Estrellados could have improved on it's English-language original, but the MGM factory mentality deemed changes from the script as unwanted tampering, so they got the same movie twice, this time without blondes. There are some very small differences. For one, Buster loses his hat for a second when he's told to move the car at the premiere and he doesn't hit the car behind him. The entire scene with Karl Dane filming the mine explosion stunt is absent, but we are shown the first part of the "story" behind the musical comedy being shot at the studio. After we see Keaton being made up for the part, It seems he's an aviator that gets lost in Trixie Friganza's wacky kingdom. (in this version she's not a queen, but a "Gran Duquesa")She has him made her consort, and then we see most of the rest of the Free And Easy footage, dubbed en Español. The song "Free and Easy" is just eliminated, and we cut to Raquel's watching face, then back to Buster doing the dancing part after the song had been sung. There's a lot of recycled, dubbed bits and pieces, but also same scenes filmed a few feet to one side, as they would shoot two negatives at once to save costs. Other scenes are second takes. They also rather poorly matched up Maria Calvo supposedly being made up to be in the big number, but it's almost insulting to think they want us to see Trixie Friganza AS her. Trix must be twice her size! Mustashioed Don Alvarado suddenly, jarringly becomes clean-shaven Gringo Robert Montgomery in long shots! Strangest surprise was seeing slapstick battle-Axe Blanche Payson speak Spanish, and equally formidable cohort Louise Carver does some German like in the original, but here adds some French! In the finale, over the strains of "Free and Easy" the chorus sings an obviously hastily written "ES-TREE-ADOS" in it's place. Buster has no flair for speaking Spanish, he sounds like he's reciting memorized lists of syllables.Interesting novelty, but it's not a great film to start with.
Review of Estrellados
