In Caliente

"In Caliente" is more of a comedy than a full-blown Busby Berkeley musical but is entertaining regardless.From the glamour of Dolores Del Rio to hilarious Edward Everett Horton, Glenda Farrell and Pat O'Brien- "In Caliente" is very funny with an excellent cast. The highlight of the film was Edward Everett Horton and Busby Berkeley's three major musical numbers. "The Lady in Red" was the most memorable song-partially because it is nine minutes long, so how could you forget it? It's also good to see Wini Shaw briefly in the film. "In Caliente" also gets stuck in your head, because it's a running joke that a band plays it every time someone enters the Mexican hotel. The "Muchacha" number is one of Berkeley's typical sprawling numbers and makes good use of Dolores Del Rio's beauty and horses riding up a staircase! Pay attention to Del Rio in the scene at the pool. She wears what's believed to be the screen's first two-piece bathing suit. While "In Caliente" isn't a stand-out Warner Brothers musical, it's still a fun little escapism piece.

Judy Canova's first film appearance.-Dances choreographed and directed by Busby Berkeley-Costumes by Orry-Kelly -In the dance number "Lady in Red," each performer is wearing a blue costume, because it looks more like red in black-and-white, according to Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley by Jeffrey Spivak.

Director:Lloyd Bacon, Busbey Starring:Dolores Del Rio , Pat O'Brien, Edward Everett Horton, Glenda Farrell, Leo Carrillo, Wini ShawThemselves: Tony De Marco, Sally De Marco, Judy Canova 8/10

A typical fast paced Pat O'Brien movie that includes the alluring Deloris De Rio, the normally befuddled Edward Everett Horton, Leo Carrillo - popular 1930s talent, and much music and dancing. Watch for Judy Canova doing a great scene as "the Lady in Red" with Edward Everett Horton!!

One error that is repeated in both the IMDb cast listing and a number of viewer comments, is that the "Sally" De Marco in this film is actually "Renee" De Marco (Tony's second wife/dancing partner). Sally didn't start dancing with Tony until 1941, this film was made in 1935! Also, Sally and Renee had very different dancing styles, with Sally always having a most exciting and polished performance. I suspect because Sally had been a ballet dancer and had a very intense stage presence – plus she was quite beautiful. Renee was a good solid dancer, but typical smooth Ballroom dancer, not flashy but very, very smooth. Sally's performances, in comparison, would cause you to watch in awe.

All in all a very entertaining, albeit sort of "whacky", movie to watch!! Don't miss it!

Larry MacArthur (Pat O'Brien) is a hard-drinking fast-talking magazine editor. His publisher Harold Brandon Shanghais him to Mexico to sober him up and escape his gold-digging girlfriend Clara. He is about to run back home to marry the three-time successful gold-digger. Brandon recruits Mexican dancer Rita Gómez (Dolores Del Río) to seduce MacArthur although the men seem to have forgotten that MacArthur had written a scathing review of her. She certainly hasn't.

Busby Berkeley did the big musical numbers. This showcased Mexican entertainer Dolores Del Río to the American audience. I do like the starting premise. I just wish that she does more to get back at MacArthur. The possibilities are endless. She could get embarrassing photos of him. She could steal all his money. She could leave him stranded in the desert. It's endless. So she gets to whip him once. First, it's not that imaginative and it's a bit violent. It needs to be funnier.

Glenda Farrell has a business of breach-of-promise suit against men. Her latest incipient victim is magazine publisher Pat O'Brian. So editorial assistant catches him while he's drunk and takes him to Agua Caliente -- with location shooting -- and contracts with Leo Carillo to have niece Dolores Del Rio steal him.

All of which is an excuse for misunderstandings, jokes, and two Busby Berkeley numbers: Wini Shaw singing "The Lady In Red", with Judy Canova doing a yodeling reprise; and Phil Regan singing "Muchacha", with many surprising rhymes. I much prefer the former song, although the self-mocking vignette for the latter makes it my new favorite Berkleley piece.

It's all typical musical nonsense, and doubtless was promoted as a working holiday for the cast and crew south of the border at the popular resort. Its success was promoted during the silent era by the legality of drinking. Afterwards, by gambling. A few months after this movie cam out,t he Mexican government outlawed the gambling.

OK, if you haven't seen "42nd Street" or "Footlight Parade" or the first few Gold Diggers movies, this is probably not where to start. OTOH, if you have those virtually memorized (and many do), there is much here to enjoy.

The moguls of Old Hollywood were gambling men not only in their work, but at play as well. They had an abiding interest in horse racing, which accounts for the preposterous number of pictures set at the track which seldom made money but made the "suits" happy.

The horrified WASP establishment froze out any participation by movie folk in Los Angeles area race tracks, so the high rolling execs founded a track of their own across the border in Agua Caliente. So there's some documentary interest here in seeing where the Hollywood elite went to play and, more importantly, bet.

It's tough to put together a musical where She can barely sing or dance and He not at all, but this movie manages it. Plenty of crackling Julius Epstein dialog is kept moving briskly by Lloyd Bacon, one of the better straw bosses on the Warners prison farm.

Edward Everett Horton, more assertive here than with Fred Astaire, Glenda Farrell, Leo Carillo and Luis Alberni keep the proceedings airborne, and Hermann Bing hits a lifetime peak of sublimity trying to spell "rhododendron" through his gargling Austrian accent. How Judy Canova got into all this I don't know, but her cameo leaves quite an impression. I also brood about Dolores del Rio jumping off the high diving board in platform wedgies. Aren't you supposed to be barefoot for that?

There's only one musical hit, "The Lady In Red," and if you've ever seen Bugs Bunny in drag, you already know it. For those who OD'd on platinum blondes in other Busby Berkeley production numbers, they're all brunettes here. George Barnes and Sol Polito turn in some gorgeous camera work, and Orry-Kelly outdoes himself with some of the costumes.

This is a fun, feel-good picture that was made in a hurry and turned out a lot better than it had to be. It's good for smiles, and maybe a lot more.