User Reviews

In "The Girl From Mexico", spitfire Carmelita (Lupe Velez) came into the life of Dennis Lindsey and his aunt and uncle Della and Matthew (Elisabeth Risdon and Leon Errol), causing the end of Dennis's romance with Elizabeth (Linda Hayes) after a series of hysterical incidents. In this, the second film, the newlyweds return home to interference from Aunt Della and Elizabeth, and it takes Uncle Matt to try and keep them together. Add Dennis's eccentric client, Lord Epping (also Errol), and you have what ultimately turns into what would be the key to the remainder of all the plots in the series.

It would take a variety of different incidents, but in every film of the series beginning with this one, Uncle Matt disguised himself as Lord Epping in order to help Carmelita out of one situation or another. Here, the incident happens because Aunt Della insists that Elizabeth pose as Dennis's wife in order to get Lord Epping to sign a business contract. In order to throw Elizabeth off balance with Dennis, Matt poses as Lord Epping at a dinner party. Of course, the real Lord Epping arrives, and a ton of hysterical confusion ensues.

While Errol was equally as funny just playing Uncle Matt in the first film, he now has the opportunity to put his rubber legs to the ultimate display. Errol is hysterical, especially as Uncle Matt disguised as Lord Epping insulting Della. Velez defused her hot temper a bit to make Carmelita a bit more tolerable, but the Mexican Spitfire tag still remains. She is just more subtle this time.

Donald Woods, a bland leading man (best remembered as Charles Darnay in "A Tale of Two Cities"), makes his second and final appearance as Dennis; He is only barely adequate, made to look dull in comparison to the antics of Carmelita and Uncle Matt/Lord Epping.

Elisabeth Risdon, a leading lady of the silent era, by now was a blousy character actress who could play both kind and cruel matrons, and here gives Aunt Elizabeth a combination of the two. She means well, but is still one of those relatives that deserves a kick in the skirt. Yet, she handles some of the comedy sequences very well, sort of a wise-to-the cracks Margaret Dumont.

Linda Hayes is set dressing, basically a beautiful block of ice with little to do but bat her lashes at Woods until the slapstick finale. Equally as good as "The Girl From Mexico", "Mexican Spitfire" is a fine example of how writers could extend basically a two-reel idea into a feature. It works here, but would seem forced as the series continued into the war.

Copyright 12 January 1940 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Rialto: 9 January 1940. U.S. release: 12 Jan 1940. Australian release: 9 May 1940. 6,200 feet. 67 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Aunt Della conspires with her nephew's former girlfriend to break up his marriage to Carmelita.

NOTES: Second of the eight-picture Mexican Spitfire series, all starring Lupe Velez as Carmelita, Elisabeth Risdon as Aunt Della and Leon Errol as Uncle Matt. The others (in order): 1. The Girl from Mexico; 3. Mexican Spitfire Out West; 4. Mexican Spitfire's Baby; 5. Mexican Spitfire at Sea; 6. Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost; 7. Mexican Spitfire's Elephant; 8. Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event.

COMMENT: "Awful!" Certainly a critic has a strong temptation to use that word to describe this whole series. But that's maybe a wee bit harsh. True, if you've seen one, you've seen the lot, because all are variations on the same theme.

Even the best jokes wear thin with constant repetition, and this reincarnation of the silly ass British aristocrat wasn't all that hot to be begin with. Perhaps one outing is tolerable, however. All cinephiles owe it to themselves to see our talented Leon Errol play Uncle Matt more or less straight, play Lord Epping as a stage Englishman and play Uncle Matt impersonating the dither-brained Epping with all stops out. Thanks to Errol's skill, the audience is never in any doubt as to which Epping is currently on-screen. We love the way the impersonator exaggerates Epping's hunched walk.

But which of these eight variations to choose? As all of them were directed by Leslie Goodwins on more or less the same plane of routine competence, we need to look at the scripts and the support cast. On this basis, Mexican Spitfire Out West scores first place with Mexican Spitfire's Elephant a close second. Here's a little rhyme to help you remember: Mexican Spitfire Out West is the best, Elephant comes in second best, and you can forget all the rest!

As for this introductory Mexican Spitfire itself, it rates neither at the top or bottom of the bill. The silly plot is just too vapid and stupid to be taken seriously, yet that's the way most of the players, including Donald Woods, Cecil Kellaway and Miss Velez herself, play it in this one! In later entries, fortunately, Velez did loosen up a bit (and even dance).

