mark.waltz 1931 and 1932 were lean years for the movie musical, and other than a few Jeanette MacDonald/Maurice Chevalier romantic operettas, some behind the scenes looks at radio and two Eddie Cantor musicals with some fantastic Busby Berkley choreography, the genre was considered box office poison. Berkley would fix that in 1933 by moving over to Warner Brothers and create some of the most magical, memorable movie musicals in movie history, which leaves the Cantor films forgotten by most everybody but his most ardent fans. If you look at "Whoopee!", "Palmy Days" and "The Kid From Spain", you will see the Busby Berkley magic at work and even visualize his Warner Brothers smash hits in your mind. He wasn't working on perfecting his visual style; It already was perfect.Take into consideration "Inside a Dormitory", the Goldwyn Girl chorus number which opens "The Kid From Spain"; Similar themes were later utilized in "42nd Street", "Gold Diggers of 1933" and "Footlight Parade", from the scantily clad chorus girls, the overhead shots and like "By a Waterfall" in "Footlight Parade", the most delightfully audacious swimming pool you've ever seen on film. Even Esther Williams would drool over this! "The Kid From Spain" isn't a great film by any means, but Cantor's charm and the Berkley touch make it memorable. A totally miscast Robert Young is ridiculously given the role of a Latin lover, Cantor's college roommate who invites Eddie to go south with him after they are both expelled for the girl's dormitory occurrence. By mistake, Cantor is involved in a bank robbery which leads to a hysterical scene of him trying to get across the border and his encounter with the frazzled guard (Paul Porcasi). In Mexico, he claims to be the famous matador Don Sebastian II which leads to rivalry with another matador and an encounter with a very determined bull. Meanwhile, Young and his girlfriend (Ruth Hall, another Caucasian cast as a Mexican) try to be together in spite of her father's promise of her to another man while Cantor finds himself involved with blonde Mexican Lyda Roberti (part Russian/part Polish) who is also coveted by a hot-blooded native. The silliness of the miscastings is easily overlooked considering the lavishness of the production.Not utilized in the opening dormitory number, Cantor gets two songs of his own, the best of which is a blackface number where in disguise he entertains a pre-bullfight crowd with the memorable "What a Perfect Combination!". His entrance with two actual black dancers has him being pushed back to sing, and all of a sudden, Goldwyn girls start popping out of all the tables. I tried to spot Betty Grable and Paulette Goddard among the chorus girls in the two big production numbers but didn't have any luck, but considering how young they were at the time (both not yet 18), it would be somewhat difficult to recognize them although Lucille Ball the following year in "Roman Scandals" was very easy to spot. A perfectly entertaining pre-code musical, this survives its now dated concepts simply by being just totally enjoyable, if just a tad overlong. They don't make em' like this anymore!

MARIO GAUCI This is one of the two-best regarded Eddie Cantor vehicles, the other being the superior ROMAN SCANDALS (1933). In many ways, it follows the typical formula of star comedians during this era: not only does it mix the laughs with songs, but the setting goes from college to south-of- the-border and involves multiple impersonations (a convict about to be executed{!}, performing a musical routine in blackface and, most pertinent to the central plot, a torero) and the second leads' less- than-smooth romance (he is here played by the non-Latin Robert Young!).Having Busby Berkeley as choreographer and being a "Pre-Code" film, this could hardly fail to have elaborately risqué' numbers (reportedly, among the Goldwyn Girls here are Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable and Jane Wyman but I did not recognize them) – right from the opening moments (which were trimmed for subsequent reissues!) but, even if the Bert Kalmar/Harry Ruby score is quite pleasant, these definitely come off as longueurs when not involving Cantor himself. Director McCarey had started out in Laurel & Hardy comedies, and he would subsequently handle many of their rivals/successors – apart from the star of this film, the Marx Bros., W.C. Fields, Mae West, Harold Lloyd and, in more sophisticated terms, Cary Grant.Gags (and dialogue exchanges) are plentiful and generally display a very high standard of inventiveness. Among the highlights are: Cantor unwittingly acting as the getaway driver of bank robbers; his brushes with a flustered immigration official and a U.S. cop after the thieving gang; his serenading the heroine (on behalf of Young – incidentally, he is himself pursued throughout by the girl's blonde friend) sporting a gigantic sombrero; and, obviously, his being passed off as a celebrated bullfighter's son (he trains with a docile animal who can be 'controlled' with a gibberish but unwieldly word – however, the villains (including the blonde girl's fiancé J. Carrol Naish) then have it replaced with the most irate of the herd, able even to leap over the spectator barricades{!}, only for the hero to ultimately put it out of action by pure chance). For the record, the film was referenced in the Walt Disney cartoon short MICKEY'S GALA PREMIERE (1933) and can be seen to have influenced – ironically enough – the Laurel & Hardy outings SAPS AT SEA (1940; in Cantor's violent behaviour triggered by noise) and THE BULLFIGHTERS (1945), not to mention the Italian comic Toto' vehicle FIFA E ARENA (1948) and the classic "Looney Tunes" cartoon BULLY FOR BUGS (1953).

