Between 1939 and 1943, the Mexican-born Lupe Velez teamed with rubber-legged one-time Ziegfeld Follies star Leon Errol for a series of eight fast-paced, slapstick comedies about the adventures of a fiery Latin singer (Velez) married to an advertising man. Her efforts to embrace domesticity were aided and just-as-often undermined by her husband's eccentric Uncle Matt (Errol), who bore a striking resemblance to British whiskey baron Lord Basil Epping (also Errol) and, in one installment, Epping's valet. It wasn't exactly Noel Coward, but the series was popular enough with rural audiences to keep RKO studios churning out entries until Velez decided to move on to other projects.
Velez was at a career low-point when RKO studio head George Schaeffer tapped her for the lead role in The Girl from Mexico (1939), in which she starred as a singer brought to the U.S. by ad man Donald Woods. The film did so well, Schaeffer, who also was instrumental in bringing Orson Welles to RKO, signed her to a contract that kept her playing Carmelita and similar roles for four years. For the other seven films, the series capitalized on a nickname that Velez's energetic performances and offscreen behavior had earned her early in her Hollywood career, "The Mexican Spitfire." Made for pennies, these B films provided the second half of double features with more prestigious films, though in many cases, they proved more popular than the films they supported. Other constants in the series were director Leslie Goodwins, who helmed all eight movies, and Elisabeth Risdon, cast as Velez's snobbish aunt by marriage, who spends every Spitfire film trying to break up the relationship so her nephew can find a more suitable wife.
Carmelita's adventures encompassed everything from smuggling (Mexican Spitfire's Elephant, 1942) to seeking a divorce (Mexican Spitfire Out West, 1940). For The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941), the studio teased audiences with the possibility of an addition to the family, only to reveal that the war orphan Carmelita and her husband try to adopt is really a full-grown and very seductive Frenchwoman named Fifi (Marion Martin). New to the series is Charles "Buddy" Rogers, who took over the role of Carmelita's husband from Woods and would keep the part for two more films. (Walter Reed would play the husband in the series' final two entries). In addition, ZaSu Pitts joined a string of character comics -- including Cecil Kellaway, Tom Kennedy, Alan Carney and Mantan Moreland -- who graced the series with their work.
Trivia Question #2: Which Mexican Spitfire regular would go on to win an Oscar&;? Answer: Although putting "Mexican Spitfire" and Oscar® in the same sentence seems something of an oxymoron, Rogers would win the Motion Picture Academy's® Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1985. The third (and last) husband of silent-screen legend Mary Pickford, Rogers became extensively involved in charity work in the '60s, often acting on behalf of his wife, who preferred to stay out of the limelight. It was hardly his first brush with Oscar®, however. He was also the star of the first Best Picture winner, Wings, in 1927.
Producer: Cliff Reid
Director: Leslie Goodwins
Screenplay: Charles E. Roberts, Jerry Cady, James Casey
Based on a story by Charles E. Roberts
Cinematography: Jack MacKenzie
Art Direction: Van Nest Polglase
Music: C. Bakaleinikoff
Cast: Lupe Velez (Carmelita Lindsay), Leon Errol (Uncle Matt Lindsay/Lord Basil Epping), Charles "Buddy" Rogers (Dennis Lindsay), Elisabeth Risdon (Aunt Della Lindsay), ZaSu Pitts (Miss Pepper), Marion Martin (Fifi).
BW-70m.
by Frank Miller