I didn't know if I'd care much for this picture going in but it turned out to be pretty funny. Lupe Velez portrays the Mexican Spitfire of the title, but Leon Errol was even more hilarious in a dual role as Uncle Matt Lindsay to his nephew Dennis (Donald Woods) and the chronically inebriated British Lord Epping. The picture blows it's way through a series of mistaken identity sequences in which Errol confounds members of the Lindsay family with the constant switcheroo gimmick.

Velez, I think, probably has a bit of getting used to if you haven't seen her in this series of pictures before. Some might find her personality grating, although as this story progresses she kind of wins the viewer over with her humor and wit. She's got a bit of the Leo Gorcey thing going on in her manner of speech, but instead of malapropisms, it's her slightly off kilter use of the English language, like when she states to Elizabeth Price (Linda Hayes) - "Okay. Maybe you not so bonk as I think you are".

In regards to the overall story, it's not very believable if you really think about it. Dennis Lindsay's ex-fiancée Elizabeth and his Aunt Della (Elisabeth Risdon) connive to get him back together with Elizabeth; at one point she's even encouraged by one and all to impersonate the wife to complete a business deal. The real wife Carmelita (Velez) decides to go along with the charade, which winds up as a cross border venture down into Mexico with Uncle Matt. There, the improbable coincidence of running into Lord Epping again is justified solely to string out the ruse some more. As far as that quickie Mexican divorce goes, I can't say what I was more astounded by, the five dollar fee or seeing Earle Hodgins show up as the shyster divorce lawyer!

Well on the basis of this picture I'll probably seek out a few more of the Mexican Spitfire flicks. They breeze by pretty quickly at just over an hour, and the laughs come frequently enough so that the players don't wear out their welcome.

Ideally, you should have already seen the first("The Girl from Mexico") in this series of 8 comical B films, of around 70 min. in length, as this second installment begins where the first one left off: the newly weds of Dennis(Donald Woods) and Mexican Carmelita(Lupe Valez) Lindsay. We begin with them arriving at Newark airport from their Mexican honeymoon, being greeted by Uncle Lindsay(Leon Errol), Aunt Lindsay(Elizabeth Risdon), and Dennis's debutante ex-fiancé Elizabeth(Linda Hayes), who hopes to somehow breakup the whirlwind marriage, to resume her former status. There is one very major personnel change from the first film in that Errol plays the dual characters of Uncle Lindsay and the eccentric British upperclassman: Lord Epping. Errol switched back and forth between the 2, using a mustache, glasses, a taupe , an odd stiff walk, and odd speech mannerisms to distinguish Epping from the comparatively bland Uncle. Occasionally, we have the odd experience of having 2 Eppings in the same frame or vicinity.............During negotiations between Dennis(an advertising executive) and Epping and Chumley(Cecil Kellaway)over a contract to advertise Epping's products, Carmelita shows up and somehow masquerades as Dennis's secretary(or rather cartoonist, as things turn out). Lord Epping is invited to dinner that evening, but they don't want to have to introduce Carmelita, his supposed secretary, as also his wife.(Is that so bad?). Hence, it's decided, over Carmelita's objection, that Elizabeth will play Dennis's wife: perhaps the first stage in her replacing Carmelita permanently? During dinner, Epping keeps criticizing the food, keeps changing his mind what he wants to eat, wants his Yorkshire pudding, and makes occasional rude remarks about the others. These antics cause Carmelita to giggle, as only she knows that Epping is really Uncle. The others are horrified. ...........After dinner, Dennis and Epping go into the study, for Epping to sign the contract, which Carmelita knows will be disastrous. Hence, she also goes in, and when Epping is about to sign, she somehow knocks over the ink well, spilling it on the contract. No matter, Dennis has a duplicate copy. Carmelita then offers Epping a cigar, strikes her lighter, which happens to also alight the contrast, ruining it. ...........Later, Uncle get the impression that the police are looking for him for impersonating Epping. Hence, he grabs Carmelita, and they take a plane to Mexico. On the way, Carmelita reveals that she thinks she's not right for Dennis. Hence, when they arrive, they find a supposed lawyer to draw up a divorce document. Unfortunately, the 'lawyer' is a phony crook, as the police know, but the 2 don't discover until later. Meanwhile, Denny, Aunt, and Elizabeth got the message, by radio!, that Carmelita has divorced Dennis. ..........While Carmelita rests in their hotel room, Epping has a series of adventures, some indirectly involving the real Lord Epping, who just happens to show up, and that contract that Chumley just happens to show up with. Pretty absurd! Eventually, the 2 decide to return to NYC, having received a telegram that Carmelita's divorce is invalid. Now, she is glad, as she had changed her mind about the advisability of a divorce. When they arrive home, they find that Dennis and Elizabeth are to be married that very day. The latter are shocked to read the telegram that Carmelita's divorce is invalid. But, Dennis is OK with that news. Elizabeth is furious and starts a wedding cake slice throwing episode that eventually involves all the guests. Finally, Elizabeth picks up the remaining whole cake and heaves it at Carmelita, who ducks, it hitting Lord Epping in the face., to end the film...........Lupe and Errol formed a friendship duo in both this and the first film. The other main characters largely serve as straight men, in opposition to the duo's antics. In the first film, Lupe was more prominently displayed over Errol, whereas in this film, it's the opposite. .........The series ended in 1943, which apparently was one reason why Lupe decided to end her life in late '44, although a pregnancy, with no evident husband prospect, seems to have been the main factor. I don't think she ever got over Garry Cooper's refusal to marry her, although they clearly had some good, as well as bad, times together..............In the early '40s, while this series was playing, another Latino singer/dancer/actress came to the US in the form of 'the Brazilian Bombshell', or the 'Samba Queen': Carmen Miranda. She was featured along with some of Fox's other top musical comedians, in a series of films, that ended in '45. Although she was/is mainly famous for her unique singing/dancing style and outrageous turbans, given the chance, she was also an effective comedian, in the general bombastic style of Lupe, and with the same sometimes fractured English. They were 2 of a kind, we probably will never see again, except in their remaining films.............. Carmelita quotes: "Why don't you mind my own business" "We're all washed down"

