Fiesta (1947 film)
Fiesta | |
---|---|
Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
Written by | George Bruce Lester Cole |
Produced by | Jack Cummings |
Starring | Esther Williams Ricardo Montalbán Mary Astor Fortunio Bonanova Cyd Charisse John Carroll |
Cinematography | Wilfrid M. Cline Charles Rosher Sidney Wagner |
Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
Music by | Johnny Green |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,395,000[1] |
Box office | $5,635,000[1] |
Fiesta is a 1947 American
The story focuses on Mario Morales (Montalbán), a bullfighter who wants to be a composer, and his twin sister, Maria Morales (Williams), who wants to be a bullfighter even though she is a woman.
The film was shot on location in Puebla, Mexico.[2] This was Montalbán's first credited role in a Hollywood film, and resulted in him being offered a contract by the studio.[3] It was also the first of three films pairing Williams and Montalbán, the other two being On an Island with You (1948) and Neptune's Daughter (1949).
Fiesta was the first time Williams's name was billed above the title in the marketing, though in the onscreen credits, all the actors are below the title.[4]
Plot summary
Retired
As the children grow up, Antonio's wife dreads the idea of her son facing the danger of becoming a bullfighter, particularly inasmuch as Mario has an artistic side to his nature, an affinity for music. Maria, meanwhile, becomes quite expert in the ring, taught by her father's right-hand man, Chato Vasquez.
As a gift on their 21st birthday, Maria honors her brother by getting a copy of Mario's new music composition to Maximino Contreras, a famed orchestra conductor. Maximino, thoroughly impressed, pays a call on the Morales family just before Mario's first bullfight. Antonio prefers not to distract his son prior to entering the ring, so he promises to pass along Maximino's personal regards later. But he does not.
Before a second bullfight, Mario is approached by Maximino, who wonders why he never responded to his previous invitation to meet. Realizing that his father ignored it, Mario angrily walks out of the ring, disappointing spectators and infuriating his father, who feels the family's honor has been disgraced.
Mario subsequently disappears. Maximino has his composition played on the radio in hopes it will draw him out of hiding, while Maria, with the same goal and to save his reputation, disguises herself as Mario and continues on the bullfighting circuit in his place. He eventually returns, but when Maria sees him in the audience she is distracted and almost killed; Mario intervenes to save her life. The incident leads their father to support Mario's pursuit of a life in music instead of bullfighting.
Cast
- Esther Williams as Maria Morales
- Ricardo Montalbán as Mario Morales
- Fortunio Bonanova as Antonio Morales
- Mary Astor as Señora Morales
- Akim Tamiroff as Chato Vasquez
- John Carroll as Jose 'Pepe' Ortega
- Cyd Charisse as Conchita
- Hugo Haas as Maximino Contreras
- Jean Van as Maria Morales, as a child
- Joey Preston as Mario Morales, as a child
- Frank Puglia as Doctor
- Los Bocheros as The Basque Singers
- Alan Napier as The Tourist
Soundtrack
- Fantasia Mexicana
- based on El Salon Mexico
- Music by Aaron Copland
- Music Adapted and Orchestrated by Johnny Green
- Piano soloist André Previn
- based on
- La Bamba
- Written by Luis Martínez Serrano
- Jarabe Tapatío (The Mexican Hat Dance)
- Traditional
- La luna enamorada
- Written by Angel Ortiz De Villajos, Miriano Bolanos, Recio Leocadio and Martinez Durango
- Romeria Vasca
- Written and Performed by Los Bocheros
- La barca de oro
- Traditional[5]
Production
In March 1945, producer Jack Cummings announced his next film would be Fiesta Brava ("Wonderful Holiday") with Esther Williams. It was based on a story that George Bruce had come up with after a two-month holiday in Mexico.[6]
In September 1945, MGM announced Richard Thorpe would direct with filming to start in October.[7] The same month Ricardo Montalban, married to Loretta Young's sister, was announced as Williams' co star.[8]
The film took longer than expected because Thorpe decided that he did not want the bulls killed. However, this led to the bulls attacking the stuntmen, four of them ending up in the hospital, and two of them barely surviving after being gored in the groin due to infections caused by the dirt on the bulls' horns. (Williams was doubled by men. After years swimming, she had broad shoulders, a flat backside, and a different body build from that of a bullfighter and a visible difference on film.) Not killing the bulls made the Mexican people angry, which didn't help, since they were already angry that their own toreadors could not star in the film. At the end of filming, the unit manager, Walter Strohm convinced Thorpe to kill the bulls, even though they cost $1000 each.[2]
Director of photography Sidney Wagner and one other crew member died of
The studio insisted that Williams wear a traje de luces matador outfit for the film. Traditionally, the suit is made to lie very flat on the toreador's chest, and this proved to be difficult. The tailor in Mexico refused to work on the suit unless Williams "agreed to have her bosom surgically removed." Strohm had the suit sent back to Irene, MGM's costume designer in Hollywood, to be fitted to her body, which included closing the fly with hooks. On the trage de luces, when worn by men, the fly is left slightly open, so the "world can appreciate what's in there."[2]
The film features Williams in the water for one short sequence. This was a stark contrast with many of her box office hits, which all featured elaborate water sequences. Publicity photos for the film featuring Williams in a bathing suit were utilized much more than those of her in the traje de luces suit.[2]
Reception
Box Office
The film earned $2,546,000 in the US and $3,089,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,170,000.[1][10]
Awards
Fiesta was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 1948 Academy Awards, but lost to Mother Wore Tights.[11]
Home media
On October 6, 2009, Turner Entertainment released Fiesta on DVD as part of the Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 2. The 6 disc set was a follow-up to the company's Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 1, and contains digitally remastered versions of several of Williams's films including Thrill of a Romance (1945), This Time for Keeps (1947), Pagan Love Song (1950), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Easy to Love (1953).[12]
See also
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ OCLC 43706619. Retrieved 2010-07-30. a reprint that has online preview Archived 2014-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Turner Classic Movies". Tcm.com. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
- ^ "This Time for Keeps". Tcm.com. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
- user-generated source]
- ^ Looking at Hollywood Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 28 Mar 1945: 25.
- ^ 'Dillinger' Tierney to Enact Jesse James Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 15 Sep 1945: A5.
- ^ Montalban Wins Lead With Esther Williams Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 25 Sep 1945: A3.
- ^ "Death in the Afternoon," by E. Hemingway; TVE archives, Madrid
- ^ Variety listed the film as earning $3,550,000 in rentals see "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63
- user-generated source]
- ^ "Turner Classic Movies". Tcm.com. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
External links
- Fiesta at IMDb
- Fiesta at AllMovie
- Fiesta at the TCM Movie Database
- Fiesta at the American Film Institute Catalog