Fiesta

If you can accept the notion that ESTHER WILLIAMS and RICARDO MONTALBAN (his American film debut) are twins and that Esther could substitute for him in the bull ring--well, then you can sit back and enjoy a few of the other perks of FIESTA. It's more a drama than a musical, but the dance numbers are what give it whatever zest it has as entertainment.

It's primarily a showcase for the talented Ricardo, seen here as a man who would rather be a composer of serious music than a bullfighter. He even gets to play his "Fantasia Mexicana" (actually Aaron Copland's "El Salon Mexico") in an exciting piano arrangement that has Montalban looking as though he's actually executing the piece. And colorful too is his dance number with CYD CHARISSE, who was then a rising young star on the MGM lot and got to do some specialty dance numbers in a variety of musical films.

Frankly, Esther became a much better actress in later films. FIESTA is actually one of her weakest dramatic performances and fans only get to see her take a dip in a pool once, and briefly. Her flat reading of most lines does little to advance the notion that she was a star, even when she wasn't wet.

Despite all the trimmings, it's just not on the level with other MGM musical dramas of the era and looks and plays more like a programmer than anything else. But, oh that music!

When "Fiesta" played in Tampa, more local Latinos went to see Montalban than the film or anyone else in it! This was because Montalban was a well known star from the many Mexican movies that played locally.

However, in Mexico he was a serious actor while in Hollywood he was a "latin lover". In his first years more time was spent making him into a musical star than giving him time to display his acting talent.(He had to loose his hair to be taken seriously!) The movie was a vehicle for Esther Williams sans swimming pool (except for one brief scene) but it was Montalban and Cherrise's dancing that made it a hit. This was odd because Montalban was never in musicals in his native country. He sang -well he carried a tune- but actually danced quite well in order to creditably partner Cherrise and later on Anne Miller.

The one dramatic scene -in which Montalban who wants to be a composer and not follow his father's footsteps in the arena - that shows off Montalban's acting. He is in a wayside saloon and on the radio he hears his composition...actually Aaron Copelands "Fantasia Mexicna"..and goes to a piano and interprets with passion, vigor and sensitivity his composition.

An entertaining film and a great vehicle to feature Montalban. Too bad that his early cinematic years did not allow him to display his serious acting ability. Oh well, "That's Hollywood"...Ay Caramba!

Don Antonio Morales (Fortunio Bonanova) is a bullfighting legend who is thrilled by the birth of twin children. His daughter Maria (Esther Williams) grows to be a beautiful, headstrong woman, while his son Mario (Ricardo Montalban) becomes a gifted musician and promising matador. Their father insists that Mario concentrate on bullfighting, but Maria knows that Mario's heart is in his music, so she tries to help her brother follow his dreams, going to extremes to do so.

I was a bit torn on this one. The cast is generally likable, although I find John Carroll to be a bit weaselly. Montalban gets an "introducing" credit, and he has a lot of screen presence, and he shares a terrific dance scene with Charisse at the film's halfway point. Williams still finds a way to show up in a bathing suit, while Mary Astor is terribly wasted in a nothing role as the twins' mother. Bullfighting was still socially acceptable at this time, so it went over. Today it seems like a feature film built on the declawing of cats. The movie earned an Oscar nomination for Best Score (Johnny Green).

I've viewed this film over and over and my piano training says there's no trick photography in the scenes where Montalban plays Green's adaptation of El Salon Mexico. I'm sure the beat-up old piano is not the actual sound source, but Montalban is hitting all the right keys at the right time! His technique is well above average, and anyone who could even fake that well would have to be able to play well too. Yet there's no mention of musical skill or training in any of his bios, nor does he play in any later films. Can anyone shed some light on this mysterious aspect of the multi-talented Senor Montalban?

As an add to a review above which wondered whether Ricardo Montalban had any actual experience as a pianist or was just faking it, I think I can definitively answer, as a pianist myself, yes, he's a pianist (having just seen Fiesta, and the barroom scene where his character Mario Morales takes to the house upright to accompany himself, his composition having just come up on the radio).

That's not him on the soundtrack, probably, but he's most definitely fingering the quite complex piece correctly (con mucho gusto!), and this means that yes, Senor Montalban has a talent many of us were previously unaware of.

Discovered to my surprise the same thing about Gary Oldman, as I watched him as Ludwig Van Beethoven in Immortal Beloved, and Kyle McLachlan as Ray Manzarek in The Doors.