Ron Oliver Forced into Mexico by crooks, a nervous young man impersonates THE KID FROM SPAIN--an imaginary bullfighter -- to keep from getting arrested.Follies star Eddie Cantor prances his way through this naughty pre-Code comedy. Rolling his eyes and clapping his hands, he uses every trick at his disposal to amuse and he succeeds quite nicely. Cantor never slows down, but, like a mischievous little boy, he seems forever looking for new trouble to explore. His climactic scene in the bullfighting arena remains his best remembered movie moment.Robert Young seems an odd choice to portray a Mexican college boy, and his problematic courtship of pretty Ruth Hall is totally lacking in excitement, but fortunately it isn't given an inordinate amount of screen time. Polish comic actress Lyda Roberti makes a good foil for Cantor; her amusing face almost matches his own in stealing scenes and her singing & acting are delightfully offbeat.The dastardly deeds are handled by two of the era's best bad guys--John Miljan as an evil matador and J. Carrol Naish as his grimy sidekick. In addition, Cantor gets to share comedy sequences with three funny fellows--Paul Porcasi as a harried border guard; beefy Noah Beery as Miss Hall's very stern papa & Stanley Fields as a dumb-as-mud killer.Movie mavens will recognize diminutive Edgar ‘Blueboy' Connor as a bull trainer and a young Betty Grable as one of the chorus girls--both uncredited.Busby Berkeley directed the movie's musical production numbers, including the opening scene in a girls' dormitory, which seems to serve no other purpose than to expose a good deal of female flesh. The film's conclusion seems a bit abrupt. The villains have not been punished and the Young/Hall romance is still unresolved, but Cantor seems quite happy so why quibble?

lugonian THE KID FROM SPAIN (Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists, 1932), directed by Leo McCarey, with choreography by Busby Berkeley, stars Eddie Cantor in his third annual musical-comedy for Samuel Goldwyn. Borrowing the formula from his initial Goldwyn musical, WHOOPEE (1930), switching from wild west to Mexico so not to give the impression of a remake, Cantor once again plays a nervous wreck who goes berserk (this time at the sound of a whistle), and carries on the same surname of Williams. Could these two characters in question be twins? Maybe, but there's only one Eddie Cantor, and for the record, this is not a sequel, just an original premise with recycled ideas.The story begins in a college where Eddie Williams (Eddie Cantor) is found hiding under the sheets on the bed in a girls' dormitory by the stern Martha Oliver (Theresa Maxwell Conover). Although Eddie assumes the blame, it's his Mexican roommate, Ricardo (Robert Young), responsible for the practical joke. Because of this, both classmates, so close to graduation, are expelled. Ricardo, returning to his native Mexico, invites Eddie to accompany him. On their way to their destination, Ricardo stops at the First National Bank where Eddie waits outside. Parked on the very spot where the getaway car was supposed to be, Eddie encounters new passengers in the back seat, that of the bank robbers who mistake Eddie as their getaway driver. Because Eddie is an eye witness, the bank robbers kidnap Eddie and take him to the Mexican borderline. While in Mexico, Eddie meets again with Ricardo, who, by now, is having romantic problems with Anita Gomez (Ruth Hall), whose father, Alonzo (Noah Beery) prefers she marry Pancho (John Miljan), the greatest bullfighter of all Mexico. Eddie, pursued by Crawford (Robert Emmett O'Connor), an American police inspector, masquerades as Don Sebastian II, matador from Spain visiting Mexico for the upcoming bullfight. Complications ensue when Eddie not only has to fight the bull in the ring to avoid arrest, but to avoid the man-chasing