There's been quite a bit of criticism for The Trumpet Blows and it mostly centers around George Raft and his performance. But the criticism I believe is for the wrong reason.
One has to remember that George Raft with his sleek and dark looks got his first break in show business as a tango dancer in the tradition of Rudolph Valentino. And when he wears those tight fitting Mexican costumes he looks every inch the part and I'm sure that's what Paramount thought when they cast him.
The problem is that the second he opened his mouth out came the speech patterns of urban America. Raft was not that good an actor to convince otherwise. Note that Tyrone Power of Irish background born in Cincinnati, Ohio had one of his greatest roles as a Spanish matador in Blood And Sand. No one ever claimed he wasn't Hispanic looking or acting enough.
Not a Latino in the bunch, but the rest of the cast was all right and that was probably the reason.
Also the plot was from hunger. We're asked to believe that Raft was young enough to have never found out that his brother Adolphe Menjou was the notorious bandit Pancho Gomez. Menjou and Raft sure don't look that far apart in age. The two act very silly over the lovely Frances Drake who Raft steals from Menjou.
Of course Menjou was trying to fix Raft up with Nydia Westman. I might have wanted to take some vengeance on him for that.
One has to remember that George Raft with his sleek and dark looks got his first break in show business as a tango dancer in the tradition of Rudolph Valentino. And when he wears those tight fitting Mexican costumes he looks every inch the part and I'm sure that's what Paramount thought when they cast him.
The problem is that the second he opened his mouth out came the speech patterns of urban America. Raft was not that good an actor to convince otherwise. Note that Tyrone Power of Irish background born in Cincinnati, Ohio had one of his greatest roles as a Spanish matador in Blood And Sand. No one ever claimed he wasn't Hispanic looking or acting enough.
Not a Latino in the bunch, but the rest of the cast was all right and that was probably the reason.
Also the plot was from hunger. We're asked to believe that Raft was young enough to have never found out that his brother Adolphe Menjou was the notorious bandit Pancho Gomez. Menjou and Raft sure don't look that far apart in age. The two act very silly over the lovely Frances Drake who Raft steals from Menjou.
Of course Menjou was trying to fix Raft up with Nydia Westman. I might have wanted to take some vengeance on him for that.