Fiesta (1947)

Sadly Over-hyped

A Major Disappointment

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

When there is a cast like Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse and Mary Astor, the film in question promises much. Because all four of these people are very talented at what they do and have been rarely less than watchable in their films.'Fiesta' is a long way from a bad film, it's colourful and it does have several good things about it. It is however a very uneven and heavily problematic film that considering the calibre of talent should have been much better than it was.Starting with 'Fiesta's' strengths, it's very handsomely mounted and is shot in glorious Technicolor. The music is full of liveliness and makes one want to tap their toes and get up and dance, a kind of energy that the rest of the film doesn't match. Love the use of Copland's 'El Salon Mexico'.The dance choreography is even better, the fiery dance routines with Montalban and Charisse are electrifying and 'Fiesta' is worth seeing for them alone. Montalban is as suave, dashing and charismatic as ever, while Charisse is charming and dances a dream. Astor is touching, though she deserved a bigger role and better material.On the other hand, as radiant as Williams looks and her brief swimming scene is nice (though nowhere near one of her best routines) she does look ill at ease and any drama never rings true, her character being somehow related to Montalban severely strains credibility. John Carroll is rather bland, and there are somewhat hammy turns from Akim Tamiroff and Fortunio Bonanova.Scripting-wise, 'Fiesta' is pretty pedestrian and contrived, not much wit here, while the story does lack momentum, is as thin as ice and credibility-straining nonsense. As for the bull scenes, for such a brutal "sport" they are pretty tame. Richard Thorpe's direction is undistinguished at best and the most energetic 'Fiesta' gets is in the scenes with Montalban and Charisse and the music.In summary, colourful but uneven. Good for a one-time watch, but not good enough for repeat viewings. 5/10 Bethany Cox

"Fiesta" is a reworking of the old story from "The Jazz Singer". The story is set in Mexico and begins with a famous bullfighter, Antonio Morales. He has a set of twins, Mario (Ricardo Montalban) and Maria (Esther Williams) and Antonio has determined that his son WILL one day become a great matador like himself. While Mario is quite good, his love is not bullfighting but music. Eventually, Mario runs away because of all the pressure and Maria dresses like Mario and fools EVERYONE (?) by going into the ring herself and becoming a great matador. What's to become of all this? "Fiesta" is a pretty good film in some ways. It gives a nice portrait of Mexicans (though too many of the actors aren't Hispanic) and is more sensitive than many Hollywood productions. Also, being from MGM, the film looks great--with wonderful music, color and dancing. But to me the best part was watching Montalban in his first film and watching him play the piano. If the piano music wasn't being played by him, he sure faked it very, very well. However, on the down side, the film is SUPER-creepy. Maria's relationship with Mario is just creeptastic. Her vocabulary when talking about him is peppered with words like 'darling' and 'sweetheart' and she ALWAYS talks to him in a much more loving manner than when she talks to her fiancée (John Carrol). It really does make the viewer think of twincest and I cannot believe that the writers and others connected with the film didn't see this. Weird and kind of sick but despite this an enjoyable film.By the way, the bullfighting scenes are VERY sanitized. On one hand, the viewer doesn't need to worry about all the blood and gore. But, on the other, it makes this 'sport' seem very harmless.

Movie designed to introduce Ricardo Montalban to American audiences. It's a drama--NOT a musical. There are a few musical numbers but that's it. This takes place in Mexico and has Montalban and Esther Williams playing twins. No--I'm not kidding! If you can swallow that you might like this. Their father is a great bullfighter and expects his son to be the same. However his son Mario (Mantalban) wants be a musician. His sister Maria (Williams) is better at bullfighting then him. You can probably guess the rest. EXTREME PLOT SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!!! Pretty forgettable as a drama. The situations are just silly, the dialogue pedestrian and you just KNOW how this is going to end. Also Williams isn't much of a dramatic actress. This film could have ended after an hour but this drags it out and gets REAL stupid during the second act. Williams has to bullfight in place of her brother--but nobody notices the difference! Seriously--everybody thought Williams was her brother???? Even for a 1940s movie that's pushing it.Still it's not completely terrible. It's done with the usual MGM gloss and is shot in bright Technicolor. Montalban, Williams and Cyd Charisse are so young and beautiful and so full of life that it rubs off on the audience. The dance sequences with Montalban and Charisse are just incredible--I never knew he could dance! Williams even has a (brief) swimming scene. There's also some good acting from Akim Taminoff as Chato and Mary Astor as Williams and Montalbans mother. So it's silly but enjoyable as a no brainer. The dancing scenes alone make this worth seeing. I give it a 6.

Nobody has too much fun at this fiesa -- supposedly MGM's ads proclaimed "See-Esther in Fiesta" apparently confusing a party with a nap-- which is a closer description of this improbably Mexican diversion. Esther battles bulls to redeem her brother's name (Montalban) after he flees the ring the pursue a career as a composer. The music he wrote is actually Copland's "El Salon de Mexico" -- a piece whose hokey, bloated exoticism meshes perfectly with this movie. Nice color photography, and the producers, as usual, found an opportunity for Williams to get wet.