Rosalie (Lyda Roberti) also hot on his trail.The highlight bullfighting sequence is something of an inspiration for future movie comedians of Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Red Skelton or even Jerry Lewis had they handled such a routine. However, future famed TV comedienne Lucille Ball eventually performed such tactics in an equally funny bullfighting sequence in one of the episodes of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" (1958) co-starring Desi Arnaz as her husband, Ricky Ricardo (a similar name to Robert Young's character in THE KID FROM SPAIN, by which he's called both Ricky and Ricardo), with special guest star, Maurice Chevalier. A similar situation here and to the LUCY program is that both Eddie and Lucy mistake the actual bull for a tamed one for the bullfight. And let's overlook the bullfighting climax featuring Lou Costello, the other half of the Abbott and Costello comedy team, in Mexican HAYRIDE (Universal, 1948), with an added bonus with Costello riding the bull bareback.Besides good comedy, whether physical or verbal, with some gags and one-liners right out of from the vaudeville days, there's time out for songs by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby including: "The College Song" (with lyrical lines recited by numerous college co-eds, including a very young Betty Grable); "In the Moonlight" (sung by Eddie Cantor); "Look What You've Done" (sung by Lyda Roberti and Eddie Cantor); Untitled dance number (performed by Grace Poggi); "What a Perfect Combination" (sung by Eddie Cantor and Goldwyn Girls); and "What a Perfect Combination" (reprise/finale, sung by Cantor and Roberti).Also in the supporting cast are J. Carroll Naish as Pedro; Stanley Fields as Jose; Sidney Franklin as himself, an American matador who performs a straight-laced bullfighting scene before Cantor takes over and turns it into a burlesque spoof; Walter Walker (The college dean); Paul Porcasi (The border guard); and Edgar Connor as Blueboy, the Negro bull handler. Connor's film credits are few, but much well noted for his sizable role as Al Jolson's sidekick in HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM (United Artists, 1933).THE KID FROM SPAIN has all the ingredients for a successful Cantor comedy, although some of his humor, and one production number in which he performs in black-face, may not impress contemporary audiences. Other than finding Robert Young playing a Mexican, sporting mustache and passable spoken accent, there's one scene where Cantor tells the love starved Roberti to shut her mouth in a manner that's too real to be funny, particularly after watching the sad expression on her face. Film buffs can sit back and try to spot some future film stars amongst the chorus girls, including Betty Grable recognizable in the opening number, the blonde haired Paulette Goddard in the background as Cantor as he looks directly into the camera while vocalizing "In the Moonlight" before strolling with the girls and singing directly to them; and Toby Wing, the "Young and Healthy" girl from 42nd STREET (Warner Brothers, 1933), visible in the first two song numbers. One cannot help but notice the girls seen in the college opening to be the same ones in the Nexican sequence, this time in Mexican attire sporting shoe polish in their black hair.THE KID FROM SPAIN, which formerly aired on commercial television in the 1960s and 1970s, was later transported to cable networks in the 1980s as CBN (now The Family Channel), The Nostalgia Channel, Turner Network Television (1991), American Movie Classics (1993-94) and finally Turner Classic Movies where it premiered September 2, 2007. Formerly available on video cassette, it's the sort of movie that will remain in memory for anyone who's seen and enjoyed this 96 minute laugh feast with impressive Busby Berkeley production numbers. (***)