. . . but it's definitely worth the "Triple X" designation for anyone fluent in Mexican. The title character of MEXICAN SPITFIRE is constantly cursing in a non-subtitled foreign lingo. While some naive American viewers may assume that she's spouting off aimless nonsense jabbers (not unlike the incomprehensible adults in a television Peanuts cartoon), nothing could be further from the Truth. Here's a brief translation into American (from a fourth-year student of Mexican) of one such rant from Carmelita, with rhyming words substituted for some key epithets to keep this family friendly: "You goose hunt! Take your sorry mass back to Plymouth Rock, and go duck a moose! With your briny tubes, you'd be lucky to get a holler for a grass stew!" As you can see, MEXICAN SPITFIRE would not be a good choice to screen for all the detained kids awaiting their repatriation South.

Dennis Lindsay (Donald Woods) and his new bride, Carmelita (Lupe Velez), must deal with Dennis' meddling aunt and ex-fiancée out to break up their marriage. Why anybody thought this sounded like a good idea for a light comedy is beyond me. There's something very unpleasant about the whole thing. A comedy about people conspiring to break up a marriage is just gross. It's made even worse by the aunt's obvious bigotry. Between this ugliness and Lupe Velez's obnoxious shtick, it makes for a rough comedy to sit through.

Donald Woods is bland and his character pretty unlikable. Any story like this where the husband or wife allows their family to mistreat their spouse is a tough sell, character-wise. To make matters worse, as soon as he believes Lupe has divorced him, he immediately becomes engaged to the woman who was trying to break up their marriage! Terrible! Leon Errol plays two roles for the sole purpose of setting up situations where one character has to imitate the other. Dumb, sure, but it does allow Errol to get all the funny lines. He's the movie's saving grace. The dinner party is the funniest part of the movie. Elisabeth Risdon and Linda Hayes are fine actresses but their characters are reprehensible.

I'm not a big fan of Lupe Velez and this movie is a prime example of why. She's brash, loud, and irritating with no endearing qualities to garner my sympathy. As another reviewer pointed out, her whole shtick has a very "I Love Lucy" vibe about it. But frankly, Lupe doesn't have half the talent of Lucy. She's a big personality for sure and this is certainly an important series due to it having a Mexican actress as the star. But Lupe is all broad strokes with no subtlety or sense of comedic timing. In many ways she reminds me of Charo, who no doubt was influenced by Velez. If you're curious, try it out and see for yourself. If nothing else you should enjoy Leon Errol's dual performance.

After a bright start with "Girl From Mexico", the "Mexican Spitfire" film series gets derailed by the introduction of the grating Lord Epping; while there is little doubt as to Leon Errol's versatility (he is essentially playing not two but THREE roles here), a little of Lord Epping goes a loooooong way, and there is a lot of him in this film - Lupe Velez gets seriously sidelined, until a climactic cakefight. Dumb mistaken-identity gags galore. *1/2 out of 4.