Fiesta

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).