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FIESTA
![[IMAGE]](fiesta.jpg)
CREDITS
1947, 102 minutes, Technicolor.
Producer, Jack Cummings; Director, Richard Thorpe; Screenplay; George Bruce and Lester Cole; Cinematography, Sidney Wagner, Charles Roshner and William Kline; Music Direction, Johnny Green; Choreography, Eugene Loring.
CAST
Maria Morales, Esther Williams; Mario Morales, Ricardo Montalban; Conchita, Cyd Charisse; Senora Morales, Mary Astor; Jose "Pepe" Ortega, John Carroll; Chato Vasquez, Akim Tamiroff; Maximino Contreras, Hugo Haas; Antonio Morales, Fortunio Bonanova; The Tourist, Alan Napier; Maria Morales (As A Child), Jean Van; Mario Morales (As A Child), Joey Preston; Doctor, Frank Puglia; The Basque Singers, Los Bocheros.
SONGS
Fantasia Americana by Aaron Copland, new arrangement by Johnny Green; La Bamba by Luis Martinez Serrano; La Luna Enamorada by Angel Ortiz De Villajos; Miriano by Bolanos Recio and Leocadio Martinez Durango; Romeria Vasca by Los Bocheros.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
". . .[the film's] leading characters [are] a pair of twins (Montalban and Esther Williams). Their father, a retired matador (Fortunio Bonanova), has hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps to the bull-fighting ring, but the boy has other plans. He wants to become a composer. In order to save the family name from disgrace, and to clear her brother's name of cowardice, sister Williams dresses up in torero's clothing and steps into the bullring on his behalf. After proving the equal of any man (and striking an early blow for Women's Lib) the masquerade is, eventually, unmasked and Montalban is allowed to continue his music studies."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical
NOTES
"Mexican heart throb Ricardo Montalban made his American screen debut in Fiesta, an expensive piece of hokum (filmed on location in Mexico) whose leading characters were a pair of twins. . .to this unlikely tale were brought several colorful musical sequences. . ."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical
"An extremely boring idea for a musical which at best is a tedious time-passer."
- Halliwell's Film Guide
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION:
Scoring of a Musical Picture
Fiesta was one of the top-grossing films of 1947. See Box Office Hits
Return to The Great MGM Musicals Page