The Kid from Spain (1932)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

William Anthony McGuire (written for the screen by) &
Bert Kalmar (written for the screen by) ...

Release Date:

17 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Eddie and his Mexican friend Ricardo are expelled from college after Ricardo put Eddie in the girl's dormitory when he was drunk...

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Dormitory | Bank | Bull | Bullfight

Cast

Eddie Cantor	...	Eddie Williams
Lyda Roberti	...	Rosalie
Robert Young	...	Ricardo
Ruth Hall	...	Anita Gomez
John Miljan	...	Pancho
Noah Beery	...	Alonzo Gomez
J. Carrol Naish	...	Pedro
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Detective Crawford (as Robert Emmet O'Connor)
Stanley Fields	...	Jose
Paul Porcasi	...	Gonzales (as Paul Porcassi)
Sidney Franklin	...	Himself - American Matador

Runtime:

USA:96 min | USA:118 min (premiere)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Jane Wyman's movie debut.

Quotes:

Eddie Williams aka Don Sebastian II: [after Rosalie drops the key down her dress] ...the key to the whole situation somewhere between Tijuana and the border!

Soundtrack:

Untitled Instrumental

The Bovine Challenge

I like The Kid From Spain very much, it's certainly one of Eddie Cantor's best films. But I'm still trying to figure out why in the world Sam Goldwyn borrowed Robert Young from MGM and cast him as a Mexican. Why didn't he use someone like Gilbert Roland?

Still it's Cantor's show and it begins with Eddie the schnook getting expelled from college after his pal Young puts him in the girl's dormitory where he's discovered by the Dean of Women. To his credit Young owns up to the prank and gets expelled along with Cantor. The two of them decide to go south of the border, but on the way Eddie is forced to drive a gang of bank-robbers across the border.

When American cop Robert Emmett O'Connor goes south after the robbers, the fast thinking Young introduces Cantor as a great bullfighter fresh over from Spain. Now Cantor's got to go through with it or else.

It's pretty thin stuff, but it's enjoyable and the climax with Cantor in the Corrida fighting a bull is something else. See how he overcomes the bovine challenge. Some of that business was used by Lou Costello in Mexican Hayride.

Cantor and Young pair off with Lyda Roberti and Ruth Hall and Ms. Roberti joins Eddie in singing Look What You've Done. The other song Cantor does is unfortunately in black-face and it's What A Perfect Combination. Both songs were recorded by him and sold reasonably well to Depression audiences. The score was written Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby songwriters best known for their Marx Brothers material.

I do say though Robert Young was not a convincing Latino. He was painful to watch and I'm sure he felt more ridiculous than anyone else in the film. It's The Kid From Spain's great weakness.

Other than that, The Kid From Spain is an enjoyable film and those who want to know about the comedic art of Eddie Cantor can't do better than this film to learn.