reed
Dennis Lindsey
Elisabeth Risdon
Aunt Della Lindsey
Lydia Bilbrook
Lady Ada Epping
Marion Martin
Diana Decaro
Lyle Talbot
Reddy Madison
Luis Alberni
Luigi
Arnold Kent
Alamos
George Cleveland
Chief inspector
Marten Lamont
Arnold
Max Wagner
Head waiter
Tom Kennedy
Bartender
Neely Edwards
Bartender
Harry Harvey
Ship steward
Jack Briggs
Lewis
Lloyd Ingraham
Doorman
Jack Arnold
Hotel manager
Don Barclay
Mr. Smith
Keye Luke
Magician
Ann Summers
Maid
Mary Stuart
Maid
Don Kerr
Hotel clerk
Ronnie Rondell
Emcee
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Bert Gilroy
Producer
Leslie Goodwins
Story
Feild M. Gray
Art Director
Jack Mackenzie
Director of Photography
Harry Marker
Editing
Roy Meadows
Recording
Harley Miller
Set Decoration
Renie
Gowns
Charles E. Roberts
Screenwriter
Charles E. Roberts
Story
Ruby Rosenberg
Assistant Director
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Adventure
Release Date
Sep
11,
1942
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,736ft
Articles
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
No, the third Mexican Spitfire movie Lupe Velez made in 1942 isn't a circus movie -- the elephant in question is an onyx knickknack, not unlike "the stuff that dreams are made of" bird in the previous year's The Maltese Falcon (1941). Jewel thieves (Marion Martin and Lyle Talbot) are using the precious pachyderm to smuggle an emerald, with Lord Epping (Leon Errol, veteran of seven Mexican Spitfire movies) as their unwitting patsy. Too bad for them that colorful Carmelita (Velez) mixes herself into the situation, mangling the English language on the way. Walter Reed replaces Donald Woods as Dennis, Carmelita's long-suffering husband in this installment, and his recollections of working with the disintegrating Velez are poignant, describing his co-star as "unbalanced and neurotic" "crav[ing] attention", and "wild, like an untamed cat". Fortunately, whatever her off-screen mental state, Velez is still vital on screen.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
No, the third Mexican Spitfire movie Lupe Velez made in 1942 isn't a circus movie -- the elephant in question is an onyx knickknack, not unlike "the stuff that dreams are made of" bird in the previous year's The Maltese Falcon (1941). Jewel thieves (Marion Martin and Lyle Talbot) are using the precious pachyderm to smuggle an emerald, with Lord Epping (Leon Errol, veteran of seven Mexican Spitfire movies) as their unwitting patsy. Too bad for them that colorful Carmelita (Velez) mixes herself into the situation, mangling the English language on the way. Walter Reed replaces Donald Woods as Dennis, Carmelita's long-suffering husband in this installment, and his recollections of working with the disintegrating Velez are poignant, describing his co-star as "unbalanced and neurotic" "crav[ing] attention", and "wild, like an untamed cat". Fortunately, whatever her off-screen mental state, Velez is still vital on screen.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Goddess of the chase, wasn't she?- Lady Ada Epping
Trivia
Notes
Cliff Reid replaced Bert Gilroy as the producer of the "Mexican Spitfire" series with this film. A news item in Hollywood Reporter noted that the picture marked the film debut of Arnold Kent, a former dance teacher at the Arthur Murray studio. For additional information about the series, consult the Series Index and see the entry for Mexican Spitfire in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2846.
